Couple together 17 years to marry on Rose Parade float

IRWINDALE, Calif. (AP) — Christian Guntert was lying on his back, gluing seeds to the bottom of a giant faux pizza for a Rose Parade float when a teenager made a casual comment about his wife.

When the 58-year-old Guntert told the girl that he and his longtime girlfriend actually weren't married, she screamed: "You're not married?!"

The shocked question reverberated in the 80,000-square-foot California warehouse last December, where teams of volunteers were building a dozen floats for the annual, nationally televised parade in Pasadena.

Soon, volunteers had surrounded Guntert and his girlfriend of 17 years, 56-year-old Susan Brown, offering their various skills to make a wedding happen right then and there on the float. One said he was an ordained minister and could perform the ceremony, another offered to sing during the wedding, and a photographer said she could snap photos.

"Susan kind of looked at herself and at me, we were all dirty and covered in glue and flower parts," Guntert said. "Susan said, 'You know, I'd really like to have a pretty dress.'"

So the couple decided to postpone the wedding for a year. Now Brown has a pretty dress, they have a perfectly good float, and the same team of volunteers will help make the ceremony happen on Saturday, two days before the 128th annual parade.