ST. LOUIS — The third floor at KSDK is a special place for Jennifer and Bryan Brake.
"My strongest memory from this is trying not to laugh coming in and out of the commercial breaks," Jennifer recalls.
20 years ago, on a rainy October afternoon, 10s of thousands of people tuned in as the couple said I Do, live on Show Me St. Louis.
"At the time, NBC was doing the weddings, too. So, everyone knew it was a thing, and now people are like, 'People get married on TV? Is it like the Bachelor?' It's very funny. I'm like, 'No. It's not that.'," Jennifer says.
Couples across the metro entered the 2004 Show Me St. Louis Wedding Contest. The grand prize included a free wedding, reception, and honeymoon. Out of the three finalists, it was Bryan and Jennifer that captured the hearts of our viewers.
St. Louis voted on every aspect of the wedding, from the dress to the tux, even the flowers and the cake.
"When I get my haircut, they're like, what do you want to do? I'm like, I don't really care. I'll be fine with it in the end, and I feel like that's how we were with this. We would not have gotten married, at least not then, and certainly not as extravagantly otherwise," Jennifer says.
"It would have been in the backyard or something," Bryan says.
A lot has changed since that day in 2004. Since they came up those stairs 20 years ago on their wedding day, Bryan and Jennifer have made some new additions - two to be exact.
Abigail and Eleanor Brake always knew their parents tied the knot on television, but they just recently viewed the episode for the first time.
"It was weird. It was weird seeing like, that's my parents," Abigail says.
"I just thought it was cool they got picked," Eleanor adds.
It is not the typical wedding story.
But it is a memorable one.
Congratulations on 20 years, Bryan and Jennifer!
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