It was the kind of day found within the pages of a Danielle Steel novel. As the wedding ceremony concluded and the guests began milling around before dinner, a brilliant magenta sun began dipping beyond the Hudson River. The day had been one of sparkling clarity, bathed in golden sunshine, without a single cloud in the July sky.
The gorgeous summer evening of 31st July 2010 saw Chelsea Clinton, the former first daughter of Bill and Hilary Clinton marrying her longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky. The venue was the Astor Courts, a 13,000-foot Beaux Arts pavilion in Rhinebeck and among the 500 A-list guests present were Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Babara Streisand and Madeleine Albright (but not the Obamas even though they had offered the White House for the wedding).
It was apparent that Chelsea, who arrived at the White House as a gawky 12-year-old with frizzy hair and braces, and grew up before the nation’s eyes had found in Marc, a partner whose life experiences bear a striking resemblance to her own - Both are from political families, Marc is the Philadelphia-raised son of former Iowa congressman Ed Mezvinsky (jailed in 2001 for five years after pleading guilty to 31 counts of fraud)and former Pennsylvania congresswoman Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinksy, now divorced. Both know firsthand the price of political loss and scandal. (One difference: Chelsea is an only child, but Marc is one of 11, some adopted.)
The two first met as teenagers in Hilton Head, S.C. during a Renaissance Weekend. They became fast friends. When Chelsea was choosing colleges in 1997, Marc showed her around Stanford University, where he was a student. His tour worked: she enrolled. But their romance did not bloom then and there; Chelsea went on to date writer Ian Klaus and was with him for four years. In 2005, the affair with Ian ended and the same year she and Marc, by then both living in New York City, went public with their romance.
The story of Chelsea and Marc shows clearly, love can overcome many obstacles. Chelsea is Methodist, Mezvinsky is Jewish. Of the interfaith union, Hillary Clinton said, “Over the years, so many of the barriers that prevented people from getting married, crossing lines of faith or color or ethnicity have just disappeared.”
The Clintons who are extraordinarily close to their only child — as president, Bill Clinton once put off an overseas trip so he could be home to help Chelsea study for exams — were deeply moved by the union. “I am going to try not to cry,” Bill Clinton said a few weeks before the ceremony.
The billowing, floor-length Vera Wang gown Chelsea wore on her wedding day had silver beading around the waist. In her hand she carried a bouquet of white flowers. Her accessories included diamond drop earrings and a small diamond bracelet.
The groom wore a black tuxedo, white prayer shawl and yarmulke. A horseshoe of white roses decorated the gazebo where the couple exchanged vows.
The 500-pound four-foot Presidential Cake, had 1,000 edible sugar flowers, cost $10,000 and was gluten-free. Dinner was also gluten-free, vegan—including hors d’oeuvre — the cost of which was around $125,000 for the 500 guests.
The storybook wedding was conducted by a rabbi and a minister and included the reading of a poem titled “The Life That I Have,” by Leo Marks. No other poem could have captured so well the sentiments of two people, wishing to share the rest of their lives with each other.
The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.
- Aditha
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