Entertainment> Celebrities

Cruise, Holmes exchange vows in Italian castle

(Reuters)
2006-11-19 10:23

Actor Tom Cruise arrives at Castello Odescalchi for his wedding to Katie Holmes in the Italian lakeside town of Bracciano November 18, 2006. Cruise and Holmes have chosen the 15th century castle just outside Rome as the location for their celebrity wedding. [Reuters]

Photographers with long lenses stood perilously on window ledges at the top of a building overlooking the castle, where the mayor charged 1,000 euros ($1,278) for each position. A helicopter carrying a TV crew clattered overhead.

The town was closed to traffic early on Saturday.

Pictures of the pair and goodwill messages in English were displayed all over town. "Best wishes for your fairy tale," read one message in a bar. A cake shop had a wedding cake in its window with "Tom and Katie" written in icing while restaurants named menus and dishes like risotto after the pair.

Cruise, wearing sunglasses, waved to the crowd as he arrived in a black Mercedes in the afternoon. Holmes earlier arrived clutching their baby daughter Suri in her arms, then briefly appeared at a castle window when Cruise's vehicle pulled up.

Holmes, 27, gave birth to their baby daughter in April. Cruise, 44, also has two older children adopted during his marriage to Nicole Kidman.

FRENZY IN BRACCIANO

The wedding ended a week of Hollywood mania that had swept Italy and transformed the sleepy town 40 km (25 miles) north of the Italian capital into a hotbed of media activity. Satellite TV trucks stood on the streets underneath the castle while shops were festooned with balloons and other decorations.

"The few cars that have arrived, we couldn't see who was inside but I'm happy anyway," said Paola Iela, a 34-year-old student. "I've had a crush on Tom Cruise since I was a teenager. I think he's too sexy."