Former Democratic president Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were to attend their daughter’s big day in Rhinebeck, a quaint rural retreat for New York’s elite.
Other details were kept secret right to the eve of the nuptials in an extraordinary effort to ensure privacy for Chelsea, 30, and husband-to-be Marc Mezvinsky, 32.
The news blackout has fed a media frenzy, with news teams flooding Rhinebeck to cover what’s variously been dubbed the wedding of the decade, century, millennium, or just plain royal.
Ceremonies were set to take place at the grandiose Astor Courts house in a wooded area near Rhinebeck. Paparazzi sneaked pictures over the last few days of tents being erected on the grounds next to the elegant white building.
Astor Courts is a Beaux Arts pavilion that sits on 50 acres of land. It was commissioned more than 100 years ago by John Jacob Astor IV, who died on the Titanic.
Security tightened rapidly as Saturday approached and the airspace over Astor Courts was declared a no-fly zone.
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