America has had a love affair with celebrity weddings for years. Consider the popularity of actress Grace Kelly’s fairytale wedding to the Prince of Monaco in 1956. It started with photos of her showing off the 10-plus carat, emerald-cut engagement ring given to her by Prince Rainier, and it continued on to the wedding and eventually the birth of her children. (LIFE has a fabulous gallery of Kelly wedding photos, by the way.) Americans not only love a reason to celebrate, they love a good wedding, and celebrities are able to give that to us and more.

As you all know, Chelsea Clinton was married over the weekend at an exclusive estate in New York. Like many other first daughters, America got to watch Chelsea grow up in the White House, and her wedding plans had been setting the web on fire for almost a year. The weddings of presidents’ daughters are just as fascinating as those of Hollywood celebrities, and many of us eat up the details - especially wedding and event coordinators, who love to pick out the trends and figure out how to emulate them for their clients. Here are a few of the details from the Clinton-Mezvinsky wedding, according the The Associated Press and The Washington Post.

* Several sources reported that the wedding was to be a $3 million affair. Now that the wedding is over, however, guests are saying it was more like “a family affair” and the seven-figure number was unlikely.
* The wedding site was a Beaux Arts riverside estate called Astor Courts, which was sealed off from the public.
* Chelsea wore two gowns. Her first was a Vera Wang strapless gown with a silk organza skirt, a diagonal tulle bodice and an embellished belt. For the reception, Chelsea changed into a silk tulle Grecian gown, also by Wang, that crisscrossed in the back and had a narrow black grosgrain belt.
* The Mother of the Bride, Hillary Clinton, was dressed in a plum-colored Oscar de la Renta gown.
* Chelsea carried a bouquet of all-white flowers.
* There were at least 12 bridesmaids and as many groomsmen.
* The bridesmaids wore wedding gowns dyed a plum color to match the flowers. (The bride reportedly couldn’t find any bridesmaids gowns she liked.)
* The ceremony was officiated by a Methodist minister, for Chelsea, and a Jewish Rabbi, for Mr. Mezvinksy.
* The guests, of which there were about 400, arrived in black tie for the men, and long gowns for the women.
* There were only a few photos of the wedding released (which you can see here), and none of the reception, which kept going until 4 a.m. with an after-party on the tennis courts.
* The couple performed a choreographed dance to the Etta James classic “At Last” during the reception.
* An 18-piece ensemble performed big-band music, and the father-daughter dance was to The Way You Look Tonight.
* The caterer was the St. Regis Hotel in New York, and the food was reported to be: short ribs, Atlantic char, a vegetarian option, and gluten-free rolls. The gluten-intolerant bride also selected a gluten-free cake from La Tulipe.
* The flowers were all roses and hydrangeas, in hues of pink, purple and blue.
* President Clinton gave one toast, guests report, welcoming Marc into his family and thanking him for “evening the playing field.”

All in all it sounds like a traditional wedding that any bride would be lucky to have. It’s obvious from the handout photos that the bride was thrilled with the way things turned out and happy to be a newlywed. We think the simple ceremony and summery color scheme sounds perfect, and the architectural backdrop was fitting for a presidential wedding!

Tags: bride, celebrity wedding, Wedding News

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