PORTLAND – Jennifer LaRou wanted a wedding in Maine. Instead, it’ll in New York City – and on national television.

LaRou and her fiance, Jeff Scott, were selected last month for a special program on NBC’s “Today” morning show.

The couple will appear on the show each week and let viewers vote on every facet of their wedding, which will be held in September, live on television from New York’s Rockefeller Plaza.

“We just entered for fun. We really didn’t think we would win,” said LaRou. “There was a day when I panicked and said, ‘We need to stop this.’ I kept going back and forth on it.”

Eventually, she decided to sit back and “let fate take over.”

About 1,400 couples entered the contest, and “Today” producers winnowed the number to four couples before letting viewers vote on their choice, said Allison Gollust, spokeswoman for the show.

On June 27, LaRou and Scott went on “Today” and were selected by viewers who cast their tallies online.

LaRou is a South Portland native who moved last year to Salem, Mass., where her fiance lives.

Scott, a personal trainer, said he feels great about having someone else, or in this case, many someone elses, take over planning. It’s also nice to have someone else pick up the tab.

“Now we can just sit back and enjoy the whole process without worry about money or scheduling,” Scott said.

LaRou and Scott met at a wedding party about two years ago and got engaged last September. They were planning a wedding in Maine when LaRou’s sister called to tell her about the “Today” wedding.

The couple applied online.

Since being selected, they had to cancel plans for a ceremony at a church in Cape Elizabeth and a reception at the Pavilion in Portland. In all, they lost about $2,000 in deposits.

LaRou said that when everything is decided by “Today” viewers, the value of their televised wedding will be between $35,000 and $60,000. The ceremony will be in Rockefeller Plaza, and the reception will be at the Rainbow Room.

“Today” will pay to fly 20 people to New York, but the other 125 wedding guests are on their own, LaRou said.

In the coming days, “Today” viewers will choose invitations, tuxedos, dress, cake and even the honeymoon spot.

So far, so good, she said.

The “Today” show viewers already picked wedding rings, and LaRou says they picked the ones she would have chosen.