A dream wedding in Vegas?

When you hear the words "wedding in Vegas," what do you think of? I am guessing it is of the waking-up-married tradition, made all the more notorious by Britney Spears' 55 hours of wedded not-quite-bliss with a friend in 2004. But the weddings that Vegas tourism promoters want you to think about look very different. And in truth there are far more elegant, high-end chapels tucked into exclusive resorts than there are drive-through weddings presided over by an Elvis impersonator.

One recent wedding at the MGM Grand looked like a made-for-television commercial, featuring the elegant side of Vegas matrimonial options. Indeed, it was a wedding literally made by television -- or more specifically, the makers of the CBS daytime soap opera "The Young and the Restless." Television cameras and more than a dozen photographers were on hand to record the nuptials, thanks to a news release that had invited coverage of an event that was also in part public relations for the recession-scarred host town.

In fact, the wedding was partly sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the room-tax-financed organization charged with creating events to promote Vegas. (Two other activities by the authority that attracted a lot of attention were bringing an entire small town to Vegas for a vacation last year and implementing the city's best-known advertising campaign: "What happens here, stays here.")

This wedding was a perfect example of that special way Vegas has of creating what seems a custom-made fantasy while creating a product that manages to have mass appeal.

The betrothed in this case were a very real couple, New York City policeman Willie Williams and his fiancee, Charlene Lee, a medical secretary.

They had made a video and posted it on the soap opera's website, telling of how her battle with breast cancer built their love. That short video led to viewers ultimately choosing the couple for this special wedding.

The ceremony was perfect in the way Vegas sometimes can get the details exactly right. The poolside location that the resort PR department had picked was a precious bit of outdoor real estate that benefited from shade from the summer heat at that particular time of day. Two specially made rows of grass led to the spot where the ceremony took place.