- Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mevinsky Tie the Knot - Shareware
“Today, we watched with great pride and overwhelming emotion as Chelsea and Marc wed in a beautiful ceremony at Astor Courts, surrounded by family and their close friends," said former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement issued to the media.
Astor Courts Clinton – Mezvinsky Wedding
A beaming Bill Clinton walked daughter Chelsea down the aisle at Astor Courts, a guest house and recreation complex that is part of the Gilded Age estate of John Jacob Astor IV, who died in the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic. Ferncliff, the original estate had more than a mile of Hudson River footage.
Officiating at the ceremony of the Methodist bride and Jewish groom were a rabbi and a Protestant pastor. Mezvinsky, an investment banker, wore a yarmulke on his head and a tallit (prayer shawl ) over the shoulders of his dark suit.
Top Designers Dressed the Wedding Party
Designer’s Vera Wang and Burberry’s Christopher Bailey dressed not only the bride and groom, but several members of the wedding party. The bride wore a floor-length strapless silk organza gown with a draped bodice set off by a decorative beaded waistline.. Creator Vera Wang also designed the bridesmaids’ dresses. Wang, a family friend, was a guest at the wedding.
Bailey, a friend of the bride and groom, designed groom Marc Mezvinsky’s attire, as well as ties for the groomsmen and Bill Clinton, the bride’s father. Hillary, Chelsea’s mother, was attired in a gown designed by longtime friend Oscar de la Renta.
Most of the rumored rich and famous people mentioned in advance by curious media writers were not invited. Chelsea tried to limit the list to family and friends and succeeded. Recognizable names among those attending included such old family friends as former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Vernon Jordan, long an intimate advisor to Bill Clinton, and stars Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen.
Clinton-Mezvinsky Wedding Details
The wedding weekend was kicked off Friday night with a rehearsal dinner at Grasmere Farm Estate and a party for Chelsea and Marc at the historic Beekman Arms Hotel. Astor Courts was bathed in sunshine for Saturday’s late afternoon outdoor wedding and the bride and groom basked in the warmth of about 500 well wishers, many of them friends in their age group.
Later, fireworks lit the sky over the Hudson River, an area which had been declared a no-fly zone as part of security measures.
Wedding reception food and the multi-tiered wedding cake were mostly vegan and it was rumored that much of the food was harvested on nearby farms.
Neighboring Rhinebeck residents were each given a bottle of wine as recompense for inconveniences caused by traffic and security checks. The town of Rhinebeck also had a gift for Chelsea and Marc: lifelong library cards for Morton Memorial Library, named for Levi P. Morton, 22nd Vice President of the United States.
Attention will now turn to the couple’s honeymoon.
(For wedding pictures, see the CBS Photo Gallery.)
Rosemary E. Bachelor - Rosemary Bachelor, a prize-winning journalist, has had a career as an editor, feature writer, magazine publisher and author. Her latest ...
