I cry at weddings. There I've said it. And I'm not ashamed. I remember the first wedding I cried at...I was an altar boy, kneeling on the altar, (pre Vatican II) and the Bride sacheted by me in the most gorgeous confection of a gown, stark white Chantilly lace completely covered in aurora borealis sequins that dropped all over the steps of St. Peter's Church. After the wedding I bent down and picked up a handful of those sparkles, I still have them.

When my Mom insisted I give away some of my toys to a family of kids whose father had just died, I packed up my Vacuform, my Rock’em Sock’em Robots, a Lionel Train AND my G.I. Joes and Barbie Dolls, but I secretly kept out Barbie's Wedding Dress, I still have that too. As I've written, I have my Mom's brown crepe wedding dress, my Maternal Grandma's wedding ring and my Paternal Grandma's gold filigree wedding brooch. I cry when I look at them.

When I designed the costumes for Saved By The Bell Wedding in Las Vegas, the 2 hour 1995 movie-of-the-week, and got to design the wedding gown for Kelly (Tiffani Amber Thiessen) when she and Zack (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) walked down the aisle...yeah...I cried. And of course tonight, watching Brenda and Fritz out on that gorgeous hotel balcony, bedecked with flowers, over looking the Pacific Ocean, saying their unseen off camera "I do's", I...okay...so I'm a cry baby.

Let's get right to it, if this were a hometown newspaper article, what the Bride wore would be described in great detail. Brenda Leigh Johnson, daughter of Clay and Willie Ray Johnson was stunning in a $29.00 Pricilla of Boston silk taffeta gown bought off of eBay. You all know the endearing story and journey of that very special wedding dress, but tonight, I think Brenda never looked more lovely, and the original Bride Judy Schlecht, who herself was never more lovely some 50 years ago in that very same gown, and just might have shed a tear as she saw her beautiful dress re-imagined on a TV. bride.

The moment when Brenda placed the sheer silk tulle veil on her halo of upswept curls I got shivers, but I didn't cry, just yet. The delicate dangle of antique pearls at her ears caught the light and she just glowed. It's just the weirdest thing, you get to care about these characters that actors become, and for us, the crew of The Closer, this really was just like a wedding and a reception, there was a great sense of joy and happiness and cake! On the set! Plus it was our final episode of Season 4 and that is always a bittersweet time.

The groom, Mr. Fritz Howard was attired in a midnight blue Hugo Boss single breasted suit and wore a starched white spread collar shirt from the John W. Nordstrom collection. His midnight blue silk tie was by Armani.

Miss Johnson was given in marriage by her parents, Willie Ray, who wore a peach silk crepe David Hayes suit; a soft draped jacket with a tulip petal skirt. Although Mr. Hayes's creations retail in the thousands of dollars this suit was found at the Assistance League Bargain Bazzaar for the outrageous price of $50.00. Her jewelry was a string of pearls, worn every day, and a platinum and pearl star burst brooch ca. 1965, belonging to Mrs. Evelyn LaVoi (my Mom).

Mr. Clay Johnson looked handsome in a chocolate brown western cut suit and semi sweet brown silk tie that featured 3 small matching buttons, on loan from the collection of the late Mr. Dale LaVoi (my Dad, and purchased in the 1970's from Mr. Blackwell at the Century Plaza Hotel). The ceremony was officiated by Ms. Claire Howard who chose a vintage Don Loper black and cream flecked boucle suit from the 1950's, it featured a cropped jacket with rhinestone buttons and a dirndl skirt. Her earrings were silver Angel Wings from Udderly Perfect in Manhattan Beach, CA.

After a reception celebration, at the couples duplex and a honeymoon in Italy, the betrothed will once again be in the thick of major crime scenes and relationship woes in Los Angeles, CA. where nothing but a HoHo can solve lifes problems. And at that very moment when Brenda was alone in her room, looking at the stunning vision of bridal perfection reflected in the mirror, and took a bite of HoHo, paused, and placed a dollop of butter cream frosting on top of the HoHo...sure, I cried.



The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer/speaker and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc.