Clintons all set for $3m wedding of the year

Published on Friday 30 July 2010 19:18

IT HAS been described as "the wedding of the decade", but the guest list for Chelsea Clinton's wedding remained a closely guarded secret last night.

•Bill Clinton said he would feel pride when his daughter walks up the aisle Picture: AP

From the 15,000 granite portaloos to the 15lbs proud father and former president Bill has reportedly been ordered to lose by his wife in preparation, every aspect of Chelsea Clinton's wedding to investment banker Marc Mezvinsky has been the source of frenzied speculation in the America media.

The guest list will include international dignitaries and celebrities, but President Barack Obama and the first lady will not be among them. Obama said he was perfectly fine with not being invited to what some have called the wedding of the century.

"I think Hillary and Bill properly want to keep this as a thing for Chelsea and her soon-to-be husband," Obama said.

The Clinton family have refused to comment, though Secretary of State Hillary was reportedly spotted coming out of a venue in Rhinebeck, 90 miles from Manhattan.

The wedding is due to take place today at Astor Courts, the 50-acre former estate of millionaire John Jacob Astor IV nestled on the banks of the Hudson river. The Federal Aviation Administration announced local airspace will be restricted from 3pm Saturday to 3:30am Sunday.

TV news reporters have prodded wedding planners who have nothing to do with the event to speculate on the details. By Friday afternoon, Rhinebeck had been besieged by reporters hungry for any titbits of information they could sniff out. Marquees have been erected on the site and limousines with blacked out windows have been spotted snaking along quiet back roads.

The festivities are expected to cost in the region of 3 million - a little over the $24,000 that the average American newlywed will shell out this year.

Chelsea Clinton, who entered the White House as a gawky 12-year-old in 1993, reportedly insisted on taking full control of the guest list. Among the 400 guests expected to attend are Oprah Winfrey, family friend and former Cheers star Ted Danson, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand and former British prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major. During an interview on daytime TV this week President Obama said that he had not been invited, adding: "You don't want two presidents at a wedding."

Fashion pundits are predicting that the bride's dress will be a simple, ivory design created by Vera Wang or Oscar de la Renta. Gossip website TMZ speculated on the playlist, concluding that Michael Jackson and Abba would feature.

The five-tier 7,000 cake is said to have been created by Ron Ben-Israel, who created the cake for the gay wedding scene in the movie Sex and the City 2.

"It's obviously a large wedding. But knowing what we do about Chelsea, she seems to be understated, someone who has tried to stay out of the crowds, someone who has tried to have her own life," said Darcy Miller, editorial director of Martha Stewart Weddings magazine.

Asked recently how he would feel to watch his daughter and only child walk down the aisle, Bill Clinton said he'd be "proud, grateful, and wistful", and that he'd think of the day she was born and her first day of school.

Mezvinsky, who is Jewish, and Clinton, who was raised a Methodist, met as children in Washington DC and began dating five years ago. They are expected to have an inter-faith service.

The after-wedding conversation should be colourful. Like the Clintons, the groom's parents, both former members of Congress, are no strangers to scandal. Mezvinsky's father, Edward, was jailed in 2001 after pleading guilty to 31 counts of fraud, swindling friends and relatives out of millions in fake investments. He was released in 2008 and is expected to attend the wedding.

Rebecca Dana who has been covering the forthcoming nuptials for website the Daily Beast said: "The parents seem to be taking it seriously, attacking it with the same vigour as they attacked their political careers. Hillary is signing all of her letters as mother-of-the-bride. And Bill is losing weight and trying not to cry."

Some commentators insist

Despite all indications pointing to the Clinton wedding, Rhinebeck State Police Maj. Michael A Kopy refused to spill the beans: "There's a private event that's planned for the Rhinebeck area. We expect a significant influx of people and vehicles in the Rhinebeck area, which is typical during any summer weekend."