(THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED.)
Best wedding procession ever.
And the bridesmaids' dresses don't suck either.
(The tune is Chris Brown's Forever.)
UPPITY WOMAN DATE (July 24/09): This thing is HUGE.
The couple, Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz, is all over the talk shows today -- and will be appearing tomorrow on NBC's Today with their entire dancing wedding party.
Heinz and Peterson (she’s keeping her maiden name) appeared live on TODAY Friday to tell their story of how their artistic self-expression on the biggest day of their lives captured America’s imagination and made them Internet stars.
After watching the video, TODAY’s Matt Lauer told the couple, “If that was a ceremony, I don’t know how you survived the honeymoon!” He then asked the couple who came up with the idea.
“It was mine,” Jill told Lauer. “I danced growing up and was a dancer through college and loved dance as a way to express yourself and share joy. So it was something I always thought about doing.”
It didn’t take her fun-loving husband Kevin long to agree to the idea, saying the decision to dance was “the first thing we really decided about the wedding that he wanted to do.”
They then broke the news to the parents that their wedding processional wasn’t going to take on the more reserved joy of a typical wedding. Jill admitted that her mom “was maybe a little nervous,” and Kevin said his parents were “definitely apprehensive,” but didn’t try to talk the two crazy kids out of their plan. They swore them to secrecy so other wedding guests wouldn’t know what they were up to.
Next up was a dance rehearsal for the wedding party. Anyone seeing the YouTube video might think the whole party was composed of dance professionals — the bridesmaids alone, with their waving-hands routine at the altar, are worth the price of admission. But Jill said it was actually more seat-of-the-tux than the final result would indicate.
“We [practiced for] an hour and a half,” Jill told Lauer. “A lot of that, people were sort of making up as they went, people just got really into it and went for it. We just gave them a general layout.”
The only bummer in all of this?
Some of the hateful comments over on the YouTube. Among all the well-wishers who, like me, got nothing but joy from watching this video, are some very bitter people. Too bad they are leaving their slimy trail on Peterson and Heinz's wonderful processional.
I laughed. I cried. That was genius. God bless 'em.
Posted by: skdadl | July 24, 2009 at 01:21 PM
What a wonderful celebration!
Posted by: Anne JW | July 24, 2009 at 05:57 PM
Best wedding procession EVAH. And yes; the bridesmaids' dresses don't suck!
Posted by: Shelly | July 24, 2009 at 08:35 PM
Wish I had thought of this. Bravo!
Posted by: Catboreal | July 24, 2009 at 09:02 PM
That was only way too cool! Great minister too.
Posted by: hysperia | July 24, 2009 at 11:22 PM
So imagine what the bouquet-catching ceremony must have been like!!!
Did they capture that on youtube as well?
I don't want to rain on the parade (no, honest, really), but enjoy it while you can ......
Posted by: The Stygian and his Shemitish Dogs | July 25, 2009 at 08:05 PM
With that much joy in their step, I think they're going to be able to weather the rocky roads just fine, Stygian.
Posted by: Pundits' Guide | July 26, 2009 at 04:32 PM
Oh, they will, I meant imitators in future years ......
Posted by: The Stygian and his Shemitish Dogs | July 27, 2009 at 08:29 AM
Harrumph fap...dancing in the church. I must conclude they're not Baptists.
Posted by: mozo | July 28, 2009 at 12:19 PM