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Thursday, September 7, 2000

No millionaires on this TV wedding
Couple exchanges vows on NBC's 'Today' after viewers do the planning
By David Bauder
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Everything was in place for the perfect wedding: the rings, the flowers, the cake, the tickets to the honeymoon - and about six million television viewers.
   Peter Ginsberg and Melanie Nelson exchanged vows live on NBC's "Today" on Wednesday, concluding a three-month feature in which viewers chose everything from Nelson's wedding day hairstyle to Ginsberg's honeymoon pajamas.
   The wedding planning drew some arched eyebrows from "Today" hosts Katie Couric and Matt Lauer during the summer, with the memory of Fox's "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire" fiasco still fresh.
   To be safe, NBC hired an outside firm to conduct a background check on the four couples who were finalists for the wedding. There were 1,000 applicants.
   "This is not like the last wedding on national television. This time the bride and groom know each other," Couric said.
   Viewers cast more than 220,000 votes to choose Hawaii for the honeymoon.
   The traditional Jewish wedding was held outside on the plaza at Rockefeller Center.
   Many of the 200 guests rose for Couric's entrance, not the bride's. A helicopter buzzed overhead. The ringbearer stole glances at a nearby TV. Two men dressed in nun's costumes stood nearby to promote a movie.
   And before the couple finished their walk down the aisle, there was a commercial break.
   Ginsberg, a 28-year-old lawyer, and Nelson, 27, who's studying to become a psychologist, met while attending college. They were engaged in January and decided on a whim to apply for the "Today" wedding.
   "It's been really fun," Nelson said. "We're not really control-freak kind of people."
   NBC, which collaborated on the project with a wedding planning company, footed the bill for the wedding.
   Viewers outfitted Nelson in a $3,200 gown from Carolina Herrera and the couple wore $2,300 wedding bands.
   Before the ceremony, Ginsberg and Nelson tried not to worry about the millions of eyes watching them get married.
   "I've kind of put it out of my mind," Ginsberg said.
   "At least, I'm trying to. It may be something you learn in the legal profession - you try not to think about things too much."

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