
Nicole Kidman has officially beaten Tom Cruise back to the altar.
Culminating a week in which their every move and wedding detail was excrutiatingly chronicled in the press, the Bewitched star married country crooner Keith Urban on Sunday at a clifftop Catholic chapel overlooking the harbor near her family’s home in Sydney, Australia.
Helicopters buzzed overhead and paparazzi thronged outside the gates to the private estate playing host the nuptials, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bride, groom and such A-list pals as Naomi Watts, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Baz Luhrumann and Rupert Murdoch.
Kidman waved to the crowd as a small fleet of white Rolls Royce shuttled her and the other guests into the compound in the suburb of Manly at 5:30 p.m. local time.
“We just want to thank everyone in Australia and around the world who have sent us their warm wishes,” the couple said in a brief statement released with the photo.
The Oscar winner walked down the aisle clad in a pearly lace-and-chiffon Balenciaga creation, complete with veil, clutching a bouquet of white roses
She was given away by her father, Antony, while a quartet from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra played in the background. The traditional, candlelit ceremony lasted a little over an hour and was conducted by longtime family friend Father Paul Coleman and included readings from the Gospel selected by Kidman’s mother, Janelle. Kidman’s two children from her previous marriage to Cruise, 13-year-old Isabella and 11-year-old Connor, were in the wedding party, which also included her sister, Antonia, and her niece, Lucia.
As church bells signaled the end of the vow-swapping, the newlyweds and their 230 guests celebrated at a reception held under a towering white marquee, decorated with thousands of pink and white roses. Jackman and singer Neil Finn helped to provide the soundtrack for the party.