Daily photo illustrationAmerica's sweethearts" are scheduled to marry today. ABC's two-hour coverage of the special day will air Wednesday at 8 p.m.
The time has come for us to speak of other things; of blue and cakes and garter belts; of television and rings.It's finally happening. After all the hype and hoopla, local and nationally-adopted sweethearts Ryan Sutter and Trista Rehn are set to exchange their vows today.A planeful of the luckiest locals are flying out to the wedding, which, reportedly, will be held at Rock Resorts' The Lodge at Rancho Mirage in Palm Springs, Calif., a subsidiary of Vail Resorts."Your wedding ceremony will be encircled by the spectacular natural beauty of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains. Make a grand entrance down the cascading garden staircase, while close friends and family witness this special moment against the breathtaking view atop the bluff," says The Lodge at Rancho Mirage's Web site.Although the wedding is scheduled to commence today, ABC's coverage of the event will not air until 8 p.m. Wednesday.Wednesday's show is the final two-hour special segment of a three-part series.The first of the three episodes drew more than 12 million viewers – about 3 million more than the average audience for "The Bachelorette."The second episode drew the second-highest audience among all of Wednesday's programs – edged slightly by NBC's "The West Wing."With the day at hand, hordes of fans are anxious to share the couple's special moments Wednesday via television."I don't know Ryan, but I would like to be Ryan," said Danny "Doc" Ramina, of Breckenridge. "And if I was a girl, I'd want to be Trista. Both have something about them, an aura, if you will. And I think I understand that aura. It's purple."Other viewers are not as keen on the couple's marriage."I don't really like Trista. I could have chosen a better woman," said Kate Ball, who is strictly a Ryan fan. "My sister's stalking him though … just kidding."Actually, it was Kate Ball who reportedly spotted Ryan at Target in Silverthorne and followed him around for 45 minutes.Other fans have not been as lucky to have the opportunity to see Ryan in public.Julie Smith, of Highland, Ind., is planning to watch Wednesday's broadcast of the wedding."I'm definitely a Ryan fan. He's so nice," she said.Smith has had the opportunity to live vicariously through her friend, Jennifer Wagoner, who lives in Vail and called Smith one day while she followed a Vail fire truck back to the fire department in East Vail, desperate for a three-dimensional glimpse of Ryan."I was jealous," said Smith.With all of this attention forced upon the couple, one might wonder whether it was all worth it."I think if I were them, I'd do the same exact thing," said Smith. "I mean, who wouldn't do that? They get a dream wedding and a million dollars after it. I would do it for sure."AT A GLANCEIt's Trista TimeAccording to Entertainment Tonight, among the details of Trista and Ryan's wedding:- The event will be broadcast during a two-hour ABC special on Wednesday, Dec. 10. They're getting married today, reportedly at the Lodge at Rancho Mirage, in Rancho Mirage, Calif., a Vail Resorts hotel.- Trista's shoes are custom-designed by Stuart Weitzman, using diamonds and platinum. They cost in the neighborhood of $50,000.- Trista will be wearing two Badgley-Mischka gowns created just for her. She'll wear one at the wedding and one at the reception, each costing approximately $20,000.- Hotel and most of the other expenses are being paid by ABC and others in exchange for promotional considerations.- To stay organized, Trista used Mindy Weiss' Wedding Organizer, available online for $99.Us magazine reported that:- 320 guests were invited- It cost $1.80 in postage to mail each Lehr & Black invitation.- Mark Held of Mark's Garden had to order 30,000 roses from Holland and Ecuador.- Their honeymoon will cost $1,646 per night for a cottage on Turtle Island, Fiji, including lobster picnics.- ABC came up with $1 million in exchange for televising the couple's wedding festivities.Andrew Harley can be reached via e-mail at aharley@vaildaily.com or phone at 949-0555, ext. 610.