Her Prince Charming waited for her in his morning coat and cape.
His Cinderella came down the aisle in a dress fit for a princess.
Yellow and white gold wedding rings arrived in a glass slipper, perched on a purple velvet pillow.
The officiating judge welcomed family and friends to this fairy tale world and told them how, like in storybooks, Peggy Myler and Ernie Scott would live happily ever.
If this sounds like a fantasy wedding, here’s something else to dream about: It was all planned by the groom, a hopeless romantic who was determined to make all of his fiancee’s wishes come true.
Wedding expert Beverly Clark says that Scott may be an exception to the rule, but that more and more grooms are getting involved with the planning of a wedding.
“Weddings in general are not as cookie-cutter as they were before,” said Clark, author of “Weddings: A Celebration” and “Planning a Wedding to Remember.”
“The lines are not as defined. You get such a variety, from this gentleman, to a variety of other men in between.
“They’re a lot more involved in all the details, as far as location, food…They’re definitely more involved in registering for their gifts,” said Clark.
In the case of the Scott-Myler wedding, the groom didn’t even give a thought to what was traditional for him to do. He just did it.
“Maybe it’s the producer in me,” explained Scott, who produces shows at SeaWorld in San Diego.
Scott produced nearly every aspect of his wedding.
The invitations that read, “Once upon a time” were his idea.
The Prince Charming and Snow White music box that decorated their cake table — also his idea. And “The Princess Bride” theme music played as they entered their reception. Yes, — his idea.
“I picked my own dress and my bridesmaids’ dresses,” said the bride.
The groom said the whole fairy tale, fantasy theme of their wedding was based on the place that means most to the couple: Disneyland.
“It was one of the first places we really went together as a couple. And it was the first place that I told her that I loved her…right in front of the castle at the wishing well,” he recalled.
Clark pointed to more pragmatic — and less romantic — reasons for grooms’ growing interest in wedding planning: maturity.
“Part of this is because the average age of a bride and groom is older now. A bride would be 24 to 26 and a groom more like 27 to 28,” Clark said.
Craig Conroy, an author, speaker and researcher with Conroy Resource Group, agrees.
“We’ve been seeing the average age go up for the last 17 years,” he said.
Conroy also cited socioeconomic and educational factors; more money and education, he said, generally means a bride and groom both will want to be involved.
It’s also a matter of changing gender roles, he said.
“This generation is a generation that grew up with boys taking home economics and playing soccer with girls,” he added.
Scott, however, didn’t concern himself with any gender roles or expectations.
And, 10 years later, he said he remembers every detail of his wedding day, right down to being driven by limousine to Disneyland immediately after the reception to pose for photos in front of the wishing well where they got engaged.
“Disneyland is still a special place,” he said. “Every time we’re there, we’re reminded of walking down Main Street in our wedding clothes.”