The book, for its part, is about three sisters who have to marry the father of their children in order to inherit $3 million. "So the question of the day is, are they marrying for love or money?" says Reid. "Just like for the wedding: Are people marrying for love, or to get free things? They're two separate vehicles for the same message."

After a series of interviews -- telephone, in person, and in the couples' homes -- with Reid and Patricia Ragin, a wedding planner, the winning couples will be announced on March 1. "Since Patricia's already married, she knows what a wife would sound like, what a husband would sound like  she's my intuitive ear," Reid says, adding that her background in journalism has shored up her sense of authenticity and sincerity. One doesn't need a Pulitzer to hear alarm bells, however. "I had one couple come in and argue throughout the entire face-to-face interview," she says. "Couples who ask about all the trinkets and the honeymoon giveaway before the word 'marriage' comes out of their mouth are usually looking for a good ride." They're out in the first round, as are people who are, well, still married to others.

Reid insists that she's not promoting marriage for marriage's sake. If you're trying to get your man to commit, she can't help you. "I've had people call and say they want me to help push the guy into getting married, to help him try to realize they should be together," Reid says. "That's not my job." Rather, she's looking for couples who -- if they're not already engaged -- have a "strong, loving base," she says. "They're not coming into this contest to be fixed." (One prospective couple, now in their 30s, has been together since the woman was 15 and he was 17.)

In the face-to-face interview, Reid -- who also appears as a relationship expert on the TV show "Life & Style," which appears on UPN and Oxygen -- asks couples about their perspective on marriage to try to make sure they're not "too idealistic." "We want couples who see marriage as a beginning, not an end to all their worries." In the home visit, where she meets the children, she talks to the couples about how they communicate, what they fight about, what they like and dislike about each other. "We do this to get a sense of their commitment to each other, and how they get through their difficulties," she says. (The winners will evidently need superior negotiation skills right away. Since the wedding and the reception are both joint 10-couple affairs, each marrying pair will be permitted to invite only 10 people, total. )

But if the couple is already engaged, what's holding them back? Well, Engram and Edwards are typical of Reid's target demographic: committed, but low on cash -- and, Reid says, entrenched in a culture that doesn't always frown on unmarried parenting. "The stigma in the black community is just not strong enough to motivate people," she says. "For some women, the ring is enough, and they get comfortable. They say they had a wedding date, but someone died or lost a job or the babies kept coming."

She continues: "I had one of my prospective brides tell me that she settled for not getting married. The stereotype is that the man leaves you after you have a baby -- the baby daddy goes and the baby mama drama starts -- so a lot of these girls feel like, well, he stayed, my baby daddy's with me. They breathe a sigh of relief and they're just content with that. So they end up settling instead of saying, 'Let's get married, let's make it official.'"

Tanya says it wasn't until she started going to Kenny's friends' weddings that she began dreaming of her own. "Before I met Kenny I didn't get the feeling that it would ever happen to me," she says, explaining that the people in her community just weren't focused on marriage. "I was always around friends who had kids with a man who lived here and they lived there. So I think this would be great not only for me, but also for my female friends and women who are in my same situation."

For many of the couples vying to win the wedding, marriage may have seemed like something for other people, something for someday. But once it seems within reach, Reid says, they get motivated. "They tell me they want to make it legal, to seal the deal, to stop explaining to people why they have three kids and they're not married," she says. "And they want to set a good example for their children. Some come from generations of unmarried women and they want to break the cycle."

And yes, the men -- at least those who are winning-couple material -- say they're into it, too. (Reid says, in fact, that in many cases it's been the guy who made the first call to her.)

"I think getting married would strengthen our relationship. I know who I want to be with for the rest of my life, but marriage seals it," says Kenny. To Tanya, who is also on the line for the phone interview, he says, "I did find you and I did say I want to be with you, but I want to show it to you by actually making it legal." He explains that they had already set an April date for Plan B -- tying the knot at City Hall -- when they heard about Reid's campaign. If they're not chosen, that's where they'll go.

Recent Stories