I am a reality TV junkie. I gave up on scripted television the first week I discovered I could watch unpaid Americans compete to stay alive and win $1million on Survivor. It’s much better than watching a group of high-class unbelievable friends act like idiots and get paid millions.As I have tuned in over the past six years I have noticed that elements of reality TV trickle into my reality.These behaviors have never been as evident as they were last week when I left Minnesota to attend a wonderfully eccentric wedding in Marfa, Texas.During a wedding adventure to the foothills of the Davis Mountains in far southwest Texas teams of friends and relatives gathered to witness the marriage of a French man and a Puerto Rican woman.All of the reality show criteria were met, modes of transportation included a bus, car, train, plane and foot. Participants had little knowledge of our destination, there were plenty of people speaking foreign languages and, of course, we all had a common goal: not money or prizes, but to make this adventure lovely and peaceful for the bride and groom.David and I left for the Sioux Falls airport at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 16, to board a flight to Chicago. Once in Chi-Town we caught our connecting flight to the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.We were given the customary reality show rest and relaxation period that evening and Thursday morning.Thursday afternoon we joined a caravan of cars heading toward Houston. About an hour into our journey, the tire on my friend’s GMC Jimmy blew out – this would be our first Road Block.The tire was fixed in record time, and we were back on the road. In reality TV as in reality, being efficient and making good time is important.In Houston, teams of wedding guests from Fort Worth met up with teams from France, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Houston at the home of the bride and groom.Next, 32 members of the wedding party, including the happy couple, boarded a chartered bus at 12:30 a.m. Friday. Our destination was FortDavis, Texas, population 1,050. Fort Davis is located 595 miles west of Houston nestled in the Davis Mountains, just north of Big Bend National Park.On reality TV this 12-hour bus trip would have meant more rest and relaxation, time given to contestants to prepare, sleep and plot. In reality the bus took on a nightclub atmosphere.Even after seven hours of travel people could be heard mixing drinks and rejoicing about the spectacular sunset they were lucky enough to watch as others slept. Yes, they were saying "sunset." After all, it was their second day in America.These comments stirred me from my sleep. As I looked out the giant picture window next to my bus seat I realized I had been transported to the middle of nowhere.The landscape of Texas strip malls and car dealerships had been replaced by a desolate environment. Low-lying shrubs and cacti dotted vast stretches of land. The horizon was littered with plateaus. Even the interstate seemed empty.Once in Fort Davis teams would be on foot until given word to board the bus to Marfa for the wedding. Suddenly there was opportunity and time to compete in challenges. Guests could choose among mountain climbing, yoga, shopping or cacti jumping.Our final pitstop on the race to a wedding was in the most spectacular of settings, just like on TV.Wedding guests were dropped off at a courthouse that was built in 1893, and they had no idea as to where to go or what surprise would be next.When the door to the building was unlocked we began climbing stairs. There were three flights of wooden stairs, much like you would expect to find in a courthouse, but then a door in the ceiling was opened. It exposed a much smaller, narrower flight of stairs. This led to a tower with a panoramic view of the surrounding desert landscape.Guests stood along the perimeter of the tower watching the sun set behind the mountains and waiting for the bride to arrive.The race was over, everyone had survived and we were much better off for having participated.When the spontaneous host and hostess exchanged their vows I felt that the love for them in that tower could never be exceeded nor taken away. The lengths they had gone to ensure that every guest felt entertained and safe was worthy of any reality TV set. All teams were happy and aware that this was a winning couple. They had the guarantee. Their marriage was based on love; it would work.
