St. Louis Valentine's Day Mass Wedding Planned Under Gateway Arch

The St. Louis Arch will provide a romantic backdrop on Wednesday for close to 100 couples who plan a Valentine's Day wedding. The mass wedding is sponsored by a country radio station, WIL-FM and its morning disc jockey, Cornbread, according to the radio station's Web site.

Ninety-two couples will get the complete package - flowers, reception, free legal ceremony, photographs and even rings. (The number coincides with the radio station's spot on the dial.) Hundreds of other couples are still expected to show up and be part of the ceremony, although they won't get the extras. The radio station chose the winners through Web site entries. The 92 couples chosen get the entire treatment, but any other couple is welcome to join the station at the Arch on Feb. 14, 7 a.m., to be legally wed. (Couples may also choose to renew their vows.)

Mass weddings will take place in several places around the world, but they're still a new phenomenen in the United States. Many cities, like St. Louis, are considering them a way to provide an economic boom at a time when tourism is down. The mass weddings attract couples and friends to the town, generating far more income than the cost of the event. Plus, as in the case of the St. Louis radio station, the publicity generated can be, well, priceless.

Last year, the trend even reached into cyberspace, with 30 virutal couples being wed at Linden Lab in the cyber world of Second Life. According to the SecondLife Herald, the ceremonies were performed at the Linden Opera House, a virtual building that was in reality a special Valentine's Day wedding group.. Each couple were allowed to invite two guests to serve as witnesses. The marriages were only valid in the world of Second Life.