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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > July > 30 > Entry
Spanx CEO books resort for wedding
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Judging from the “save the date” cards currently landing in mailboxes around town, there’s nothing small about Spanx pantyhose founder Sara Blakely’s upcoming fall wedding to Marquis Jet co-founder Jesse Itzler.
And technically, a card wasn’t exactly mailed to Buzz Central. We temporarily liberated one from its rightful owner so Buzz readers would have the inside scoop.
For starters, it’s not exactly a card but rather a beautiful 12-page bound booklet with original art of the couple on a bike drawn by Florida artist Penny Young. And yes, the bride is wearing the product that has landed Blakely on Oprah Winfrey’s couch and into the realm of millionaire entrepreneurs.
There’s even a smiling photo of the couple on the envelope’s postage stamp. The price to mail each? $4.80.
Inside, prospective wedding guests are told: “Sara Blakely and Jesse Itzler are ecstatic to announce their wedding,” set for Oct. 18 in Boca Grande, Fla.
It seems the couple has rented an entire resort for the weekend and guests are encouraged to fly in Thursday and spend the weekend golfing, kayaking, fishing, brunching and, of course, observing the nuptials.
“A friend just called me to said ‘Your save the date card is a little like reading ‘The Catcher in the Rye!’ ” Blakely told Buzz, laughing. “We just wanted to create a special weekend for everyone to enjoy.”
The “At Last” sheet music on the cover also has a special meaning for the pair.
Explained Blakely: “He’s going to be 40 and I’m 37 so it really is at last.”
Blakely was a Marquis Jet client and friend of Itzler’s before the romance. When Itzler asked her out to a fundraiser at the Ritz-Carlton here, she hesitated about accepting.
“I remember thinking that if it didn’t go well, things could be potentially awkward between us afterward,” she recalled. “As it turned out, we’ve been almost inseparable ever since.”
And the secret to a successful relationship with two self-starter CEOs? Says Blakely: “He’s dynamic, he makes me laugh and most of all, we’ve made each other a priority in each other’s lives.”
SMITH, SKI TO TV
Finally, we can stop imagining what Wanda Smith’s facial expressions look like each morning while she’s making Frank Ski laugh on V103. Starting Aug. 18, the popular morning show is making the leap to CW-69.
Airing at 11 p.m., the 30-minute show will compile a “best of” of each day’s broadcast, complete with six HD cameras.
But won’t this mean the morning crew will now have to dress up? “I need an endorsement for some clothes!” cracked Smith. (Miss Sophia probably will want one, too …)
“I always dress up anyway,” Ski noted. “I’m always camera-ready.” He did say the HD cameras during tests reveal even bits of dust on his mustache so he says he’s going to have to make sure he’s immaculate when the show starts until it ends.
Tom Canedo, the general manager for the CW, said he thinks many viewers who watch his station listen to Ski and Smith. The city’s No. 2 radio morning show draws about 440,000 listeners a week.
‘BORROWERS’ FINALE
NBC’s “Baby Borrowers” stirred controversy because it featured parents giving up their babies and toddlers to teenagers they had never met.
Some critics said it would damage the kids psychologically. The two Dunwoody teens who took part in the show, which ends its six-episode run tonight at 9 disagree.
“It was literally safer than day care,” said Austin Trizzino, 19, a rising sophomore at Auburn University in Alabama. “Any given time, you had 10 people watching a single kid. There was an EMT there.”
Neither he nor his girlfriend during the show, Kelly Young, now 20 and a rising junior at Auburn, regretted taking part, even though Kelly went into the occasional emotional tizzy. She doesn’t even recall why she got mad the second time and started screaming at Austin in a tirade so over the top, E! comedy show “The Soup” mocked it last week.
“We were extremely stressed out,” Kelly said. “We had been questioning our relationship before we went on the show. During the interviews [with producers], we were kind of egged on.”
The show was taped in Idaho a year ago. Since then, Austin and Kelly broke up, got back together, then broke up again three weeks ago. They remain friends.
And both Austin and Kelly agree: no kids anytime soon for either of them. “I learned I was a lot more patient than I expected,” Austin said. “But I also learned I like being young and having the freedom to sleep eight straight hours.”
SICK BAY
Dunwoody High grad Ryan Seacrest is recovering from a shark bite after a weekend beach trip. But he’s telling his KIIS-FM listeners that it wasn’t exactly a “Jaws”-type event.
“The American Idol” host compared finding a shark’s tooth on his person to finding a splinter.
Said Seacrest: “I need to take an Advil!”
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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