Seven essays celebrating the beauty of the imperfect marriage. We hear plenty about whether or not to get married, but much less about what it takes to stay married. Clichés around marriage—eternal bliss, domestic harmony, soul mates—leave out the real stuff. After marriage you may still want to sleep with other people. Sometimes your partner will bore the hell out of you. And when stuck paying for your spouse’s mistakes, you might miss being single. In Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give, Ada Calhoun presents an unflinching but also loving portrait of her own marriage, opening a long-overdue conversation about the institution as it truly is: not the happy ending of a love story or a relic doomed by high divorce rates, but the beginning of a challenging new chapter of which “the first twenty years are the hardest.” Calhoun’s funny, poignant personal essays explore the bedrooms of modern coupledom for a nuanced discussion of infidelity, existential anxiety, and the many other obstacles to staying together. Both realistic and openhearted, Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give offers a refreshing new way to think about marriage as a brave, tough, creative decision to stay with another person for the rest of your life. “What a burden,” Calhoun calls marriage, “and what a gift.”

Write and present a memorable wedding toast with this light-hearted, humorous guide that gives you all the tools you’ll need for a successful speech—the perfect gift for any best man or maid of honor. As much as it’s an honor to be chosen as the best man or maid of honor at a wedding, giving the perfect speech can sometimes be nerve-wracking. Delivering a crowd-pleasing toast at the reception that has the right amount of humor and sentimentality is a daunting undertaking, no matter how advanced your public speaking skills are. Pete Honsberger’s guide to giving the perfect wedding toast provides even the most nervous of public speakers with all the tools and advice they need for writing and presenting the best toast ever. After witnessing speeches both good and bad, Honsberger shares a few bits of wisdom he’s learned along the way, providing building blocks to creating an unforgettable story along with helpful speech prompts, and the perfect checklist that will turn a potentially scary obligation into a golden opportunity. Wedding Toasts 101 presents a fun and simple way to write a successful wedding toast without all the stress so you can spend less time worrying and more time celebrating the happy couple.

—The Best Man Brings Down the House with A Hilarious Story —The Bridegroom Recites A Touching Poem —The Father of the Groom Gives an Eloquent and Emotional Toast This can happen at your wedding! Diane Warner’s Complete Book of Wedding Toasts ensures that the perfect speech enhances your reception. The author’s guidance and foolproof tactics make any person seem like a seasoned speaker. Your wedding toasts will be beautifully and eloquently presented, no matter what the orator’s experience. Diane Warner gives hundreds of sample toasts that can be used by anyone who is responsible for delivering heartwarming words at a wedding. The examples provided can be altered to incorporate personal anecdotes relating to the couple. The book also gives step-by-step advice on creating toasts from the heart and tips from augmenting the toast with body language, humor, and inflection of voice and other ways to make a lasting impression. This truly one-of-a-kind wedding book guarantees that you, the bride and groom, will be delighted by the toasts given at your own wedding. Look for a new edition in Fall 2005.

A fresh approach to toasts for everyone in the wedding party.

Wedding Toasts Made Easy is often called "The Bible of Wedding Toasts" because of its wealth of time-trusted advice on how to research, write, practice and perfect an original, personalized wedding toast (with specific tips for the Best Man, Maid of Honor, Father of the Bride and others asked to toast the new couple). Readers rave about how the author's unique methods of dealing with stage fright helped them conquer their fear of public speaking -- and enabled them to deliver their toast with total confidence. The book also contains a treasury of wedding-related quotes and one-liners to draw upon. Sample speeches and templates are also included, along with a new bonus section on how to plan and emcee a successful wedding reception. Wedding Toasts Made Easy has been featured on "Live with Regis & Kelly", Martha Stewart Living, Fox New York, The John Tesh Radio Show and in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Men's Health, Women's Health, Hallmark, Wedding Bells, The Knot and Bride Magazine.

"Where I come from, where modesty is a sin, Flintoff 's book would be called 'The Indispensable Guide to Giving an Unforgettable Speech'."Jay Heinrichs, New York Times bestselling author Most of us dread public speaking. But at some point we find ourselves forced to make a speech. And we worry: Will my jokes fall flat? What if I freeze? Is it okay to read notes? What if people walk out? This book won't magically transform you into a fast-talking corporate hotshot. But it will show you how to think about public speaking in a new way, and with a spot of luck, you will achieve adequacy. Or better! Drawing on ancient principles of rhetoric and his own entertaining successes and failures on the speech-giving circuit, John-Paul Flintoff provides simple but effective techniques to help you to speak with confidence to any crowd, whether it's a work presentation or a best friend's wedding. Humble but motivating, this is a guide to finding your voice, even if it's a bit croaky at first, and a reassuring affirmation that we all have something to say.

A companion to the popular website APracticalWedding.com and A Practical Wedding Planner, A Practical Wedding helps you sort through the basics to create the wedding you want -- without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You'll discover: The real purpose of engagement (hint: it's not just about the planning) How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy? How to communicate decisions to your family Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it Wedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches: the Team Practical brides. So here's to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.