(Nov. 3) -- A million revelers gather in Times Square each New Year's Eve, celebrating the stroke of midnight and the calendar's flip from one year to the next.
Partygoers flooding the famous neon-lit crossroads this year will also double as wedding guests, witnessing the nuptials of a young couple that met on a tour of duty in Iraq.
Marines Bethany Phillips and Geoff Dubie will serve as centerpieces at the first-ever official New Year's Eve wedding in Times Square this Dec. 31, having been named GetMarried.com's best couple of 2010.
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After Geoff Dubie proposed to Bethany Phillips on a family trip to the Bahamas, he sealed the deal with a kiss planted on his future father-in-law's cheek.
In exchange for an all-expenses-paid wedding, the couple has relinquished control of all details, leaving all planning decisions except first dance song in the voting hands of GetMarried.com's audience.
"Everything is by vote," explained Stacie Francombe, GetMarried founder and editor in chief. After the couple narrows each category down to three options, GetMarried puts the final choice up to audience vote. This week, voters choose invitations; next week, websters will choose Phillips' dress from three designs supplied by David's Bridal.
Francombe herself made the vote naming Phillips and Dubie the winning couple. They beat out 2,000 other pairs of engaged hopefuls and won, Francombe said, not only because of their fun personalities, but also because of their commitment.
"I just fell in love with Bethany and Geoff's energy, their enthusiasm, their commitment not only to each other but their country and their communities," Francombe told AOL News. "They had endured so much, and they've given back just as much. Their tale, to me, exemplified commitment."
As Francombe fell instantly in love with Phillips and Dubie, so the couple fell instantly in love with one another.
Both come from military families. Phillips' grandfather served in the Army and her brother currently serves the same branch. Dubie's parents are high-ranking Marines. He fell for Phillips the moment she pulled out her guitar and began to sing, but the couple had to keep their growing love quiet while they served together.
"We hung out with the rest of the guys, played cards, the normal things to help pass times while overseas," Phillips told AOL News. "We had to keep our relationship professional, but we knew we loved each other from the minute we met."
Returning stateside, the couple announced their love on Facebook and Dubie made it official on a family trip to the Bahamas. After proposing to Phillips on the beach, he tackled her dad in the water, planting a fat kiss on his future father-in-law's cheek to seal the deal.
"It was hilarious," Phillips said.
Phillips and Dubie not only will receive a full wedding onstage in Times Square with 13 guests, but also a pre-wedding week in New York, a reception at the Hard Rock Café, and a honeymoon at a resort in the Dominican Republic.
"This is a dream wedding," Phillips said. "We are going to be the first-ever couple married in Times Square on New Year's Eve.
"We cannot wait."
After their honeymoon, the couple will return to Jacksonville, Fla., where Phillips is studying to be a nurse and Dubie to be a mechanical engineer.
To vote on the couples' invitations, visit GetMarried.com.
