Church Bells Ring As Kidman Weds Urban

By MERAIAH FOLEY

SYDNEY, Australia – Church bells rang out over Nicole Kidman’s hometown Sunday to announce her marriage to country music star Keith Urban in a lavish but intimate ceremony attended by relatives, close friends and a smattering of Hollywood stars.

The beaming bride wore a flowing white Balenciaga gown and pearl drop earrings. Her cream Rolls-Royce limousine drove from her waterfront mansion across the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge, through streets lined with cheering fans.

Kidman, accompanied by her father, Antony, smiled and waved to well-wishers outside the Gothic-style St. Patrick’s College building, which was dramatically floodlit for the evening ceremony.

The nuptials were held in a small chapel on the compound atop cliffs overlooking a beach.

Urban, a Grammy-winning country music star, wore a black suit with a white rose in his lapel matching a bouquet clutched by Kidman.

The ceremony was private, amid intense public interest and speculation about the details. The pastor said the Oscar-winning actress and Nashville, Tenn.-based singer would have a traditional Roman Catholic service.

It was Urban’s first marriage. Kidman and Tom Cruise divorced in 2001 after 10 years of marriage.

The couple released an official photograph showing them smiling and holding hands.

“We just want to thank everyone in Australia and around the world who have sent us their warm wishes,” the newlyweds said in a brief statement accompanying the photo.

They were expected to spend their wedding night in Sydney before leaving for what local media said would be a Fiji resort honeymoon.

Urban’s manager said Saturday the couple had wanted a “normal” wedding.

The guest list included Australian movie stars Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Some onlookers climbed trees and the stone wall outside the compound trying to glimpse the activity inside.

“Moulin Rouge” director Baz Luhrmann was expected to be in charge of the wedding video. A quartet from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was expected to perform, as was Jackman, who sprang to fame in the “X-Men” movies.

Kidman’s sister, Antonia, and daughter, Isabella, 13, arrived dressed as bridesmaids in a separate limousine. Her son, Connor, 11, also was expected to participate in the ceremony.

The Kidman family priest who conducted the ceremony, the Rev. Paul Coleman, said earlier that Kidman and Urban were “totally focused on their commitment.”

“It’s the priority in their lives,” The Sunday Telegraph newspaper quoted him as saying.

Kidman, 39, won the best actress Oscar in 2002 for “The Hours.”

Kidman has said she and Urban will set up home in Nashville when they return to the United States.

“I’ve moved to Tennessee for my personal life,” she told reporters in Shanghai last week. “It’s nice.”

Kidman is a hometown heroine in Sydney, where her Australian parents raised her. She was born in Hawaii.

Urban, 38, was born in Whangarei, New Zealand, and raised in Queensland state. He moved to Nashville in 1992 and has acknowledged struggling with cocaine abuse.

Urban was expected to serenade his bride. He won a Grammy this year for best male country vocalist and was named top male vocalist for the second year in a row by the Academy of Country Music.

A Country Weekly magazine reader poll this year named him country music’s sexiest man.