At last, Ripa gets her wedding cake
Thirteen years after eloping to Las Vegas, Kelly Ripa finally got her wedding cake.
The no-frills wedding package didn't include cake when she and "All My Children" co-star Mark Consuelos got hitched at the Chapel of the Bells here on May 1, 1996.
Their story goes full circle Tuesday when they revisit their runaway wedding on "Live with Regis & Kelly" (KVCW-TV, Channel 6).
The cake wasn't the only surprise of their return to the chapel.
When the limo arrived to pick them up last Thursday at the Wynn Las Vegas, the driver, Patricia Fullmer, was their chauffeur 131/2 years ago.
Fullmer was running the chapel for her parents at the time, and did double duty when the regular driver was tied up with a family lunch engagement.
Fullmer and her daughter, Lisa, were in the audience at Sunday's taping of "Regis & Kelly" on Sunday at the Encore Theater at the Wynn.
Fullmer's daughter handled wedding coordinator duties that day, unaware of the young lovers' soap opera status.
It was a heat-of-the-moment wedding. Ripa and Consuelos had a big fight that week in New York City, where "All My Children" is filmed.
They were booked on a major talk show, and the timing couldn't have been worse: they weren't talking to each other.
But they put on their best happy faces for their guest appearances on a little show called -- drumroll please -- "Live with Regis & Kathie Lee."
After the show, Consuelos invited Ripa over for pizza and wine ... and proposed.
Lovestruck, they flew to Las Vegas on their day off.
When Ripa and Consuelos returned to the chapel last Thursday, Fullmer, now the owner, showed them the original receipt.
The $139.24 package included use of the chapel, a candlelight setting, a roll of film to go and a cassette tape recording of their vows. Consuelos left a $45 gratuity for the minister and the driver, bringing the total bill to just under $200.
During the video package that was played during Sunday's second taping of the day, Ripa told the crowd, "We didn't have cake because he was so cheap, I swear."
In a frosting-on-the-cake moment, Ripa came out onstage in the dress she wore on her wedding day. It was the first trip back to Las Vegas since the wedding for Ripa and Consuelos.
Backstage after the show, she told me they spent their wedding night at The Mirage.
"Room 413," she said.
"We requested the room overlooking the volcano," she said. "But the volcano was under renovation."
Regis, risking an elbow to the ribs, suggested the inactive volcano was hardly missed.
SIGHTINGS
Regis and Joy Philbin, dining with Elaine Wynn at Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare. At another table: Jimmy Kimmel and members of his family. ... Chef Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys (Mandalay Bay) and Burger Bar (Mandalay Place), dining at Botero (Encore). ... Comedian Lewis Black, having cocktails with friends at B.B. King's Blues Club (The Mirage) following his show. ... At XS nightclub (Encore) on Saturday: "Peepshow" star Holly Madison, with Playboy's 2008 Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole and Playboy's Miss July 2008 Laura Croft, Brody Jenner of "The Hills" (who has been dating Jayde Nicole, but left with friends), Playmate November 2005 Raquel Gibson, UFC fighter Josh Koscheck (fresh from a win over Anthony Johnson in UFC 106) and UFC legend Chuck Liddell.
THE PUNCH LINE
Luxor headliner Carrot Top had the "Regis & Kelly" audience howling when he paid homage to Andre Agassi with a tennis racket specially fitted with a meth pipe.
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.
