'AMAZING RACE' Adventurous couple to say 'I do'

Members of the cast are expected in downtown Youngstown for the wedding today.
LIBERTY -- They didn't win "The Amazing Race."
But Ray Housteau of Canfield and Deana Shane of Youngstown will bring that adventure to a happier ending when they're married at 3 p.m. today at Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Youngstown.
The couple brought together family, old friends and some of their fellow contestants from the reality television show at a dinner Friday night at Station Square restaurant on Belmont Avenue.
"It's like a fairy tale when you think about it," Shane said. "You never think about having a wedding that's on TV and gets all this attention."
About 300 people and representatives from a variety of news media, including People magazine will be on hand for the wedding, to be officiated by the Rev. Larry Kline.
Celebrity wedding party
The wedding party will include members of the "Amazing Race 7" cast, including Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich, also known as the win-at-all-costs couple from "Survivor." Runners-up Mariano and Brkich were married in the midst of the show's airing; their wedding will be televised at 9 p.m. Tuesday in a CBS special, "Rob and Amber Get Married." Brkich is a native of nearby Beaver, Pa., and is a graduate of Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa.
The color scheme for the wedding is red and gold, the "Amazing Race" colors.
"The theme of the whole wedding is amazing," said Char Kozak of Poland, Housteau's sister, who has been handling media and other arrangements for the couple.
Both Housteau and Shane called their appearance on the TV show a "life-changing" experience.
"I've got a job, and I didn't need this for my r & eacute;sum & eacute;," Housteau, 44, a stockbroker, said. "I consider this working on my obituary, because I figure it'll stay with me the rest of my life."
Shane, 27, a marketing and public relations consultant, said, "It's hard to talk about it with anyone who hasn't experienced it, because they just don't understand."
The two were eliminated in the fifth episode, in South Africa, with Ray questioning the future of his relationship with Deana at the end of the episode. But that was soon forgotten.
Coming together
Filming of the show wrapped up Dec. 22, and Housteau proposed the day after Christmas.
"We were in different places, and I don't think we knew what we wanted," Housteau said of the couple's on-and-off history, which is referenced in the show.
"After this, I knew I didn't need to look any more."
Both said there were some things they learned in their "Amazing Race" experience that they could apply to their marriage.
"I knew he was competitive, but I didn't know just how competitive," Shane said.
Housteau said that he realizes that, too.
"I'm pretty intense, and I don't think I gave her an opportunity to be herself," he said. "I should have given her more of an opportunity to contribute, and that's the reason we didn't win the race."
So after a most unusual courtship, what's in the plans for the honeymoon? And how will day-to-day life play with a couple who has thrown raw meat at wild animals in an African nature preserve?
After traveling across the world in a matter of weeks, they're planning a low-key trip to a relative's condominium in Florida, according to Kozar, with an official honeymoon trip to come later.
"After what's happened to us, real life may seem kind of mundane and boring," Ray said. "But the other side of that is that what we've come through will probably prepare us for anything we'll face."