honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 11:14 a.m., Saturday, July 7, 2007

Longoria, Parker wed in Paris, chateau party to follow

By Jenny Barchfield
Associated Press

 

A car believed to be carrying NBA player Tony Parker, of France, and U.S. actress Eva Longoria leaves among fans outside the Saint Germain l'Auxerrois church in Paris after their wedding ceremony. Parker and Eva Longoria.

Francois Mori | Associated PRess

spacer spacer
 

U.S. actresses Brenda Strong, left, Nicolette Sheridan, center, and Felicity Huffman leave the wedding ceremony of NBA player Tony Parker, of France, and U.S. actress Eva Longoria.

Remy de la Mauviniere | Associated Press

spacer spacer
PARIS — Tony Parker and Eva Longoria exchanged vows in a cathedral that once served French royalty — stage two of a weekend wedding extravaganza that began with a civil ceremony and was to end tonight at a storied French chateau.

Guests, including Longoria's "Desperate Housewives" co-stars Teri Hatcher, Nicolette Sheridan and Felicity Huffman, left after today's church service.

Ahead of the brief service today, Parker and Longoria married in a civil ceremony in Paris on Friday, before a modest crowd of about 40 guests, including some of Parker's San Antonio Spurs teammates and French soccer player Thierry Henry.

Parker, a 25-year-old who was born in Belgium and grew up in France, asked Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe to officiate. Parker's friends translated when Delanoe gave a speech calling the basketball star a model in the fight against racism.

"I married a friend to the woman he loves. It was touching, moving, very warm and at the same time very relaxed," Delanoe said on RTL radio today.

And romantic, he added: "They kiss all the time."

He praised Longoria's choice of dresses and designer _ the 32-year-old wore a pink Chanel mini dress on her way into the town hall, but changed into a white dress in the district mayor's office. French law requires a civil ceremony even when couples marry in a church.

Saturday's events were likely to be much more elaborate _ and much more strictly guarded.

Police cordons circled the cathedral where the couple was to wed in a religious ceremony, across from the Louvre Museum in central Paris. Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, which once served French royals, was closed to visitors throughout the day.

In the afternoon, two pearl gray Mercedes minivans pulled up carrying several young women wearing dark red or sky blue track suits, believed to be Longoria's bridesmaids. Soon afterward, guards started erecting 10-foot-high wooden panels to block the public's view of the church entrance.

Gray, drizzly skies loomed over the big day, but fans were undeterred.

"I love the series and I came out today for the chance to see to Eva, the 'American in Paris,'" said Lola Michot, a 16-year-old high school student from the eastern French city of Besancon. She waited outside the church for hours Saturday for a glimpse.

The couple and their entourage have given very few details about the nuptials, but media reports said they were to follow the religious service with a bash at Vaux-le-Vicomte, a 17th century chateau about 35 miles southeast of Paris.