Suburban couple confused by 'Today' show loss
From the moment Tom Krieglstein and Annie Colbert set out for what became their final appearance on the "Today" show, the effort to get married on TV suddenly seemed doomed.
Rain in Chicago canceled the couple's flight to New York. Their only option to make it to the show on time was to drive from their Wrigleyville apartment.
Halfway there, at 2 a.m., the couple learned if they could make it to Pittsburgh by 4:30 a.m., they could catch a flight to New York that would land at 6:50 a.m. That would leave them 10 minutes to get to the "Today" show studios before show time.
They arrived just in time to learn they didn't have enough votes to make it to the final round of the Today Throws a Wedding: Race to the Altar contest.
More Coverage Links Suburban couple's race to the altar [05/31/08]
Show officials told the couple the vote was so close they didn't even want to tell them the final numbers because they would freak out.
"We're a bit bummed and sad and upset," Krieglstein said Thursday -- a day after the elimination.
"It confuses us," he added. "We had a ton of support, and we were definitely tracking what the other couples were doing. But it's not like the Florida recount. We can't come back."
That leaves Krieglstein and Colbert with a new problem. The television exposure filled the Wheaton and Glen Ellyn natives with big wedding dreams, but they don't have the big pockets to match.
"We just really want to be married," Krieglstein said. "The show makes it even more urgent. But we have the big financial issue."
Krieglstein and Colbert don't know their next step. They're pretty sure they're done with contests.
A "green" wedding with an ecological theme may be in the cards. If that happens, they'll let the media know. Otherwise, a trip to Thailand with a wedding featuring just the couple and no guests may be in the works. It would allow them to combine the wedding and honeymoon all in one.
"The hard part is that it's expensive to get there, but once you're there they have these ridiculously nice wedding packages for under $500," Krieglstein said.
The couple estimates a Thailand wedding would cost about $5,000. But that's only a possibility at this point.
Krieglstein said they'll keep their supporters informed of their wedding plans with updates to their Web site at www.annietom.com.
"We always have something in the works," Krieglstein said. "We still have each other, and we know we're right for each other."