Saying 'I Do' for the Cameras

Celebrity special focuses on that walk down the aisle
By John Crook
ZAP2IT

January 21, 2003

By common consensus, weddings are fraught with both possibilities and pitfalls. In fact, Fox has an upcoming special called 'Bridezillas' (Jan. 27) that chronicles what happens when nuptials turn nasty. Come to think of it, it's a rare episode of 'America's Funniest Home Videos' that doesn't include at least one bit of footage from a major matrimonial mishap.

This week, however, NBC takes a rosier look at tying the knot in 'InStyle: Celebrity Weddings,' a one-hour special premiering tonight at 8. A companion piece to InStyle magazine's annual issue on Hollywood marriages, the telecast features celebrities ranging from actors Kyle MacLachlan, Shannon Elizabeth, Sharon Lawrence and Marc Anthony to singer Jessica Simpson as they open their wedding ceremonies to a national audience.

The special also features segments on striking wedding gowns, floral arrangements and wedding rings.

Some might expect that performers who spend most of their life in the public eye might be loath to share such a personal milestone in their private lives, but Simpson takes a cheery, philosophical attitude toward the project.

'Well, if the public is going to see anything, I'd much rather they see my wedding than some other things,' says the vocalist, who married Nick Lachey of the music group 98 Degrees in October.

'I wanted my fans to see how happy we were and how real our love is. It was just a day I wanted to share - in fact, I'm doing my own wedding book ['Jessica's Fairy Tale Wedding,' due in stores next month].'

Simpson says the InStyle crews were so unintrusive that she virtually forgot they were even there.

'You know what? You are so oblivious [to them], because there are so many other things you need to concentrate on,' she says. 'Maybe it would be different for other brides, but at this point, I'm pretty used to being photographed. All my friends were loving it - 'Oh, my gosh, InStyle is here!' - so it was fun for my bridesmaids, although it really barely registered with me.

'They were our videographers, so once they use the footage for our piece [in the NBC special], they don't keep any of it. We get it all. They were there from our rehearsal dinner on.'

Simpson, a self-professed heart-on-the-sleeve romantic, still turns a little swoony when she thinks back to that late-afternoon Oct. 26 ceremony in Austin, Texas, where she and Lachey exchanged vows. In fact, she can relate it with such total recall that the videotape begins to seem a little redundant.

Ask her what she remembers most vividly, and Simpson immediately replies, 'Walking down the aisle. The church was my favorite part of the entire day. I walked in and I felt like I was Juliet in 'Romeo and Juliet.' The colors and the flowers were amazing, and everyone you love, everyone you would die for, was sitting there watching you walk down the aisle. And standing there in front of you is the man that you are going to be with for the rest of your life.'

Unlike many young show-business couples, Simpson and Lachey did not live together before their wedding, and she cheerfully acknowledges the two are making adjustments as they learn more about each other.

'I'm pretty messy, and he's cleaner,' she says. 'We just go on learning and adapting as we need to.'

It helps that Lachey is, to hear his bride tell it, possibly the most romantic man now walking on planet Earth.

'He does a lot of very romantic stuff all the time,' Simpson says, reaching for an example. 'Like yesterday, I had to work all day, and he did all my laundry - which is a huge thing for a guy to do, you know? Every time I cook, he automatically washes the dishes. It's just the way he was raised, and I watch him at the sink and think, 'Yay, I got a good one!''
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