ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the presence of several myths regarding love and romance listed by Galician that apply to wedding programs in the reality television genre. It examines how reality television wedding shows portray ideas of love and romance and how relationships become validated by the wedding. A wedding is a wondrous event. One of the most beautiful moments in a woman's life, as etiquette expert Letitia Baldrige contended, also serves as the one event commonly considered to be the culmination of a romantic relationship. Just as the stories presented in Harlequin romance novels have a strict set of rules with the reader already knowing how the story will go. The Bravo mini-series Gay Weddings clearly offers a counterhegemonic perspective to traditional marriage and focuses on the difficulties faced by same-sex couples who desire the same societal recognition granted by the formal wedding. The lavish, traditional white wedding with a church ceremony has become the 'natural' pattern for weddings.
