Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes on brink of 'dream wedding'

By Peer Meinert Nov 15, 2006, 13:44 GMT

Bracciano, Italy - 'Dream Wedding' is the buzz these days. Or 'Wedding of the Year.'

Tom Cruise, 44, and Katie Holmes, 27, are about to tie the knot in Italy. What a perfect setting: The milky morning sun caresses Bracciano, near Rome. The lakeside view is superb.

'Three days to go until Day X,' says the man at the newspaper stand in front of the town hall. Hollywood stars against a Mediterranean backdrop - a killer combination for the PR pros. The focus will be soft, which is likely to smooth the groom's scratched image.

Bracciano is a small bedroom community about 30 kilometres north of the Italian capital. Romans who cannot afford seafront real estate buy a house there. It is not grandiose or posh, really.

Cruise and Holmes are to wed in Castello Odescalchi, Bracciano's imposing medieval castle. Italian pop star Eros Ramazzotti and television starlet Michelle Hunziker got married there several years ago. They rank a few notches below the entertainment industry's 'TomKat' brand, though.

Nevertheless, the men and women drinking espresso in the bar opposite the town hall do not appear excited. They give the impression that they are accustomed to seeing megastars.

'Of course they're getting married here,' declares the barman, wiping away any doubts about the venue. The caterers have already made preparations in the castle, the expresso drinkers report, 'and CNN and the BBC have reserved the best places.'

Italian newspaper say that Cruise's PR people have asked the head of the provincial administration to close off air space around Bracciano during the weekend wedding - to be conducted strictly in accordance with the rites of Scientology, the controversial church of which Cruise is a member - so that paparazzi and TV camera crews cannot take unauthorised pictures from aircraft.

The wedding photos are meant to be 'exclusive' - in other words, to be sold for scads of money.

After the ceremony, a grand reception is planned. The invited guests are all creme de la creme.

Superstars like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are said to be coming, and Steven Spielberg too. Then there is George Clooney and Russell Crowe, not to mention David and Victoria Beckham as well as Giorgio Armani, who is dressing Cruise and Holmes on their big day.

The Rome newspaper La Repubblica said a million-dollar fine awaits any of the wedding's organisers who discloses details to the public.

This is not quite as draconian as an alleged clause in the lovebirds' prenuptial agreement - the reports from Los Angeles have not been denied - stating that cheating on one's spouse in the first year of marriage is punishable by a fine of five million dollars.

What is most beautiful about Bracciano are the massive palm trees in front of the town hall. It is a magnificent sight with Mediterranean charm.

Inside, the mayor, Patrizia Riccioni, was not available for comment. But there is talk of making the newlyweds honorary citizens. In the words of the mayor's attractive spokeswomen, the wedding is 'a big gain for our city and our lake.'

The comment brings back memories of the fiasco a few weeks ago in Cernobbio on Italy's Lake Como, where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were supposed to get married. Cernobbio's mayor, Simona Saladini, said then, 'We've entered Americans' dreams. Even the New York Times has written about us.'

The only problem is that the 'dream wedding' on Lake Como never happened. Bracciano is counting on a happy ending.