|
HOLLYWOOD superstar Nicole Kidman Sunday married country singer Keith Urban in a romantic twilight ceremony on a beachside hilltop in the Sydney surfing suburb of Manly.
The elegant, strawberry-blonde Oscar-winner put the pain of her divorce from movie hearthrob Tom Cruise behind her as she made her vows to the new love of her life in the gothic-style Cardinal Ceretti Memorial Chapel.
Kidman, wearing an ivory Balenciaga gown and veil with drop- pearl earrings and with her wavy tresses falling naturally to her shoulders, was accompanied down the aisle by her father Antony.
Her sister Antonia was matron of honour and her 13-year-old adopted daughter from the marriage with Cruise, Isabella, was bridesmaid.
As the bridal party arrived in a pair of white Rolls Royce limousines, Kidman won the hearts of hundreds of cheering fans braving the winter chill by winding down her window and thanking them for coming.
"She was very, very friendly, so gracious and so, so nice," said Matthew Smith, a US student from Miami who is touring Asia and Australia. "They slowed down and opened the window. I was very impressed by her kindness and the Australians were so gracious to her-in the States it would have been mad."
With helicopters hovering overhead, the bridal convoy then wound its way up an old gravel carriageway lit by fairy lights to the ornate sandstone chapel in the grounds of St. Patrick's College.
The imposing 19th Century former Catholic seminary overlooking the ocean is now an international hospitality school.
Glimpses of Kidman in her former home town of Sydney in the days before the wedding showed her radiant and smiling despite the close attentions of hordes of paparazzi, and the priest who married her said she was deeply in love.
Father Paul Coleman, who has known Kidman for more than 30 years, said ahead of the wedding that the ceremony would be simple but sincere. "They are very much in love with each other," he told the news agency. "I think it's just lovely that Nicole's getting married-I love a good happy ending," Ann Symons told reporters, referring to Kidman's broken marriage to Cruise.
Another fan, Lea Cotter, dressed for the occasion in a red and black Moulin Rouge-inspired showgirl dress, paying tribute to the film Kidman made with Australian director Baz Luhrman.
"I love weddings and I really wanted to crash this one," said Cotter.
Expected to be among the more than 200 guests were A-list Hollywood personalities with Australian links-including actors Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts, as well as Luhrmann and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Kidman, 39, was born in Hawaii to Australian parents and grew up here, while Urban, 38, was born in New Zealand but raised in Australia.
The two met in January 2005 at a black-tie dinner in Los Angeles sponsored by the Australian government.
Kidman, who won an Oscar for her role in "The Hours", is well-loved in Australia. Urban, one of the hottest country stars in the United States where he has lived since 1992, is a comparative unknown at home.
The pair were able to marry in a Catholic service because Kidman's first marriage to Cruise, a Scientologist, was never recognized by the Catholic church.
Kidman's adopted children from that marriage-Isabella 13, and Connor, 11 -- were in Sydney for the ceremony.
It is the first marriage for Urban. He is not a Catholic but Father Coleman said he had been impressed by the country singer.
"I think he is a very good type of person. He is very much in love with Nicole and that is the big thing for their marriage," he said.
Some reports have said that Urban, who has admitted a previous cocaine addiction, signed a prenuptial agreement giving Kidman an escape clause if he again becomes involved in drug or alcohol abuse.
Urban, who has sold five million albums and is regarded as one of the hottest country music stars in the United States, was reportedly due to sing a song dedicated to Kidman at the reception in a large marquee near the chapel.
They are rumoured to be planning a honeymoon in Fiji after spending their wedding night in their new three million US dollar waterfront apartment in Sydney and before returning to Urban's home in Nashville.
|