A few weeks ago, Kaycee Satava and Cameron Baker were just an average couple waiting for the perfect time to tie the knot.
The Tigard residents said they had wanted a small ceremony after they got engaged last May. Instead, they were married April 23 on national TV after winning TODAY's "Ultimate Elvis Wedding."
"We'd been wanting to get married for a long time, and for one reason or another we had to push it back," said Satava, 26.
"She didn't know it, but I already got her engagement ring and a week later found out we were going to have Lucy," said Baker, 25.
Lucy was born in October, and by February began suffering seizures. So, she and her parents began spending time at Doernbecher Children's Hospital, and any wedding plans were put on hold.
The pediatrician told the worried parents it's probably nothing. Infants will sometimes have seizures, the doctor told Baker and Satava, but she suggested they see a neurologist. They aren't sure what had caused the seizures, Satava said, but she added Lucy has been fine the last month.
Had things been different -- had they gotten married, never had Lucy -- they would have never won the national morning talk show TODAY's "Ultimate Elvis Wedding." The contest gives the winner just what it says. Baker and Satava were married at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort's new Graceland Chapel, a ceremony befitting a diehard Elvis fan like Satava.
As a child, Satava had a medical condition that forced her to sit still for long stretches of time as she received her medication. She did so quietly while listening to Elvis Presley songs like 'King Creole,' 'Jailhouse Rock,' and 'Viva las Vegas.'
Along with a photo of her dressed as Elvis on Halloween, Satava submitted a story about how she was devastated as a 5-year-old to learn her love-interest Elvis had been dead for about 18 years.
"It was worse than if I had found out that Santa Claus didn't exist," Satava said.
TODAY show producers fell in love with Satava's story, and told her to prepare to be married in two weeks.
The wedding ceremony on April 23 lasted a little longer than three minutes, but it was better than the two had expected.
"It seriously, honestly felt like a dream," Satava said, explaining the ceremony was exactly what she wanted and more with Priscilla Presley serving as her matron of honor. "It's something I could have never had in my own wedding if I did it myself... To even meet her was a huge deal, but to have her be in my wedding was a dream."
"And for the whole nation to see," Baker added. "It all worked out better than I could have imagined."
After the wedding, Presley gave Satava and Baker advice for a long and happy marriage.
"I wanted to ask her what she was thinking and feeling on her wedding day when she got married to Elvis... I'm kicking myself that I didn't ask her that," Satava said.
The wedding was followed by a flurry of interview requests, paparazzi-like photo ops and articles upon articles published with versions of their story.
Baker and Satava met at the Clackamas Town Center Nordstrom after being introduced through friends. They both worked at Portland area Nordstrom department stores. They dated for a year, but it wasn't Elvis that necessarily kept them together.
Sure, they had similar taste in music, but it was more than that. The two just clicked with one another, they said.
Some people thought they were actors, paid by the TODAY show to portray a couple in love with Elvis and each other. Satava joked during an interview with the Oregonian/OregonLive that her 6-month-old daughter was on loan and she had to get her back by 6 p.m., she said with a laugh.
"To have to go through all that kind of stuff, it definitely solidifies our relationship and makes it stronger -- for sure," Satava said. "Just to be in that world for a week was mind blowing."
Now, it's back to reality. The three have returned to their day-to-day lives, with Baker working at the Washington Square Mall's Nordstrom, and Satava staying with Lucy, who is now learning to crawl.
The wedding and all that came with it is still settling in, Satava said. "It's still weird to see a wedding band on his finger," but "I love it. I absolutely love it."
-- Nuran Alteir
nalteir@oregonian.com
503-294-4028
@whatnuransaid