[If you have not seen the TLC program A Wedding Story, I highly recommend that you give it a look if you can. However, I have tried to recreate as clearly as possible what the show's about: essentially, it's a documentary chronicling the events leading from the planning to the completion of one couple's wedding 'story'. And this? This is the story of...]

The Bass-Fatones

It's a typically sunny day on a Hawaiian resort where two identical camera crews have set up shop to record these series of events. One has devoted its time to capturing Joey Fatone, who sits with a backdrop of an expansive crystal pool, mountains in the skyline as he lounges on the deck; the other focuses on Lance Bass, behind whom the hotel looms, sunlight reflecting brightly against the windows.

Lance: Me and Joey met... like, over seven years ago.
Joey: Lance came into Orlando, from Mississippi, to meet everybody for the group--
Lance: [slowly] 'In Sync'.
Joey: The four of us -- Justin, Chris, JC and I -- had gotten together, we'd been singing, and we needed a bass, a bass voice to fill out our sound--
Lance: I was gettin' ready for my homecoming for high school, and I got this call--
Joey: Everybody got along pretty good right away, and I mean, we sang really well together, sounded great--
Lance: So I was in! [makes victory hands]
Joey: He was in! [grins]
Lance: I thought we all got along pretty well--
Joey: It was mostly him and me at the beginning.
Lance: Joey... became my best friend pretty much right from the start.
Joey: I mean, we all had to get real close; I mean, that's what made us work. That's what makes us work.
Lance: We're all, like, best friends--
Joey: Me and him just had so much in common--
Lance: And we hung out so much. We went on vacation together, we shared a bus and everything. But it wasn't like... neither of us was looking for, you know, a relationship or anything at all--
Joey: He was just like my brother.
Lance: I couldn't tell you the exact moment when I looked at him and thought... [nods] Yeah. There's somethin' there.
Joey: Probably around the... end of the Strings tour? We kinda started noticing sorta...
Lance: Little things, that you know--
Joey: Makes you go 'hmmm'!
Lance: You start thinking like, 'you know, I bought him earrings for Christmas. What does that mean'? [laughs]
Joey: It's like you've been looking for something all your life and it's in the last place you thought of looking.
Lance: So it kinda snuck up on us. [laughs] I think almost everybody knew before us!
Joey: We did a movie together, Lance and I--
Lance: I thought the role was, you know, perfect for him. And we were so busy that... it was gonna be good to be able to spend some time with him, too. Like, away from the group; just somethin' with the two of us.
Joey: We shot the movie in like, a month, but [nods] it was a good month. And then we were working on an album, on the Celebrity album--
Lance: And Joey's daughter Brianna was born. So it was a lot of good things going on at the same time.
Joey: If anybody asks me when I knew, you know -- when did I know it was love? I say when Brianna was born. I just didn't even know I had that kind of love in me. It was like. my heart [he gestures] grew. And then I knew.
Lance: He's the best dad.
Joey: We're gonna raise her together. Brianna calls Lance 'da-da'. I'm 'daddy', he's 'da-da'.
Joey: September 11th.
Lance: That really... got us thinkin'. You know, really remembering what's important. 'Cause, you know, we went to the, um. To ground zero--
Joey: We didn't really talk much, on like, the flight, or seeing the actual. actual place where the towers used to be.
Lance: It wasn't really... like, he didn't ask or I didn't ask--
Joey: We kinda both brought it up.
Lance: We were talking, and Joey goes--
Joey: Let's get married!
Lance: It wasn't really... what I'd been thinking. [laughs]
Joey: I'd been giving it a lot of thought, actually... like when my daughter was born--

Lance, laughing, chases a screaming Brianna on the lawn, arms outstretched, and grabs her around the midsection, swooping her into the air and tickling mercilessly while she squeals delightedly.

Joey: --I just started thinking more about the future and [shrugs] making things permanent. So. It seemed like the right time.
Lance: [nodding] I was really surprised.
Joey: [laughing] And he didn't believe me!
Lance: [grins] I knew he was serious and everything! It was just, I was like, [snorts] 'okay, we'll see, you know, if anything's gonna happen'.
Joey: So I bought him a ring--
Lance: That was... the other surprise. [laughs]
Joey: Black onyx with like, diamonds all around it--
Lance: [displays ring, both bashful and proud]
Joey: Got down on one knee--
Lance: I was so embarrassed! [laughs] It was out on our balcony at the hotel. I was scared I was gonna drop the ring before I got it on.
Joey: Just told him I loved him... and I couldn't think of a better way to show it--

Lance turns on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other, until he faces Joey next to him. "No, 'cause you were," he points thoughtfully. "You were sayin' all this stuff about growing old together, and like, giving Brianna away at her wedding--"

Joey shakes his head, ducking it as he smiles. "I think I was probably on something."

"It was really moving," Lance says seriously.

"Nah, I meant it," Joey admits.

Joey: And we set a date and everything, and that was it.
Lance: [shakes his head] I love him so much. [pauses, laughs] Okay, that was so cheesy!

Joey and Lance sit on the lawn, Joey sprawled between Lance's legs with Lance's arms wrapped loosely around his neck from behind. "It's like, when you're young," Lance says, "and you try to picture your future, it's funny how there's so much stuff you just can't see."

Joey smirks a little. "You couldn't see *NSYNC in your future."

"I couldn't see you," Lance says.

"I could see you," Joey replies. "I didn't know your name, but I knew there was someone like you."

Joey: We wanted to go someplace where we could just be silly -- we're always silly, but -- we wanted to try this place--
Lance: There was this karaoke bar, and we were killin' time--
Joey: I think we sang, like, every love song they had in the booklet. [laughs] And nobody knew!

Joey drops to his knees, mic in hand, and tugs on Lance's hand playfully with the other. "Well, I don't know if all that's true," he sings, "Iwantedtogettheheightthingright," he says. "But you got me, and baby, I got you."

Lance is laughing too hard to join in.

"Babe!" Joey sings.

Lance: Our parents have been.... incredible.
Joey: Really supportive -- and you know, they've been there for us in like, everything else, so it's just; they kinda viewed this as just another one of those crazy things their sons are up to. [laughs]

Joe Sr. and Phyllis Fatone, Joey's parents.

"We were actually thrilled that Joey was gonna settle down," Joe Sr. says. "And we know Lance; he's a great kid, and he--"

"We've seen 'em together," Phyllis adds.

"They look good together. They complement each other," Joe says.

"They're in love," Phyllis concludes.

Jim and Diane Bass, Lance's parents.

"When they told us they were thinking of getting married," Diane begins, "we were... a little surprised, but we were happy." She smiles. "If I could choose anyone for Lance... it would be someone who was his best friend." She nods. "And Joey's that person."

"He's already like a son to us," Jim says.

Diane nods again. "He is; he is. It's like they're already married; he's a part of the family already."

Lance: Always wanted a church wedding.
Joey: You know, he's Baptist, and I come from. [gestures] Big, Italian Catholic family.
Lance: It's not like we can be picky, though. [smiles]
Joey: Found a minister who'd do it--
Lance: It's legal in Vermont and Hawaii--
Joey: So we checked out the resort--
Lance: Beautiful church. Incredible church in Maui, with this great view--
Joey: So... Lance is gonna get his church wedding.
Lance: Because I know Joey wanted something special in like, a big church and stuff, and his whole family can come. And it's familiar to both of us instead of like, just a justice of the peace. [nods]

Lance and Joey enter the empty church at the rear, holding hands as they start down the aisle. "Wow," Lance says, as he drops Joey's hand and goes ahead of him.

"It's a long walk," Joey observes, and Lance begins to hum the Death March.

Joey: I told Lance he could do all the planning stuff if he wanted to. He really, he really likes that kinda thing, so.
Lance: I love to, you know. Plan and organize things. Throw parties. So when we started talkin' about the reception, I was like, 'I'll do it'!" [grins]

Lance is on the phone, hunched over a pad of stationary with a cursive, decorative 'J' and 'L' entwined. "No," he says, "I'm talking about the people who are just coming in for the reception." He waits. "Yeah, if we could do that for them, that would be good."

He leads the camera crew down a hotel hallway, talking over his shoulder as he walks. "The guys are supposed to be coming down over the next two days," he informs them. He takes off his sunglasses and reaches for a doorknob. "Not everybody can make it," he says apologetically, "'cause it's in Hawaii and everything, so. We're flying in family and everything, but." When he opens the door, JC is there to greet him with a face-splitting grin, a handshake and a hug.

JC Chasez, best friend.

"I mean, we were just glad they hooked up," he says, arms folded as he leans against the wall of the suite. "It can be so hard to find somebody in this business, you know, who can really stick it out with all the, the things celebrities deal with, so," he shrugs a shoulder, smiles. "If they could find that with each other, more power to them."

Chris Kirkpatrick, best friend.

"Truth or dare," Chris says, tossing a football.

"We're playing touch football," Lance yells, off-screen. On-screen, Joey struggles to take baby steps with the football in his arms, as Chris lies on the ground gripping Joey's ankles.

"Truth or dare, Lance was checking out the ballroom dancer instructor guy," Chris continues. "He was givin' him the ol' bedroom eyes."

"I plead the fifth," Lance says, laughing. JC tackles him, grabbing at his shirt around the waist and pulling him to the ground, sitting on him when he succeeds.

"That guy had nothing on me," Joey says.

"Eh, we'll see," Lance replies.

Wedding Rehearsal.

Chris enters the church and asks, "okay, so which one of y'all's carrying the flowers?" before greeting Joey and Lance with hugs.

Audrey Mills, officiating minister.

"Okay, so you're gonna come down the aisle and meet the wedding party here." Joey and Lance obey her commands, strolling briskly down the aisle to the altar. "Then the moms are pinning the flowers to the lapels -- pin pin -- and join their hands."

Brianna sits by the front pew on the floor, picking pieces of paper that pass for flower petals out of a basket and flinging them away from her. "We wanted Brianna to be a flower girl," Joey confides softly to the camera, "but everybody was all, 'she's too young! She can't walk that far! She won't understand'! So we figured Kelly--" he points-- "Bri's mom-- is gonna carry her and they'll do it together. So we'll see how that works." He cringes excitedly. "We hope it works."

"So I'm gonna ask you some questions before your vows," Minister Mills tells them. "If I ask 'will you', your response will be 'we will'. If I ask 'do you', your response is 'we do.' Before that, I'm gonna be asking the congregation who comes to confirm and bless this union, and your--" she addresses the rest of the attendees-- "response to that will also be 'we do'. And then you're doing your own vows, and who's first?" Lance raises his hand.

Lance and Joey sit next to each other, the hotel resort as their backdrop. "I made a pact with myself," Lance says. "I'm not gonna cry. At the wedding. I told myself I'm gonna be cool."

Joey makes a face, glancing his way. "Why? You don't cry at things."

"It's." Lance struggles for the words. "A big, life-changing moment. It could be emotional; you don't know."

"You're not gonna cry," Joey assures him. "I'm not gonna cry." He turns to face Lance more fully. "I didn't cry when Brianna was born, and that was pretty life-changing."

"Well, you better not cry," Lance shrugs, "'cause if you cry, I'm gonna cry."

"We're not gonna cry," Joey insists, grinning. "We'll just slap each other's asses and call it a day." Then he smacks his hand over his mouth. "Sorry, can I say that?"

Lance tucks a plastic flower behind his ear and and shoves his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. "Blahblahblah, love," he says, "blahblahblah, forever, blahblahblah."

Justin Timberlake, best friend.

"That really got me, man," Justin says, and wipes an imaginary tear.

Mills laughs with them. "Okay... Joey?"

"Yeah," Joey says. "Blahblahblah, stuff, blahblahblah."

"Then the exchange of the rings, repeat after me, I pronounce you partners in life, and--"

"--And we kiss!" Joey declares, reaching for a grinning Lance's waist.

"And we remember your grandparents will be watching!" Mills laughs, and Joey and Lance settle for a peck on the lips. Justin and Chris pretend to blow their noses on each other, and when Chris reaches for JC, JC scurries away.

The Bachelor Party.

"You know," Joey observes as he drives, "something's really wrong when you're going to your bachelor party with your fiancé."

"Hey," Lance tells him from the passenger seat. "You stay on your end of the club and I'll stay on mine."

"But whaddo I do when the stripper arrives?" Joey protests.

"Don't ask, don't tell," Lance says, and laughs.

"I would just like to say, Joey, Lance," JC announces to the room, raising a drink, "that it really sucks being best friends with both of you!" He laughs, along with everyone else. "Because we couldn't even have this party separate for you guys. So whatever, man. Get real drunk and share the strippers."

"Woo! Sharing!" Joey yells.

Lance settles back in his seat and rests his head on Joey's shoulder as they watch the hired strippers grind together. Neither stripper comes close enough to touch them. Neither man looks like he minds.

"The strippers are basically doing a show for themselves at this point," Justin informs the camera.

"Shhh!" Chris whispers. "I'm watchin'."

The Wedding Day.

Lance opens his hotel door to the crew. "Well, we probably got up too early," he says softly, sunglasses perched atop his head and in a sleep tee and pants, "but um. I'd rather be ready and waiting than rushing, today." He glances back around the room; Justin's in the mirror doing his hair, Chris dancing around him and flicking his tie. "It's kinda funny," he muses. "We all have our own rooms, but the guys keep goin' back and forth between Joey and me." He leans in close to the camera. "I'm very nervous," he admits. "They're drivin' me crazy." Turning back, he says, "Chris, could you sit still for--"

"So, do you need something old and new and borrowed and stuff?" JC asks Joey, sitting back on his bed with his undershirt on. "Or did you get that already?"

"What?" Joey says. Pokes an earring in. "Dude, that's for the bride-- no, I didn't get any of that."

"You guys should both," JC says. "I think it'd be kinda cool if you both did it."

Joey turns around. "Well, you got something?"

"No," JC giggles.

"I just wanted to say," Diane Bass tells Joey, her hands on the sides of his face as she gazes intently at him, "that I couldn't be happier to have you as my son, and to welcome you, officially, into our family. The next time I talk to you it'll be official, so." She grins, and he returns it. "Call me Mom, okay?"

"That," Joey says, when she's gone back to her room, "really drove home how real this is today." He sighs in disbelief. "This is for real." Shaking his head, he says it again in wonder. "This is for real." He reaches out with one arm and pulls off his still-undone tie with the other. "Where's my girl?"

"I wonder if it would look too bad if I took my vows up with me," Lance says half-jokingly, fully dressed now, shuffling through a small stack of 3x5s. He shakes his head. "I have the worst memory in the world; I'm totally gonna forget them."

"You're not gonna forget them!" JC says, offscreen.

"And how are you holding up?" Chris demands, holding an imaginary microphone up to Joey.

"Eh," Joey shifts a squirming Brianna to one arm and makes a 50/50 gesture with the other hand. "Startin' to hit me. Should I get something borrowed and something blue and all that?"

"No, why?" Chris asks.

Joey ignores the question. "How's Lance doing?"

"Worse'n you," Chris says.

"I don't wanna see him 'til the last minute at the church," Lance tells Justin and Britney from the back of the limo.

"I think it'd be bad luck for both of you," Britney agrees, nodding and holding his hand. "Where's the flower going?" she asks, and when Lance shows her, she says, "looks great. Joey looks great."

"Did you bring your vows?" Justin asks. Lance purses his lips into a tight smile and shakes his head slowly.

Joey's and Lance's heads are almost unconsciously tilted in to one another as they walk down the aisle side by side, careful not to touch. At the altar they greet their mothers with kisses, and stand still as they're pinned with small carnations and their hands joined.

"Who comes here today to confirm and bless the union between Lance and Joey?" Minister Mills asks those gathered.

"We do," the congregation replies.

"Joey," Lance says, both of Joey's hands in his as they face each other, "the past seven years have been the most amazing journey of my life, and it was made all the more special because you were by my side. In all that we've been through you have been my rock and my inspiration, and you've taught me more about life, about friendship, and about love than you'll ever know. You've been my best friend and have always supported me unconditionally." His eyes are wide and bright as he continues, his voice strong but soft, and Joey is smiling. "You have always made me feel special and important and whole and loved, and it's because of these things, and more, that I love you more than anything. No matter what the future brings, Joey, I want to share it with you in all ways, and be everything that you are to me." And then he smiles back.

"I think everybody wishes," Joey begins, "for that one person in life who will completely understand them, who will accept them the way they are, and still make them want to be a better person. Someone who goes over and above the call of a best friend; someone who becomes the love of their life. And sometimes--" his voice cracks and his eyes are dangerously moist and crinkle when he grins, laughs silently a little, shaking his head. "--Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to find that with you, Lance." Lance's eyebrows are raised, staving off the tears that cling to his eyelids but don't fall. "Everything I have, I want to share with you, and everything I do, I want it to be with you. I want to grow old with you; I want to raise a family with you; I want us to always rely on each other... because when I look at you I see all the things that I want to be."

They simultaneously drop each others' hands, duck their heads, and wipe discreetly before rejoining. The congregation chuckles warmly.

"I give you this ring," Lance says.

"As a symbol of my commitment," Mills intones.

"As a symbol of my commitment," Lance repeats.

"To love you, to honor you, and to respect you," Joey says.

"You can kiss now," Mills tells them kindly, and they seem happy to oblige, as the congregation applauds.

"You said you wouldn't cry," Lance whispers to Joey, as they make their way back down the aisle, holding hands this time. Married. Official. He can't wipe the grin off of his face.

"You said you wouldn't remember your vows," Joey shoots back, grin just as wide.

They kiss again before they've left the church.

Wedding Reception.

"To two of my very best friends and brothers," Justin says, raising a glass, "and today, the happiest men in the world, Joey and Lance."

They kiss again, and again, and again, as if on replay, as the guests tap their wine glasses.

This I Promise You plays for the first dance -- the rest of the group's selection -- and they bring Brianna up to share in it, laughing. "Hi," Joey says when Lance touches their foreheads together, and grins happily.

"Hi," Lance grins back.

"So can you believe it?" Joey asks him. "I still kinda don't believe today's happened."

"I think you should pinch me," Lance says, and when Joey pinches his cheek, Lance closes his eyes.

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