Nuptials

Every soap viewer knows that a happy marriage between their favorite daytime characters eventually means the kiss of death for that story line. On "General Hospital," it took a while to get Tony (played by Brad Maule) and Tania (played by Hilary Edson) married "off. " After the couple's on-screen marriage, their characters simmered in back-burner story lines for almost a year, and, more recently, hadn't been seen all that much until Tania gave birth to a daughter, Barbara Jean.

Today is the first day of Mr. and Mrs. Letourneau's (more likely, Fualaau's) life: Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau, who shattered a few taboos - and laws - were due to wed last night. Entertainment Tonight and its sister show, The Insider, which reportedly paid as much as $800,000 for exclusive rights to air the blessed nuptials, say the wedding was to take place in a secluded corner of King County, Wash., near Seattle. Letourneau, who has two daughters with Fualaau, ages 6 and 7, was convicted of statutory rape and spent 7 1/2 years in prison for bedding Fualaau in '96. At the time, she was a 34-year-old teacher and married mother of four, and he was 12. The couple have always maintained they were in love.

Nothing like nuptial news to perk up the morning. And today, we have a triple dose. It's official (kind of): After weeks of hand-wringing and idle speculation by gossip hounds, it seems Shakespeare in Love star Gwyneth Paltrow is not only in love, she's entered wedded bliss with her honey, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Last week, they announced they were expecting a child. Then, records in the Santa Barbara County (Calif.) clerk-recorder's office showed they applied for a marriage license last Friday.

Decked out in a fiery red suit, Mayor Sandi Love was ready to break her Valentine's Day record for marrying couples when she arrived at the Gloucester Township Municipal Building yesterday morning. Typically, Love reserves one Saturday afternoon a month for the three or four couples who want to be married by her. But with the name Love, the second-term mayor was in hot demand for Feb. 14 nuptials. "I guess I get real popular around this time of year," she said. With 10 weddings scheduled, it looked as though Love would break her record of eight, set in 1996.

Everybody's heard of sponsored weddings, a la Star Jones. And it's no secret that destination weddings are hot. Now three lucky Philadelphia-area couples are vying to have it all - an all-expenses-paid nuptial gala at a venue none of their guests will forget anytime soon: In a South Philly Dunkin' Donuts parking lot. "I'm envisioning a pink-and-orange extravaganza," said celebrity event designer David Beahm, the mastermind of the $2...

Getting ready for a wedding can be a real sideshow if you're a couple of clowns like Rene Coker and Ron "Toto" Johnson of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. With their center-ring nuptials set for Wednesday at the Spectrum, the cutups yesterday visited Wanamaker's and City Hall to check out a gown and a license.

He just won one of the most coveted jobs in Washington - a seat on the House Appropriations Committee, where he will play a role in doling out billions of federal tax dollars. He's considered an up-and-comer in Congress, and frequently in demand for national talk shows like "Meet the Press" and "Hardball. " It seems there was only one thing that was missing from U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah's political r?sum?. A wife. When Fattah tied the knot to WCAU-TV (Channel 10)

27 Dresses stars the creamy Katherine Heigl as Jane, bridal hopeful, and the dreamy James Marsden as Kevin, wedding cynic. Here are actors radiating more star power than legally should be allowable in a movie so predictable that the audience knows what the characters will say before they do. Didn't see the "Benny and the Jets" karaoke coming, though. Heigl is Jane, a Manhattan executive assistant whose biggest fear is that the saying "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" will prove prophetic.

The '90s rolled in yesterday to a welcome of football games and festivities that included, in Pasadena, Calif., the 101st Tournament of Roses Parade - in which actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, on horseback, was greeted with a chorus of boos. An estimated one million people stood on curbs to watch the procession of 60 floats, 275 equestrians and 22 bands. But when parade-goers saw the convicted police-slapper mounted on her Tennessee walking horse, they did not shower her with holiday cheer. Booing loudly, some screamed, "Go to jail, you floozy.

TRENTON - A Republican lawmaker said Thursday that he had submitted a proposal for a ballot question that would ask New Jersey voters to approve gay marriage in November. Meanwhile, Gov. Christie met with a gay lawmaker with whom he exchanged barbs over putting the issue of same-sex nuptials to a popular vote. Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R., Somerset), sponsor of the ballot-question resolution, said putting the question to voters would allow proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage to register an opinion at the ballot box. Christie, a Catholic who opposes gay marriage, also wants the issue put to referendum.

TRENTON - A Superior Court judge ruled Friday that a lawsuit seeking to force the state to recognize gay marriage can go forward, setting up a trial on the issue five years after the state Supreme Court stopped just short of allowing same-sex nuptials. Judge Linda Feinberg ruled that the gay-rights group Garden State Equality, seven couples and several of their children have a legitimate claim that the state's civil union law does not give them equal protection under the law. But she dismissed the part of the suit that argues that gay couples have a fundamental right to marriage in the state.

Cruise-ship wedding ceremonies are increasing at a surprising rate, according to the Cruise Line International Association, the trade group for 25 major cruise lines. More and more couples, including gay and lesbian ones, are going that route, buying wedding and civil union ceremony packages and getting built-in honeymoons at the same time. Carnival played cupid last year to more than 2,000 couples who purchased its various wedding deals, and expects a 10 percent increase this year, says the cruise line's spokesman, Vance Gulliksen.

RE columnist Ronnie Polaneczky's "Store Dresses Down Bride for Being a Lesbian" : How can anyone make such a staunch claim of identity based upon something as precarious, if not frivolous, as the human sexual appetite? Worse yet, why should anyone support those who have estranged themselves from the rest of humanity? That's right. I said "estranged. " If that weren't the case, then why do gays use the term "straight allies"? Moreover, if gays see us as enemies, why don't they just fight to win our minds by engaging in intelligent dialogue about what makes a person gay?

LONDON - New flags went up, cleaning crews scrubbed down, police checked for explosives, and two die-hard fans were already camping out. Welcome to Westminster Abbey, ground zero for Britain's royal wedding frenzy. Scores of police carefully examined the large temporary media structures that have gone up near the venerable abbey in central London, which will offer standing room for the thousands of journalists expected to cover Friday's nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

R USSELL BRAND and Katy Perry actually went through with it. The hirsute British rascal and the busty U.S. pop star deemed too dangerous for "Sesame Street," were married Saturday at the luxury Aman-e-Khas resort and tiger reserve in northwestern India, an anonymous hotel official said. Although we don't believe that either Russell or Katy is Hindu, a Hindu priest conducted the ceremony, which was attended by family and close friends. Security was strict. Because a London magazine had exclusive rights to the affair, photographers and reporters from other outlets were not allowed on the property.

Dear Amy: I have been a househusband for the last 20 years. I have six sisters and no brothers. Recently, one of my sister's daughters was married, and I was intentionally not invited. Through the family grapevine, I learned that it was my niece's choice. I've talked to the girl maybe two times in my life, the last being eight years ago when she was in high school. We had a disagreement regarding feminism. It was silly really. There was no name-calling, just me disagreeing with her (I believe)

There was good news yesterday for Jason and Jennifer O'Neill, a Philadelphia couple whose 2005 Bucks County marriage had been thrown into question because they used a minister ordained online. For many other similarly situated couples, too. Bucks County Court Judge C. Theodore Fritsch Jr. declared the marriage valid, even though the minister - Jason O'Neill's uncle, Robert A. Norman - had been ordained in a matter of minutes by the Universal Life Church after completing a short form online.

It was, in the bride's words, "absolutely perfect. " Lauren Avellino Turton's 2006 beach wedding featured steel drums playing as she walked across the sand to her groom, a rose tossed in the ocean as a tribute to her deceased father, and an Eagles-Giants game on a nearby bar television. The next day, she found herself fighting tears. "It's so hard when it's over. It's like you're going through withdrawal," the 31-year-old Media resident said. Weddings in children's books generally end with the bride and groom riding away to live happily ever after.

27 Dresses stars the creamy Katherine Heigl as Jane, bridal hopeful, and the dreamy James Marsden as Kevin, wedding cynic. Here are actors radiating more star power than legally should be allowable in a movie so predictable that the audience knows what the characters will say before they do. Didn't see the "Benny and the Jets" karaoke coming, though. Heigl is Jane, a Manhattan executive assistant whose biggest fear is that the saying "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" will prove prophetic.