The boss of a Bristol wedding speech company has said she is “giddy” after Hollywood star Drew Barrymore discussed her business live on air. The A-list actor ran a segment on her talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, about Speechy, which was founded by former BBC producer Heidi Ellert after she got fed up of hearing too many “awful” wedding speeches.
The Bristol-based company employs BBC writers, including freelancers who have worked on programmes such as Have I got News for You and Dead Ringers, to write speeches on people's behalf - and coach them how to deliver them. On the show, Barrymore discussed whether it was ok to hire a ghostwriter for a wedding or not.
She said: “You’ve already got a florist and a caterer, so why not a wordsmith? The company is called Speechy and they write personalised speeches for brides, grooms, best men, whacky aunts - you name it.
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"They really do a deep dive to make these personal; they interview you beforehand and craft something unique, specific and cliche free. For anyone who thinks this is unromantic, the company says the grooms get in touch months in advance because they just want to get it right.”
Barrymore then asked her co-host, Ross Mathews, who is planning his own wedding, what his thoughts were on Speechy. Mathews said he had “mixed emotions” about the concept. His initial reaction was “no” but he said if writing is a skillset you don't have, then “maybe this would work”.
“I would rather my partner came out and mumbled their way through their feelings… and mess it up and have it kind of be silly, then have it be perfect and have it written by some yoo-hoo," he said.
Ellert said she only found out about the clip while on a Zoom call with a potential client who had discovered her company after seeing it mentioned on The Drew Barrymore Show. “It's a little bit out of the ordinary,” she said.
“I assumed she meant Drew had discussed the concept of wedding speech writers rather than Speechy itself but no, she insisted that Drew talked about Speechy and she had noted down the name.
“Although [Ross Mathews] wasn't convinced, I am still giddy about the fact the 80s icon and Hollywood star Drew Barrymore has heard of the little company that I run from my kitchen table. One of those weird, pinch-me moments.”
Ellert has said she hopes other A-listers, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz, might have been watching the show, too. “I am just waiting for Chris Martin to get in touch!" she said.
In the last 12 months, Ellert said her business had “exploded”, with enquiries pouring in from the US, UK, Canada and Australia. She has been commissioned to write a modern wedding speech book specifically for couples, which will be published by Little Brown and released in the spring of next year.
She added: “It’s all a bit overwhelming. I've had to take the 'buy now' button off the bespoke services on the site as we currently can't supply all the demand and are having to book clients into our diary on an 'enquiry' basis only.”
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