Friday, 17 November 2006

It's official: Tom & Katie will wed at castle

Venue is a 15th century fortress

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes will wed Saturday at Odescalchi Castle, a 15th-century fortress in the lakeside Italian city Bracciano, Access Hollywood's Billy Bush announced Friday on Today.

Odescalchi had long been the anticipated wedding site, and Italian media have reported that the ceremony will be held in the castle's Hall of the Caesars.

The $50,000 fee to use the facility has been waived, because Bracciano mayor Patrizia Riccioni wants to thank the couple for all the attention they've brought her town, Bush reported.

At a press conference Thursday, Riccioni – who said she'd met with Cruise and Holmes on Wednesday somewhere out of town – said she expects the couple to arrive at the castle Saturday morning and return to Rome following the ceremony, the Associated Press reports.

"I want to thank Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for choosing this venue for such an important event," Riccioni said.

She added that she'd given them a small silver sculpture of the castle as a gift, with a card reading, "A sincere note in sign of gratitude from the city of Bracciano, for having chosen it as the place where to crown your dream of love."

Riccioni also said she'd like to grant the Cruises honorary citizenship "because they have brought so much to our little village."