Sydney
(Reuters):
Church
bells
rang
to
mark
Oscar-winning
actress
Nicole
Kidman's
own
special
love
story
when
she
married
country
music
singer
Keith
Urban
in
a
traditional
Catholic
ceremony
at
a
cliff-top
chapel
in
Sydney
today.
Police
and
private
security
guards
held
back
hundreds
of
well-wishers
and
international
media
as
Kidman
arrived
for
the
twilight
ceremony
at
a
sandstone
chapel
set
on
a
sprawling
estate
overlooking
Sydney
Harbour
and
the
Pacific
Ocean.
Kidman
beamed
and
waved
as
she
arrived
in
a
convoy
of
cream
Rolls
Royce
wedding
cars
just
before
5:30
p.m.
(1300
hrs
IST).
Church
bells
pealed
across
the
estate
about
an
hour
later,
with
local
media
reporting
the
ceremony
had
been
completed.
Calls
to
Kidman's
publicists
seeking
confirmation
were
not
immediately
returned.
Kidman,
39,
wore
an
elegant
ivory-coloured
dress,
reportedly
designed
by
French
fashion
house
Balenciaga,
and
sheer
veil
and
carried
a
simple
posy
of
white
roses.
Helicopters
buzzed
overhead
as
Kidman
drove
from
her
ritzy
Sydney
harbourside
home.
Well-wishers
and
photographers
got
within
arms-reach
of
her
car
as
she
arrived
for
the
wedding.
Australian
television
reported
that
Kidman's
friends,
Oscar
winner
Russell
Crowe
and
Broadway
and
film
star
Hugh
Jackman,
were
among
the
guests.
Jackman,
set
to
star
beside
Kidman
in
an
upcoming
World
War
Two
movie
directed
by
Baz
Luhrmann,
was
to
sing
at
the
service
and
a
string
quartet
also
played.
''It's
a
very
special
love
story,''
Luhrmann,
who
directed
Kidman
in
the
Oscar-winning
movie
''Moulin
Rouge'',
said
of
the
wedding.
Kidman
was
given
away
by
her
father
Antony,
a
prominent
Sydney
psychologist.
Her
sister
Antonia,
13-year-old
daughter
Isabella
and
niece
Lucia
were
in
the
bridal
party
and
her
11-year-old
son
Connor
was
an
usher.
Songwriter
and
former
Crowded
House
singer
Neil
Finn
was
also
among
guests
and
was
reportedly
to
sing
at
the
reception,
to
be
held
in
a
white
marquee
built
off
the
Gothic-style
central
building
in
the
former
seminary.
Media
have
speculated
that
Grammy-winner
Urban,
who
arrived
more
inconspicuously
in
a
blue
four-wheel
drive
vehicle,
would
serenade
Kidman
with
his
hit
''I
Want
to
Be
Your
Everything''.
Kidman's
friend,
King
Kong
star
Naomi
Watts,
also
travelled
to
Sydney
for
the
wedding.
Other
guests,
sworn
to
secrecy
in
the
days
leading
up
to
the
ceremony,
were
ferried
in
a
convoy
of
buses
from
a
luxury
city
hotel
to
the
Cardinal
Cerretti
Memorial
Chapel.
Kidman,
who
won
a
Academy
Award
for
her
role
in
the
2002
film
The
Hours,
had
a
very
public
divorce
from
actor
Tom
Cruise
in
2001,
ending
a
10-year
marriage.
They
have
remained
friends,
sharing
custody
of
their
two
adopted
children.
Father
Paul
Coleman,
a
Jesuit
priest
who
was
to
perform
the
ceremony,
has
said
Kidman,
39,
and
Urban,
38,
have
a
''mature
love'',
which
has
impressed
him.
Coleman
said
he
had
told
them
to
''make
time
for
each
other,
do
romantic
things
together
and
never
part
without
kissing''.
Kidman
and
Urban,
both
Australians
but
born
overseas,
met
in
January
2005
at
an
awards
dinner
held
by
the
Australian
government
in
Los
Angeles
honouring
the
two
of
them.
Their
every
move
has
been
tracked
by
the
media
over
the
past
week,
with
paparazzi
camped
outside
Kidman's
home.
''I'm
so
happy,''
Kidman
told
reporters
before
a
quiet
dinner
with
her
parents
yesterday.
Urban
spent
the
last
night
before
his
first
marriage
at
what
was
described
as
a
''sedate''
buck's
night
at
a
trendy
city
bar.