A Movable Fete for Bridal Pair
With apologies to Herbert Buckingham Khaury and the unspeakably lovely Miss Vicki, the ceremony is destined to be the most-watched American wedding in history.
Khaury (a.k.a. Tiny Tim), of course, was married on television’s “Tonight Show” before several million insomniac voyeurs. By contrast, “Southern California’s Most Romantic Couple (MRC)” of 1988 will voice their vows Jan. 2 aboard a moving float spang in the middle of Pasadena’s Rose Parade, an extravaganza attended by about 350 million viewers worldwide.
First, Word on the MRC
First, though, comes the announcement of the MRC, today at 1 p.m. at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, an event immediately followed by the first private bridal fashion show in memory. Well, not entirely private. Spectators may attend for $18, proceeds to Para los Ninos. From the show of about 30 top designers--virtually the entire bridal and formal wear industry--the lucky bride-elect will chose her own wedding dress, those of her bridesmaids, her bridegroom’s togs, even her mother’s gown. All of which is only the beginning of a $50,000 affair culminating with the ambulant nuptials and a honeymoon in Paris.
A little extravagant? “Absolutely!” exults Mary Anne Derem, who, with husband Michael, publish Southern California Bride magazine. “Marriage is now very explosive in the United States. Commitment is in! This (the Most Romantic Couple contest) is just a natural extension.”
It is, in fact, the inspiration of Russell Dazzio, a vice president of the Huntington Hotel and Cottages in Pasadena. Dazzio was trolling about for an original idea for the float commemorating the hotel’s 100th anniversary as a Rose Parade regular. The Derems’ magazine joined in, along with Bullock’s and radio station KIQQ (K-Lite 100) FM; all four undertook to winnow California’s Most Romantic Couple from among more than 300 entries.
A noble goal, to be sure, but how in the world would one define romantic, let alone apply it? “They had to send in a photo and a one-page essay,” Derem said. “We were looking for poise, personality and the essence of romance. Tough, sure, but after a while you get a feel for it.
“A lot of the romance could be divined from the account of the wedding proposal,” she added. “The winner, for instance, took his intended to dinner in a limo and had the maitre d’ bring out a cake decorated with an engagement ring and the words ‘Will You Marry Me?’ In another variation, a guy had a pizza delivered with a huge question mark on it--in pepperoni.
“Another couple was hung up on Shakespeare. He took her to dinner, had the pianist play the love theme from the ballet ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ presented her with the complete works, leather-bound. When she opened it to read the inscription, there was a ring. Oh, and it was all on March 15--the Ides, of course.”
Twelve finalists were interviewed in person--”everyone from a former Miss America to a leather-handed tree trimmer,” Derem said--all leading to today’s inauguration as Most Romantic Couple.
And then the wedding, the Pasadena spectacular, the roseate revel that’s going to make Herbert Buckingham Khaury’s matrimonial melodrama look like a tiptoe through the tulips.
