Anna Nicole Smith's pink funeral

Mar 2, 2007, 12:10 GMT

09/07/2004 - Anna Nicole Smith - 2004 Mao Magazine Launch Party - Altman Building - New York, NY © Wild1 / Photorazzi

Anna Nicole Smith will be buried in a custom-made gown following a lavish and "very pink" memorial service today (02.03.07).

The "over the top" service - attended by 300 guests at Mount Horeb Baptist Church in the Bahamaian town of Nassau - will include a performance from an undisclosed singer and vast quantities of pink flowers.

Organiser Patrik Simpson said: "It will be a very beautiful, very private, very pink Anna Nicole send-off. Of course it will be over the top because it's Anna Nicole."

Only 30 people will attend the intimate service when the model-and-actress is laid to rest next to her 20-year-old son Daniel.

Simpson - a 38-year-old talent scout who has been friends with the star for five years - said the "very elegant" casket will probably be closed during the ceremony but close friends and family can put their pictures into the casket before the burial.

Simpson's partner, Pol Atteu - who has designed more than a dozen gowns for Anna Nicole - created the dress in which she is to be buried. Simpson declined to describe the dress, but said the service will reflect the model's larger-than-life personality.

The funeral and burial will be closed to the public and Bahamian police have erected steel barriers.

However, the Bahamian private gated community of Sandy Port, where the church is located, are trying to profit from the funeral by charging news crews and paparazzi agencies to gain entry.

Charges begin at $2,000 per camera and $5,000 to set up a live feed.

Interested parties were told to submit a form with an authorised credit card number before midnight on Thursday (01.03.07) to be allowed through the gate.

One photo agency has paid over $15,000 for access to the grounds.

(C) BANG Media International