Kim’s royal fantasy in a Tuscan palace
Kardashian marries rap star Kanye
a renaissance fort complete with 6ft macaroon towers, frocks slashed to the waist and gold portaloos sprayed with Chanel …but no Beyoncé or Bieber
IT WAS billed as the €12m showbusiness wedding of the year, with bride Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West determined to add a royal touch to their nuptials.
As they flew to Italy for their wedding in a private jet after partying with guests at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, Kim admitted she ‘felt like royalty’.
The white gown Kim wore for her ‘dress rehearsal’ on Friday night was slashed to the waist – suggesting her real wedding dress, reported to have cost €2m, might be somewhat risqué.
From the €600-a-piece wedding invitations embossed in gold, to the bride’s three designer outfits totalling €5m, it was clear the one thing the couple dubbed ‘Kimye’ could not buy was good taste.
They chose the historic 16th century Fort Belvedere outside Florence, ancient home to the Medicis, as the setting for the big event. But yesterday it transpired that Prince Ottaviano de’Medici di
‘They rent our palazzi
for small change’
Toscana, a descendant of the Medici family, was so incensed by the news that he plans to complain to UNESCO, which has listed the building as a world heritage site.
The prince, 57, said: ‘The city is renting our palazzi for small change to be used as dance halls. They are selling the city off and many are disgusted.’
Kim and Kanye are believed to have paid €250,000 to rent the fort for the ceremony, with a Protestant minister expected to marry them in front of a massive wall of white roses. It was a scaled down version of the Mother’s Day present Kanye gave to the mother of his 11-month-old child, North.
Kim, 33, arrived with family members – known for their reality TV show Keeping Up With the Kardashians – including her mother, Kris Jenner, sister Kourtney and half-sister Kendall. Reversing tradition, the 36-yearold groom arrived alone about 90 minutes later.
Local teenage girls screamed as each new guest arrived. They’d heard Justin Bieber was to be there but, if he was, he managed to sneak in without being observed.
Among the guests seen arriving were Will Smith’s son Jaden. However, rapper Jay Z and his wife, Beyoncé, were not thought to have attended.
Inside there was a Renaissance theme, with living statues wearing body paint and fig leaves to protect their modesty.
A 70ft marble-top table had to be hoisted in pieces over the side of the fortress walls, while dozens of smaller tables were decked out with silver tablecloths bearing 6ft towers of pink macaroons. For the reception, 1,000 bottles of Ruinart Rosé champagne were believed to have been ordered.
The wedding cake was 6ft tall, with seven tiers covered in white icing, with gold ribbon around the edges. Guests dined on food prepared by the chefs from the Michelin-starred Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Annie Feolde and husband, Giorgio Pinchiorri.
Above the guests was a false ceiling of billowing white sheets, with pink and white lights shining through, and a huge dance area was constructed in the garden of the fort with flashing lights alternating between blue, orange and pink.
Portable loos had been transformed into privies fit for a king, with gold thrones and a woman spraying Chanel No.5 perfume into the air, while magician David Blaine is said to have created a special magic act – to make the couple ‘disappear’ from the dance floor. Hundreds of private security guards and Italian militia were drafted in to deal with crowds surrounding the fort, desperate to catch a glimpse of the multi-millionaire couple. The newlyweds are believed to be staying in a luxury villa outside the city.
Today the wedding party are thought to be leaving Florence and heading to a nearby villa.