New York, New York

November 18, 2000

Michael Douglas married Catherine Zeta-Jones on November 18, 2000 at The Plaza Hotel in New York City. The bride wore an ivory-beaded satin sheath gown by Christian Lacroix, with a Chantilly lace train and a low-cut bodice.

The wedding took place in front of 350 guests, including Goldie Hawn, Jack Nicholson and Meg Ryan, and was rumored to have cost $1.5 million. The ceremony was held in the terrace room on a raised platform surrounded by grass hills and a garden made of lady slippers, larkspur and delphiniums. Catherine worked with event designer David Beahm and coordinator Simone Martel to create the romantic extravaganza.

The ceremony began with 40-member Welsh choir and Catherine’s mother walking down the aisle with the couple’s baby son, Dylan Doulgas, who was dressed in a sailor suit. She was followed by Catherine, walked on the arm of her father, clutching a bouquet of cream colored peonies and roses. She wore a diamond tiara, borrowed from jeweler Fred Leighton, with her hair pulled back in a bun.

The couple said their vows between columns of roses and gardenias, and silver urns filled with roses, gardenias, delphiniums, peonies and amaryllis. The 20-minute, non-denominational ceremony was officiated by New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye.

Following the ceremony, guests moved to the Grand Ballroom, where violinists played classical music. A 20-foot magnolia tree adorned with 700 white tulips stood at the entrance, and from its branches hung silk ribbons with guests name and table assignments on magnolia leaf-shaped place cards. Dinner included New England clam chowder, terrine of foie gras, rack of Welsh lamb and lobster.

The couple shared their first dance to Gladys Knight’s “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.” There were also live performances by Art Garfunkel, Jimmy Buffett and Bonnie Tyler.

For dessert, a 10-tier vanilla and butter cream wedding cake was created by Sylvia Weinstock. The six-foot-tall cake, which was covered with thousands of edible sugar flowers, had to have two tiers removed and then reassembled, just so it could fit through the ballroom doors. The couple kept the top tier and gave it to Zeta-Jones’s mother for safekeeping.

The couple spent their first night as husband and wife in The Plaza Hotel’s Astor Suite, followed by a honeymoon at their home in Aspen, Colorado.