As high-stress jobs go, wedding co-ordinator ranks right up there with bomb-squad technician. After all, the gig requires nerves of steel, the ability to handle potentially explosive situations ? and the understanding that with one false move, you could be looking at a very big boom.

It was this ?explosive? chemistry that cable?s Style Network depended on for their TV reality show ? ?Whose wedding is it anyway??.

This sometimes revealing reality series digs deep into the hectic lives of party pros as they scout locations, juggle seating charts and dole out tissues to blubbering moms. Every week cameras follow top event experts as they attempt to create nuptial nirvana and two of their ?victims? included Bermudian Chester Ray and his wife-to-be Stacy.

With nerves of steel and complete faith in their wedding coordinator, Linnyette Richardson-Hall, the Rays signed up for the ultimate roller-coaster ride in reality TV. But what made them do it?

In an interview from Baltimore, Maryland where the Rays live, they said Linnyette was chosen to be on the show and asked if they didn?t mind being her ?first wedding? to be taped.

How could they refuse?

Stacy said they participated in the filming process for two months preceding their wedding and for every single one of the meetings with Linnyette, hotel where the reception would be held, the DJ, the florist, the fitting for a gown, the rehearsal, and the entire day of their wedding.

?The crew filmed almost everything we said and did and on some occasions we were asked to repeat things, a ?take two? if you like, which made us feel as if we were stars in a movie,? she said.

The couple exchanged vows at the Sacred Heart Church in Glyndon, which is located on the outskirts of Baltimore and the reception was held at the Marriott Inner Harbour Hotel in the city.

?Initially, there were two people, a cameraman and his assistant following us around. On the day of the rehearsal and the actual wedding, there were about six people from the Style Network,? she said.

When the episode of ?Whose wedding is it anyway?? was aired on the Style Network for the first time, the Ray couple and their families were tuned in. After all, how many couples get to watch their wedding on cable television?

?Initially, it seemed strange. Sometimes we forget that people everywhere are able to watch the show, until complete strangers who recognised us stopped us on the street,? she said.

?Then it hit us that we weren?t watching a personal video, but that possibly hundreds of people were watching with us.?

Chester described the first viewing on television as ?different?. ?Since that first showing, it has rerun several times and every time I see it, I notice something new or see someone I didn?t see the first time,? he said, adding that their families were just as excited about the show as they were and very supportive, especially Stacy who said her parents were not shy about taping the show and did not mind participating.

?Our families were definitely excited, along with our wedding party and friends, but I was a little apprehensive at first because I had never seen the show and didn?t know what to expect,? he said.

If they had to do it again would they still sign up for the reality show?

Both gave a unanimous ?yes? but within limits.

?I would limit them from being at our houses on the morning of the wedding when we were preparing for the ceremony because it took time away from us being with our family and friends,? Stacy said.

She said she believed it would have been very difficult to have the ?dream wedding? they had if it were not for their wedding co-ordinator, Linnyette. ?She is a very creative and resourceful planner who is excellent at what she does. It would have been too time-consuming and challenging for us to do it all ourselves,? she said.

Their wedding day was not without its humour, especially since every move they made was being filmed. ?We were sitting there quietly chatting during the service, and I didn?t think about the fact that I had three microphones pinned to the inside of my jacket, which Stacy didn?t know about, so, when I remembered, I had to discretely open my jacket to show her I was wired. We had a little laugh about that,? Chester said.

He left Bermuda to attend university in Maryland about 20 years ago, but said he returned often to visit his friends and family as he did last week on a cruise.

His mother Janice Ray lives in Pembroke, while his father, Chester Ray Sr. lives in Paget.

Both Chester and Stacy work in the medical industry.

While Chester works as a Global Compliance Auditor for a pharmaceutical company and monitors the different divisions and companies they do business with around the world, Stacy is a family practitioner in Baltimore and is also the medical director for the Baltimore City Cancer Program at the University of Maryland Greenbaum?s Cancer Centre.

The Style Network repeats episodes from the series for those who want to see how they pulled off the ultimate in nuptial nirvana.