Bachelorette Weds in Pricey TV Nuptials
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Bachelorette Trista Rehn may be really into pink, but her wedding cost an awful lot of green.
The star of The Bachelorette had her favorite color everywhere at her wedding to Ryan Sutter, a one-of-a-kind, multi-million dollar affair for reality television's royal couple, paid for by ABC Television.
There were pink jellybeans for guests at the end of the night, pink linens, pink chair covers, pink flowers, pink matchbook boxes, pink party favors and pink ribbons going everywhere. Rehn even considered, and rejected, the idea of putting pink soup on the menu. The only problem is that Sutter hates pink.
"We have tried to put pink everywhere we know Ryan won't get angry with us," said Mindy Weiss, wedding coordinator, during the preparations.
Fans of the show can watch the wedding special on ABC tonight from 9 to 11 p.m. ET. The bash actually took place Saturday at the Lodge at Rancho Mirage, a hotel and resort near Palm Springs, Calif. The posh resort was shut down for the big event, in which the couple exchanged vows in front of television cameras and 300 guests.
Treated Like Royalty
From the favors to the flowers, it was a fancy, and pricey, affair. The bridesmaid's favors were a pink Jelly Kelly bag containing a cosmetic bag, a picture of each bridesmaid with Rehn and Sutter. Inside the cosmetic bag was a pink bag containing a diamond initialed necklace. The groomsmen made out pretty well, too. Their gifts, none of which were pink, were tucked inside a backpack, and included two ski lift tickets to Vail and a watch.
Mark Held, the florist, said that he ordered tens of thousands of pink flowers that were flown in just for the big day.
"Trista loves roses, whites, pinks, light pinks very blushy colors," Held said. "Over 30,000 were all flown in from Ecuador and Holland. We've got three trucks loaded to the gills and ready to go."
The china that Rehn chose was custom-made by Lenox, who normally extend that service only to presidents and dignitaries. The plates were, of course, pink.
"For royalty, and Trista and Ryan," Rehn joked.
The wedding also featured security to keep away prying eyes who were not invited. Even groom-to-be Sutter was questioned by guards.
"They're like 'where are you credentials?'" Sutter said. "And I was like, 'what do you mean I can't be here, I'm getting married.'"
The wedding menu was porcini and spinach ravioli, swordfish, potatoes, and Venezuelan chocolate cake.
Fancy Kicks for Trista
While chefs got ready for the big day, shoe designer Stuart Weitzman concentrated on Rehn's dancing feet. The bride-to-be selected custom bridal shoes, the most expensive he has ever made, with eight karats of diamonds encrusted on them.
"She's going to be able to dance up a storm and she will," Weitzman said. "She's getting a pair of lucky shoes I don't know how many pairs of bridal shoes we've made, custom for a bride, we've never had a pair returned for a divorce ever. These are lucky shoes."
One thing was clear for Rehn and Sutter. It was not their parents' wedding.
"I think we probably spent about a total of $200 on our wedding which was cake, punch and mints so it's very similar," joked Barb Sutter, Ryan's mother.
Rehn's mother was surprised at her daughter's fancy taste. She chose one dress for the ceremony, and one of for the reception.
"She used to be the biggest tomboy," Roseanne Rehn said. "She used to not wear dresses, she hated to wear dresses. So now I'm amazed there are two dresses at this wedding for a girl who never wanted to wear a dress."
The dresses were designed by Badgely Mischka, and are worth a combined $40,000.
"It's for one day and this is supposed to be a dream," Rehn said. "This is my dream."
Goodbye to Reality?
But is the dream over, now that the telegenic couple is saying goodbye to the glitz and glamour of reality television? "It's going to be sad but please, I have him to look forward to and home and decorating our new house and making a family," Rehn said.
As star of The Bachelorette, Rehn got the chance to date, and dump, a series of youngmen before she ultimately chose Sutter, a Vail, Colo., fireman who dazzled her with his poetry.
Before her stint as The Bachelorette, Rehn was the one who was cast aside on The Bachelor. The very first Bachelor, Alex Michel, and his pick, Amanda Marsh, called it quits not long after that show's finale. Michel never formally proposed to Marsh.
After Rehn's role in The Bachelor, the former Miami Heat cheerleader gave up her job as a pediatric physical therapist to pursue a television career, which has included a stint as the host of VH1's All Access. Rehn says she plans on staying in television if possible. Ryan, on the other hand, says he'll continue putting out fires and saving lives.
The couple wouldn't comment on the rumored "cold feet clause," which said that if either one backed out of the wedding, they had to give back $100,000 to ABC.
"I thought we had to give the whole thing back," Sutter said, laughing. "If I would have known it was only $100,000, we're going to Mexico."
But on a serious note he said that while they don't expect everything to be perfect, they look forward to life without the cameras.
"The bottom line is and the thing that we're really focused on is we're going to be married and it's going to be fun and things may go wrong but it's not going to stop the fact that we're going to be married."