Registering Trista and Ryan
When Trista Rehn relinquished her Bachelorette status Saturday night to Ryan Sutter, every detail of their made-for-TV nuptials had been seen to: The dress, the invites, the questionably tasteful pre-wedding parties.
The gift registry also was set, and, for a change, it was (probably) real.
Months after being the subjects of a bogus listing, Rehn's and Sutter's names are again turning up on the Web as a gift-seeking couple. Specifically, the two are said to be coveting Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma and Bloomingdale's merchandise, including an aluminum-covered brownie pan ($16 from Williams-Sonoma) and Vera Wang-designed candlesticks ($25-$75 at Bloomies).
Rosanna McCollough, vice president of marketing for WeddingChannel.com, a leading matrimonial-minded site that has the current Rehn-Sutter registries, says the site has "no indication that they are not real." (Translation: They're probably legit. ABC couldn't be reached comment Friday.)
Forgive the confusion over whether a registry is real or not. Thanks to pranksters and/or truly hopeless romantics, seemingly every hot celebrity coupling is setting dates and picking out forks via online wedding registries.
Currently, dubious-sounding registries can be found for: Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, requesting 35 bags of exotic, unscented potpourri, at $8 per, from Pier 1 Imports to celebrate their August 26, 2010 wedding in Texas; Ben Affleck and "Jenny" Lopez, needing a pearl-colored bathroom scale with "added foot space" and an "easy-to-read rotating dial" from JC Penney--only $59--for their October 26, 2004, ring exchange in Italy; and, "Hillary" Duff and Frankie "Munez," undecided as to their towel needs for their walk down the aisle Friday in, um, Missouri.
To clarify: (1) The real Hilary Duff spells her first name with one "l"; (2) the real Frankie Muniz spells his last name with an "i"; and, (3) any real celebrity worth his or her bling-bling isn't registering for more bling-bling under his or her real name. (Liza Minnelli and David Gest's gift orgy of 2002 is the rare exception.)
"I think all the legitimate celebrity weddings are probably using fictitious names...[just] as when they check into a hotel," says McCollough.
So, yes, it is unlikely that ex-lovers Spears and Timberlake have set two different wedding dates in three separate locales, as listings suggest. On the other hand, it is possible that a Britney Spears (but not the famous one) is engaged to a Justin Timberlake (but not the famous one), and so forth.
The chance that the Ben Affleck who doesn't make $21 million a movie (and may really need a four-slice toaster) is the prospective groom is the reason WeddingChannel.com doesn't simply remove any and all registries that come in with celeb names attached.
"Where do you draw the line?" asks McCollough.
Actually, registry sites do draw the line--usually around they time they get a call from a publicist.
"We want to make sure no one is benefiting off the popularity of a celebrity...We pretty much wait until we're tipped off, or until we see activity on something that doesn't look right," McCollough says.
WeddingChannel.com received such a call earlier this year from Rehn's rep. According to a registry found on the site, the former Miami Heat cheerleader was marrying Bachelorette beau Sutter in June in Colorado. The couple was requesting gifts from Bloomingdale's.
Except they weren't--marrying in June, or trolling for Bloomingdale's gifts (at least not then).
"I was actually very surprised and so was Trista. It was an uncomfortable reaction on this part on how easy [registering] can be done," Kevin Allyn, Rehn's now-former manager, said last summer.
WeddingChannel.com pulled the bogus entry. (That's typically the extent of action taken. The most outrageous listings, such as the 2010 Spears-Timberlake nuptials, rarely result in any actual gift purchases from well-wishers.)
Allyn, the former manager, may want to take note of the new registries. He sued Rehn last week for a 20 percent cut of the reputed $1 million she banked for the ABC wedding special, Trista & Ryan's Wedding.
In court papers, his camp said, "basic contract law dictates that Rehn should pay Allyn the monies she owes him and let him choose an appropriate gift from Rehn's wedding registry."
Hopefully, the real one.
No word if "Hillary," Mr. "Munez" and "Jenny" were invited to Saturday's ceremony. But we're thinking no. They're too busy planning their bogus weddings.




0 Comments
Now loading...