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American Morning

Buying the Perfect Toast

Aired June 03, 2002 - 09:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Advice you've heard over the yours, keep it short, keep it sweet and from the heart, good advice for someone giving a wedding toast, right? But that moment can be a best man's worst nightmare. That is where the Internet toast providers come in. For a fee, they will try to deliver a pinch of humor, a dash of wisdom and make your moment memorable.

Joining us from Los Angeles to talk about the price of eloquence and the growth of toast writers, David Pitlik, from theperfecttoast.com.

Good to see you this morning. Good morning.

DAVID PITLIK, THEPERFECTTOAST.COM: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: So, David, I know you have some pretty strong feelings about some of the bad toast you've heard along the way for best men. You think that people drink too much, they ramble too much, they don't prepare, they're petrified of public speaking. But pay someone to write a toast for you. Does that really fly?

PITLIK: Sure, absolutely. People wouldn't hesitate to get the very best photographer for the wedding, best makeup artist, the best caterer. Why not have the best toast writer to make sure that your toast is absolutely going to be memorable, you know, hit all of the emotional points that you want to make and really touch the bride and the groom. I mean, it's absolutely a great idea, I think.

ZAHN: How much do you have the to pay for that privilege?

PITLIK: It's -- I think it's a bargain. We charge only $99. We have a promotion going during the wedding season. So it's really not that much when you consider how expensive everything else is.

ZAHN: Now you get an average of 150 request a month?

PITLIK: That's right, about 150.

ZAHN: I want to share with the audience some of the excerpts of some of these toast you've written to people. We should explain you have to go through this procedure of answering a questionnaire so your folks can better help craft theses remarks.

But here's a toast from groom to his beloved wife: "You are the first thought I have each day when I awake and the last when I drift off to sleep at night. I can hardly wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you more than words can express."

Boy, that will get a marriage off on the right foot, won't it?

PITLIK: I'd like to think so.

ZAHN: I just wonder if that same groom would say the same thing two years into the marriage. I hope so.

This one is a toast from a best man, who says "We rejoice in the love and commitment you've chosen to share with each other. May you grow old on one pillow and may you're love be as endless as your wedding rings."

ZAHN: how do you get this info from folks? Walk through the process.

PITLIK: OK. Well, they come to us online, and they provide us with all the personal information that they would like to express in their toast, then we take that and craft it into a beautifully worded toast that will allow them to cherish the moment with the bride and the groom and really honor this really special occasion.

ZAHN: So, David, what do you do when someone e-mails you back. That's the dopiest thing I've ever heard. Will you rewrite it for them?

PITLIK: Absolutely. It hasn't happened yet, Paula, but we want -- our goal is to make sure our customers are happy and that they really do give a very special toast. So if they feel it's goofy, we'll absolutely change it until it's something that's perfect.

ZAHN: I have to admit when I was thinking back about my wedding -- of course you have to know, it's like 150 years ago -- I was trying to remember the toast, and I can vaguely remember what my brothers had to say. So maybe we needed theperfecttoast.com during my wedding. How much of these folks actually admit to either their new wife or to the groom that someone else wrote the toast for them?

PITLIK: Well, surprisingly, people don't really admit that they've had the toast written for them. The toast that we've written seem to go over so well and people have gotten such praise for saying such a beautiful toast, that they just take credit for it. And you know, it's perfectly fine with us. That's what we're here for. We're not here to take the credit. We're here to make them look good. So they should absolutely take credit for it.

ZAHN: Folks decide not to take the plunge and go your way, I know have some tips whether they do that or not, if they do it on their own, about the perfect toast. You say keep it short, limit the number of toasts, be inclusive and practice delivering it. Anything else?

Anything else you want to add to that? PITLIK: Well, I think you said it really beautifully at the beginning. You said, you know, make sure that the sentiments are from the heart, and remember that this is a toast, it's not a roast. You want to be sure that you've said something really nice. It's a special moment. This is maybe the most important speech that most people will ever give, and so it's very important that you, you know, honor the bride and the groom. That would be my advice.

ZAHN: All right. David Pitlik, thank you for getting up very early for us this morning to talk about the perfect toast. Appreciate your time. Good luck to you on this very busy wedding season.

PITLIK: Thank you.

ZAHN: Take care.

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