The Empire State Building and Brides.com Announce Couples for 'The Empire State Building/Brides.com Valentine's Day Wedding Event'

NEW YORK, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- This Valentine's Day, love prevails as The Empire State Building and Brides.com marry 14 couples on the most romantic day of the year in the most romantic setting -- atop the Empire State Building.

The day will begin at 7:00 am and go until mid-afternoon as each couple is wed in a half-hour ceremony. Following their sky-high nuptials, brides and grooms will enjoy a champagne toast and receive a Brides.com gift bag valued at $500.

Weddings on Valentine's Day have been a tradition at the Empire State Building since 1994. Since the first couples got hitched, there have been over 200 weddings in what is considered to be one of the most romantic buildings ever. Featured in over 90 movies, such as Sleepless in Seattle, An Affair to Remember and King Kong, the Empire State Building epitomizes the love story.

"We receive calls daily from couples looking to get married here," said Melanie Maasch, Director of Brand Development and Public Relations, Empire State Building. "By hosting the Valentine's Day Weddings with our partners Brides.com, we wanted to give romantics all over the country the chance to make their dreams come true."

Brides.com editors will lend their expertise as they style the "wedding chapel" and each of the couples. Brides.com Senior Editor Anna Pezik, said, "Once again, we're thrilled to partner with the Empire State Building for this historic event. We've been communicating with the couples for months on their ceremony, beauty and fashion choices and we're so excited to make their wedding day a unique and special day they'll treasure."

To help the couples look their best, Brides.com has enlisted Clinique and MWTux, who will be on premise to primp and prep the brides and grooms in a branded beauty suite and first-ever "grooms room," respectively. The Clinique Global Makeup Team will assess each bride's style choices to custom-fit a skin care regimen and a flawless wedding-makeup application while MWTux, the new formalwear company from Men's Wearhouse, will provide tuxedos for the grooms via their local store and provide a special area for them to unwind and relax before meeting their bride at the end of the aisle.

Online coverage of the event will begin today and will be available on www.brides.com/esb. The couples were selected from a nationwide contest conducted by Brides.com and the Empire State Building based on essays they wrote describing their connection to the building.

The areas will cater to the beauty and style choices of the following couples:

      -- Tonya Wells & Tosin Abari (7:00 am): Both from Maryland, this couple
         met in college seven years ago and became engaged last year in New
         York City after taking in a Broadway show. Tonya is working with
         Brides.com editors to achieve a glamorous look for her big day when
         the two will exchange vows they're writing themselves.

      -- Kaymarie Knapp & JD Holt (7:30 am): Kay and JD, as they're known to
         friends, met while both stationed in Germany with the Air Force.
         Coincidentally both Chicago natives, they spent a year in a long
         distance relationship and were recently engaged in Hawaii after a day
         of snorkeling and sailing. Currently, JD is in Guam on orders and he
         will be arriving in New York just one day before the wedding to meet
         Kay for their big day.

      -- Melanie & Joseph Castine (8:00 am): Melanie and Joseph were married
         on Valentine's Day in 1998 on top of the Empire State Building.
         Every year on Valentine's Day, they return to the Empire State
         Building Observatory to celebrate their anniversary and remind
         themselves of their love and commitment to one another. 2008 marks
         their tenth wedding anniversary and they're thrilled to renew their
         vows at the same spot they originally declared their love for one
         another.

      -- Whitney Edwards & Tim Randall (8:30 am): Not even the Atlantic Ocean
         could keep Whitney and Tim apart.  They met three years ago while
         Whitney was studying abroad in London and have been inseparable ever
         since. The first time Tim came to the United States, the couple
         visited the Empire State Building and stayed at the Observatory for
         over an hour in the freezing winter weather because it was the most
         romantic spot both of them had ever been to. Tim will be coming over
         from London this Valentine's Day one last time to get married at the
         Empire State Building.

      -- Cristina Sosa & Jason Arreguin (9:00 am): Both California Natives who
         met online, they took a trip to the Big Apple in 2006 to formally
         become a couple at his request -- at the Empire State Building! Two
         years later they became engaged in San Francisco. Jason is a
         firefighter who feels a special connection to NYC and feels that the
         Empire State Building is one of the greatest symbols of America.

      -- Sara Ughrin & George Mostoller (10:30 am): Sara is "obsessed" with
         New York City, but George has never been! The couple, from Wadsworth,
         OH who have been together for 6 years, is looking forward to their
         first trip together to the Big Apple where they'll say "I do." He
         creatively proposed in Niagara Falls via a numbered-phrase spelling
         out "you," "me," "Sara," "will," "marry."

      -- Jessica Chan & Nicholas Liu (11:00 am): This Astoria, NY couple who
         lived only blocks away from each other their whole lives became
         engaged at the Empire State Building during their first trip to the
         Observatory. The two met at a dinner party of a mutual friend in 2004
         and it was love at first sight. He was so sure she was the one that
         he bought the ring and saved if for a special moment at the landmark
         for over a year.

      -- Yi-Bing Zhang & Matthew Percival (11:30 am): The couple from North
         Hollywood, CA met two years ago and started dating when he, as the
         associate manager of a Starbucks, began to write jokes on her grande
         cup of coffee.

      -- Marlo Del Toro & David Weirnicki (12:00 pm): New Yorkers at heart,
         they see the Empire State Building every night before they go to
         sleep in their Brooklyn apartment. He proposed on a Monday, "to make
         Mondays better" and met at an alternative college newspaper nine
         years ago. This is a renewal and not their first, as each year of
         being married, they have renewed their vows on Valentine's Day.

      -- Marlo Newmark & Greg Breeze (2:00 pm): Since she was a little girl,
         getting engaged at the Empire State Building has been a fantasy,
         which Greg made a reality last March. They met five years ago at work
         and after a few months of being friends, they fell in love.

      -- Kathleen Deitsch & Dustin Love (2:30 pm): On a surprise trip to NYC
         on Valentine's Day 2007, they planned to tour the city with a trip to
         the famous building, but were foiled by last winter's snowstorm.
         Instead, they stayed in their Battery Park City hotel room and after
         a romantic dinner, he proposed with their favorite song playing and
         rose petals everywhere. These high school sweethearts are thrilled to
         "re-do" their planned trip on their wedding day which is also their
         tenth anniversary of being a couple.

      -- Kathryn Keller & Lee Bertucelli (3:00 pm): New Yorkers born and
         raised, the Empire State Building holds a special place in their
         hearts. He proposed during a private plane ride around Manhattan as
         they approached the landmark building. Now living in Florida, they
         met 5 years ago on a golf course on Long Island.

      -- Jennifer Silvia & Dan McClure (3:30 pm): They made a special trip to
         NYC to shop for an engagement ring after she proposed to him! After a
         fun afternoon at a wine festival, Jennifer half-joking asked "So are
         you gonna marry me or what?" He presented the ring to her on the
         elevator ride up to the top of the Empire State Building. He later
         said he wanted to wait until the top but just couldn't.

Soaring 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan, the Empire State Building is the World's Most Famous Office Building. With new investments in infrastructure, public areas and amenities, the Empire State Building has attracted first-rate tenants in a diverse array of industries from around the world. The skyscraper's robust broadcasting technology supports all major television and FM radio stations in the New York metropolitan market. The Empire State Building was recently named America's favorite building in a poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects.

Brides.com, "Your #1 Source for Weddings," is the premier destination website within Conde Nast Bridal Media. Brides.com's dedicated editorial team creates original content, develops interactive tools, cultivates an engaged community and provides an array of beautiful imagery and videos to inspire the bride throughout her wedding planning process. Content is also aggregated from the three national magazines -- Brides, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride -- and 16 local bridal magazines.