Bubba's Wedding Album

Howard Stern doesn't like polish sausage much, but he'll go for a plate of brown rice and a crab cake-style grouper patty.

I know this, because I found myself standing just in front of the King of all Media Saturday night, working the food line at Bubba the Love Sponge's wedding reception. I wasn't really planning on eating anything -- I had gravitated to the line when I saw Stern and his amazingly statuesque girlfriend Beth Ostrosky ambling over. And the King turned out to be a pleasant enough guy to share a food line with, though when I tried to chat him up about the possiblity of a merger between his employer Sirius satellite radio and their rival XM, he insisted he didn't know anything and didn't understand the dynamics at work.

Indeed, navigating Bubba's wedding and reception was a surreal experience. On the one hand, it was  as star studded as the Tampa Bay area gets these days, with Stern's sidekicks on hand -- including Artie Lange, Robin Quivers, Gary Dell'Abate, Fred Norris and many others. Wrestling star Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea was also on hand, with daughter/pop star Brooke Hogan. There were even radio industry bigwigs such as Randy Michaels, the former "shock jock" at WFLA-AM in Tampa who masterminded Clear Channel's ascendancy as the largest radio chain in the country (and who bent my ear a bit about the FCC's struggle to sustain the indency fines it has levied against TV networks).

On the other hand, it was a lot like a typical wedding and reception. The couple had their first dance -- "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley -- they posed for the cameras with friends and family; the showed off their children from previous relationships.

Passerby near the Gulfport Casino could hardly believe what they were seeing, crowding around the  front door as guests piled out of stretch limousines and luxury cars (an unlucky pair of knuckleheads even got ejected by police for pretending to be invited guests -- considering how loose things seemed to be inside, I was surprised they got caught). I wasn't surprised at the attention; my phone was ringing off the hook in the days after my feature on Bubba was published -- but i had promised Bubba I wouldn't reveal the location of his wedding and reception until after the proceedings were done.

A 10:15 p.m. deadline forced me to leave the reception rather early, but it looked to be a rather sedate affair for a guy known as one of the raunchiest radio talents around. With no strippers or porn stars in obvious view, this was a well-planned, lavish, yet down to earth celebration -- an unexpected turn from a guy whose reputation for debauchery and a party-hard lifestyle is legendary.

The photos featured here are courtesy of Colleen Walsh Photography, a crack company which handled photography for Bubba's wedding and worked hard to get the newspaper images for our story. Unfortunately, i didn't get them sent into the office in time to run with my story today, so the best I could do was post them here. Thanks Colleen... 

   (click on an image to enlarge)

Comments

[the "public"]

Was it some kind of an inside joke with Bubba and Stern to say the wedding was closed to the "pubic" as your story did Sunday?

[Eric Deggans]

i think that's what's called an unfortunate typographical error...

[tampa reader]

Eric, when was Randy Michaels on the air at WFLA-AM? I know he was a Jacor executive, and that he masterminded the conversion of 970 from a adult-contemporary music station into what then was considered "hot talk" in the mid- to late-1980s, but I don't believe he ever had an air shift ... at least not in the talk environment.

[Eric Deggans]

I always thought he was on WFLA when he was vp of programming there in the early '90s. But my memory might be playing tricks on me...

[David A]

Nice job Eric!! You have been very fair and kind in your coverage. I hope you had a wonderful time, it's actually nice to see some decent press for a nice guy. You did a fine job seperating reality from Radio's theatre of the mind.

[Shirley Wall]

How can yo post a wedding of a man in your front page of the local news (Sunday's) paper that does not represent anything to putting the notice of the beloved police officer who was shot down on the third page of same paper?
Where are your priorities?

[Lisa Stevens]

Great story. Best wishes to the happy couple.

[Joe Gonda]

Looks like Bubba bagged a piece of ass. I'd like to take a swig of that tall glass of water. hooo waaaa!!

[Johnny Lightfoot]

Johnny Lightfoot says hey na na na

[Casey]

Now it maybe my computer, but are the girls dresses black?

[Inetfishing]

Some things he forgot in the article

http://www.nextleveltv.com/news/heather.html

[Patricia]

They make a wonderful couple . What a great place to have gotten married!!! If you havnt been to FBC on Gandy you need to go. Anyone can make a new life with a fresh start. Even if you dont get married , you need to atleast visit FBC one Sunday at 10:45 service its AWSOME !!!

[Eric Deggans]

To address a few recent comments:

Yeah, the bridesmaids dresses were black. And althought that might seem creepy, given the sort of events we all usually wear black to, I must say it looked pretty cool onstage nd you got the sense these were bridesmaids dresses they might actually wear after the ceremony was over.

Regarding the trooper's death -- our story on the news of his ran on the front section of our local news section the day before -- on Saturday. i'm assuming that, because the story we published Sunday on the arrest of those suspected of killing him was a wire services story, that it either came in too late, or was considered less important because it was a wire piece or both.

And finally, i was also impressed with the church. I found myself wondering what serviceswould be like if the place was packed and jamming!

[Patricia]

Eric I am a memeber of FBC and would love to invite you to visit. Our 10:45 is growing strong... Each week is Awsome ...Bring a friend .. If you need any info you can Email me at Jamesmommy@juno.com.

[InSeminole]

About 10 months now, are they still married? There is zero chance of that marriage working, as is the planned Stern wedding. The way they treat their girlfriends and wives is despicable and nobody would be happy under those circumstances. Stern and Clem are two of the sickest, most sadistic, mean-spirited, greedy, crude people that I can think of.