By Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway

At this time of year, I like to pause ... and remember The Runaway Bride.

Please join me in a moment of silence and a prayer that you – nor a friend or loved one -- ever get that stressed out about a wedding.

If ever there was a case for eloping to Las Vegas, it was the unfortunate wedding fiasco that dominated the headlines this time two years ago – the “Runaway Bride," a.k.a. Jennifer Wilbanks.

She kicked off wedding season with an emotional breakdown and a sprint out of town, and, in many ways, represented the fears and tears of many a stressed out bride-to-be.

The Runaway Bride and I are oddly linked in history.

She happened to run off the week that my book on bridal stress, Wedding Goddess, launched. Needless to say, it was a publicists dream. I ended up doing one interview after another about how planning a wedding these days can make sane women crazy, and send anyone with an imbalance off the deep end.

The story, however, troubled me. Although I knew it was an "isolated incident," I felt it was symbolic of the kind of pressures placed upon women to have the "perfect wedding" and be the "perfect bride" and "perfect wife." They are seduced by the powerful, multibillion dollar wedding industry and by a culture that presses the idea of perfection, when in fact, weddings -- marriage, life -- are completely imperfect.

Nevertheless, brides are petrified of wedding disasters and having an event that ends up on a wedding blooper show. Many are secretly filled with fears about marriage and afraid to fess up. The urge to run away is a natural survival instinct when it dawns on your that you feel you don't have the wherewithal to deal with the wedding or the skills to deal with marriage.

I became a bridal advocate, trying to help women reduce stress and wedding-related-nonsense on the way to the altar.

She became the poster child for bridal stress and gave the world a much needed glimpse into the darker side of getting hitched.

Fortunately, reports indicate that she is doing well. Perhaps she was just trying to marry the wrong guy (for her), or having a wedding for the wrong reasons. Since her sprint in 2005, it's been reported that she:

• Performed 120 hours of community service and paid about $15,000 in court ordered “amends” toward what it cost cops to search for her when she claimed she was abducted during the now infamous “missing bride hunt.”

• Sold her story, along with then-fiancé John Mason, to a tabloid for $500,000

• Paid for a house with that money, and then took John Mason to court over her $250,000 portion. (They eventually settled out of court).

• Ditched her groom to be for good.

• Was the inspration for The Runaway Bride, the rock musical, which that originated where her controversial wedding sprint did –in Duluth, Georgia at the Red Clay Theater. It also did some touring, as she did!

• Became the inspiration of a new ad campaign for the Albuquerque police department for new cop recruits. The ads feature the female cop who famously escorted Wilbanks through the airport, and helped get her back home two years ago.

And you thought your journey to the altar has been filled with drama!