Chelsea Clinton is expected to marry her longtime boyfriend, investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, at a ceremony tonight attended by 400 to 500 people at the grand Astor Courts, an estate on the scenic east bank of the Hudson River.
RHINEBECK, New York, (AFP) - After weeks of secrecy, the marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s only daughter Chelsea to her Wall Street banker beau finally got underway Saturday at a lavish, A-list bash in rural New York.
The intriguing and covert build-up intensified shortly before 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) with a caravan of buses, sport utility vehicles and vans with tinted windows whisking hundreds of guests to the exclusive party at a secluded mansion outside the quaint town of Rhinebeck.
A carnival atmosphere — and a blanketing police presence — spread across Rhinebeck in the final hours before Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky married in what US tabloids hyped as the "wedding of the century."
Throngs of well-wishers and celebrity watchers gathered at Rhinebeck’s main crossroads for a glimpse of the guests staying at the Beekman Arms inn.
The bride’s parents — former Democratic president Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — arrived on the eve of the wedding.
Their guests were expected to include the likes of TV chat show queen Oprah Winfrey and Hollywood mogul Steven Spielberg.
"This is exciting. There’s so much trouble in the world but this Saturday everything stops just for this wedding," said Anne McConnell, who’d secured a strategically placed bench opposite the Beekman in hopes of seeing members of the Clinton family.
"It’s just a shame it’s not on TV," she said. "This should be live on TV like Princess Diana’s wedding."
There was no chance McConnell’s prayers would be answered.
Chelsea, 30, and Mezvinsky, 32, prepared their nuptials in the kind of secrecy usually reserved for affairs of state.
Wedding details have been nearly impossible to glean, and while the ceremony was reportedly scheduled for 6:00 pm, it was not yet clear if the couple had exchanged their vows, or whether Bill Clinton escorted his daughter down the aisle.
Husband and wife actors Ted Dansen and Mary Steenburgen were seen walking through town Saturday. Steenburgen, a longtime Clinton friend from the president’s home state of Arkansas, said Chelsea’s powerful parents were experiencing "pure joy" for their daughter.
"Knowing my friend, Bill, for 30-something years, I’m sure he’ll be crying his eyes out," she said on CNN.
The wedding itself was taking place in the high-security seclusion of Astor Courts, an estate about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of New York city. Up to 500 guests were expected.
Authorities declared a no-fly zone to prevent paparazzi photos and police turned out in force, and a police helicopter buzzed overhead as the Clintons, the Mezvinskys and their guests converged for the ceremony.
Even the location had not been confirmed right into this week, while details such as the designer of Chelsea’s dress and the guest list were still unknown to the public on Saturday.
A different sort of mystery was whether a minister or a rabbi — or both — would preside, since Chelsea is a Methodist and Mezvinsky is Jewish.
Ironically, the news blackout fed an ever greater media frenzy. News teams from Japan to Israel flooded Rhinebeck, joining amateur wedding watchers, all asking the same questions.
"I want to know what dress Chelsea’s wearing — and Hillary too," said local Chris Madden.
"I want to know what’s on the menu," said Walter Mullin.
Reports from gossip websites such as TMZ and tabloids like New York’s Daily News painted a picture of an extraordinarily lavish occasion likely to cost three to five million dollars.
That included renting Astor Courts, an elegant white building near the Hudson River commissioned a century ago by John Jacob Astor IV, a tycoon who died on the Titanic.
Chelsea is believed to have ordered a dress from top fashion designer Vera Wang, who was reportedly sighted in Rhinebeck Saturday, while just the air-conditioned tents erected for the day are estimated to cost 600,000 dollars, with the floral arrangements only slightly less.
Although guests were given strict instructions not to disclose invitations, they were reported to include Winfrey, Spielberg, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and possibly former British prime minister John Major.
President Barack Obama isn’t there — he says he wasn’t actually invited and that in any case two presidents would be one too many at a wedding.
