‘Shark Tank’ pitch takes a wild turn as the stage transforms into a wedding — Kevin O’Leary officiates
Orchestrating a real wedding on the Shark Tank set is rare, but these entrepreneurs made it happen. Wedy's founders figured out the perfect way to promote their brand and simultaneously create a historic moment on the show. Rumaiza Ali and Anas Ali from Austin, Texas, billed their brand as the world’s first wedding planning marketplace, which allows people to bundle services and book everything under contract and price. “It is a one-stop shop for wedding planning,” Rumaiza pitched. To highlight the feasibility of the brand, the founders brought an engaged couple on stage to get them married.
“This beautiful couple booked their entire wedding using the Wedy app,” Rumaiza introduced. “Hannah and John have picked an amazing wedding venue, the iconic set of ‘Shark Tank,’” she excitedly revealed. “Crazy!” investor Barbara Corcoran blurted out. Then came the bartender and florist of the couple’s choice. However, they didn’t book an officiant, and that’s when Kevin O’Leary came to the rescue. The investor, who’s also known as Mr. Wonderful, was ordained and didn’t mind officiating the wedding. When he was requested to get the couple married, he instantly obliged.
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“Bringing a man and woman together is one of the most important things Mr. Wonderful does,” he said while walking on the coveted ‘Shark Tank’ stage. It was indeed a wonderful twist and a historic moment for the show. He read an interesting script given by the Wedy founders, and it was packed with ‘Shark Tank’ puns. As the officiator, O’Leary wed the couple using business terms. “Hannah and John have chosen to make the ultimate investment in each other,” he read. After the bride and groom said “I do,” Mr. Wonderful announced them “business partners for life.” The couple walked offstage so the Sharks and founders could talk business. But the pitch certainly changed the air in the room.
The Sharks praised Rumaiza and Anas’s amazing energy before getting to the deal. The company’s first year of sales was around $70K and eventually grew to $88K in revenue. However, after launching their app, their sales skyrocketed, earning them almost $500K. Although their growth rate was commendable, the Sharks found the revenue too low and claimed that the company was in a nascent stage. “Your business is solid, but you are very early on. I just like things to be a little more further along,” Shark Lori Greiner said. O’Leary admitted that he was impressed by the presentation.
However, investing in their business would be a conflict of interest, considering he’s partnered with HoneyFund, a company in the same market space. So he opted out of the deal. Ultimately, none of the investors closed the deal, but the entrepreneur duo was not heartbroken. They learned valuable lessons from the Sharks and seemed determined to execute them. “The sharks told us that this is a grind-it-out business, but we are not scared of grinding it out or the hustle,” one of them said in the closing statement. “Once vendors are on our platform, they’re hooked, baby. We are taking this nationwide as well as going global,” they added.