Elizabeth Taylor's first wedding dress up for auction

LONDON (Reuters) - The wedding dress worn by film star Elizabeth Taylor for her first marriage to hotel heir Conrad Hilton in 1950 will go up for sale next month, auction house Christie's said on Friday.

The simple, but elegant garment created by Hollywood costume designer Helen Rose for the then 18-year-old Taylor is an oyster shell-colored, floor-length satin gown with a fine silk gauze off-the-shoulder illusion neckline.

The dress, which was a gift from MGM film studios, has a top estimate of 50,000 pounds ($75,300). Rose also designed Grace Kelly's wedding dress for her marriage to the Prince of Monaco.

By the time Taylor married Hilton she was already a veteran actress and was just a year away from her Oscar-nominated performance in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "A Place in the Sun".

The A-list of old Hollywood - Greer Garson, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Esther Williams, and Van Johnson - were among the many stars who came to congratulate the bride.

The star of "Cleopatra" surpassed Michael Jackson as the highest-earning deceased celebrity in a survey released by Forbes in October 2012, with her estate pulling in $210 million, much of it from a 2011 auction of jewels, costumes and art work.

The auction of Taylor's jewels took in $116 million, more than double the record for a single collection, and set new marks for pearls, colorless diamonds and Indian jewels.

Taylor, who died in 2011 at the age of 79, was married eight times, twice to actor Richard Burton, and had a career spanning seven decades.

She first gained fame in 1944's "National Velvet" at age 12, and was nominated for five Oscars, winning best actress for "Butterfield 8" (1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), which also starred Burton.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; Editing by Michael Roddy)

View the original article here

Silicon Valley billionaire Sean Parker agrees to fine over forest wedding

By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Billionaire Sean Parker has agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine for failing to get permits to build a fairytale set in a redwood forest for his wedding last weekend, a California Coastal Commission staff report said.

Parker, the first president of Facebook Inc and co-founder of the music-sharing website Napster, wed singer-songwriter Alexandra Lenas on Saturday in a celebration in a closed public campground at the luxury Ventana Inn and Spa in Big Sur.

The preparations included building staircases, digging an artificial pond, erecting stone gateways, walls and a bridge, grading and contouring roads to create what looked like ruins, installing lights and planting more than 125 trees and plants, some adjacent to the creek, according to the report.

Staff for the commission, which regulates development along the Pacific Ocean, knew of the wedding in advance and feared that the wedding could imperil ancient redwoods and a creek deemed critical for a steelhead fishery, the report said.

"The unpermitted development has thus impacted the existing redwood forest habitat and has likely caused sedimentation of Post Creek," the report said.

The 12-member commission is scheduled to consider the proposed settlement agreement at a meeting in Long Beach on June 14. The fine would be used to improve coastal access and recreation in the area, according to the report.

It says that in addition to paying the penalty, the 33-year-old groom has said he would restore the wedding site to its condition prior to his developing it for his dream wedding.

Parker said in a statement that he and his bride were "proud to be working with the Coastal Commission to develop public-benefit programs that will provide greater coastal access and expand conservation areas for everyone while building greater awareness of the incredibly beautiful Big Sur area."

A 1972 ballot initiative established California's Coastal Act to ensure access to the scenic shoreline. The commission permitted the Ventana Inn to rent rooms starting at nearly $600 a night in exchange for operating the public campground. But the campground has been closed since 2007, and the inn allowed Parker to use it exclusively since January.

Sarah Christie, a commission spokeswoman, said her agency learned about the wedding plans in early May and decided to allow Parker and Lenas to proceed with their nuptials at the public campground because the damage already had been done.

"It didn't make any sense to cancel the wedding," she said. "That wasn't going to help anything."

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Lisa Shumaker)

View the original article here

Elizabeth Taylor's first wedding dress up for auction

LONDON (Reuters) - The wedding dress worn by film star Elizabeth Taylor for her first marriage to hotel heir Conrad Hilton in 1950 will go up for sale next month, auction house Christie's said on Friday.

The simple, but elegant garment created by Hollywood costume designer Helen Rose for the then 18-year-old Taylor is an oyster shell-colored, floor-length satin gown with a fine silk gauze off-the-shoulder illusion neckline.

The dress, which was a gift from MGM film studios, has a top estimate of 50,000 pounds ($75,300). Rose also designed Grace Kelly's wedding dress for her marriage to the Prince of Monaco.

By the time Taylor married Hilton she was already a veteran actress and was just a year away from her Oscar-nominated performance in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "A Place in the Sun".

The A-list of old Hollywood - Greer Garson, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Esther Williams, and Van Johnson - were among the many stars who came to congratulate the bride.

The star of "Cleopatra" surpassed Michael Jackson as the highest-earning deceased celebrity in a survey released by Forbes in October 2012, with her estate pulling in $210 million, much of it from a 2011 auction of jewels, costumes and art work.

The auction of Taylor's jewels took in $116 million, more than double the record for a single collection, and set new marks for pearls, colorless diamonds and Indian jewels.

Taylor, who died in 2011 at the age of 79, was married eight times, twice to actor Richard Burton, and had a career spanning seven decades.

She first gained fame in 1944's "National Velvet" at age 12, and was nominated for five Oscars, winning best actress for "Butterfield 8" (1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), which also starred Burton.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; Editing by Michael Roddy)

View the original article here

Silicon Valley billionaire Sean Parker agrees to fine over forest wedding

By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Billionaire Sean Parker has agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine for failing to get permits to build a fairytale set in a redwood forest for his wedding last weekend, a California Coastal Commission staff report said.

Parker, the first president of Facebook Inc and co-founder of the music-sharing website Napster, wed singer-songwriter Alexandra Lenas on Saturday in a celebration in a closed public campground at the luxury Ventana Inn and Spa in Big Sur.

The preparations included building staircases, digging an artificial pond, erecting stone gateways, walls and a bridge, grading and contouring roads to create what looked like ruins, installing lights and planting more than 125 trees and plants, some adjacent to the creek, according to the report.

Staff for the commission, which regulates development along the Pacific Ocean, knew of the wedding in advance and feared that the wedding could imperil ancient redwoods and a creek deemed critical for a steelhead fishery, the report said.

"The unpermitted development has thus impacted the existing redwood forest habitat and has likely caused sedimentation of Post Creek," the report said.

The 12-member commission is scheduled to consider the proposed settlement agreement at a meeting in Long Beach on June 14. The fine would be used to improve coastal access and recreation in the area, according to the report.

It says that in addition to paying the penalty, the 33-year-old groom has said he would restore the wedding site to its condition prior to his developing it for his dream wedding.

Parker said in a statement that he and his bride were "proud to be working with the Coastal Commission to develop public-benefit programs that will provide greater coastal access and expand conservation areas for everyone while building greater awareness of the incredibly beautiful Big Sur area."

A 1972 ballot initiative established California's Coastal Act to ensure access to the scenic shoreline. The commission permitted the Ventana Inn to rent rooms starting at nearly $600 a night in exchange for operating the public campground. But the campground has been closed since 2007, and the inn allowed Parker to use it exclusively since January.

Sarah Christie, a commission spokeswoman, said her agency learned about the wedding plans in early May and decided to allow Parker and Lenas to proceed with their nuptials at the public campground because the damage already had been done.

"It didn't make any sense to cancel the wedding," she said. "That wasn't going to help anything."

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Lisa Shumaker)

View the original article here

Elizabeth Taylor's first wedding dress up for auction

LONDON (Reuters) - The wedding dress worn by film star Elizabeth Taylor for her first marriage to hotel heir Conrad Hilton in 1950 will go up for sale next month, auction house Christie's said on Friday.

The simple, but elegant garment created by Hollywood costume designer Helen Rose for the then 18-year-old Taylor is an oyster shell-colored, floor-length satin gown with a fine silk gauze off-the-shoulder illusion neckline.

The dress, which was a gift from MGM film studios, has a top estimate of 50,000 pounds ($75,300). Rose also designed Grace Kelly's wedding dress for her marriage to the Prince of Monaco.

By the time Taylor married Hilton she was already a veteran actress and was just a year away from her Oscar-nominated performance in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "A Place in the Sun".

The A-list of old Hollywood - Greer Garson, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Esther Williams, and Van Johnson - were among the many stars who came to congratulate the bride.

The star of "Cleopatra" surpassed Michael Jackson as the highest-earning deceased celebrity in a survey released by Forbes in October 2012, with her estate pulling in $210 million, much of it from a 2011 auction of jewels, costumes and art work.

The auction of Taylor's jewels took in $116 million, more than double the record for a single collection, and set new marks for pearls, colorless diamonds and Indian jewels.

Taylor, who died in 2011 at the age of 79, was married eight times, twice to actor Richard Burton, and had a career spanning seven decades.

She first gained fame in 1944's "National Velvet" at age 12, and was nominated for five Oscars, winning best actress for "Butterfield 8" (1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), which also starred Burton.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; Editing by Michael Roddy)

View the original article here

Silicon Valley billionaire Sean Parker agrees to fine over forest wedding

By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Billionaire Sean Parker has agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine for failing to get permits to build a fairytale set in a redwood forest for his wedding last weekend, a California Coastal Commission staff report said.

Parker, the first president of Facebook Inc and co-founder of the music-sharing website Napster, wed singer-songwriter Alexandra Lenas on Saturday in a celebration in a closed public campground at the luxury Ventana Inn and Spa in Big Sur.

The preparations included building staircases, digging an artificial pond, erecting stone gateways, walls and a bridge, grading and contouring roads to create what looked like ruins, installing lights and planting more than 125 trees and plants, some adjacent to the creek, according to the report.

Staff for the commission, which regulates development along the Pacific Ocean, knew of the wedding in advance and feared that the wedding could imperil ancient redwoods and a creek deemed critical for a steelhead fishery, the report said.

"The unpermitted development has thus impacted the existing redwood forest habitat and has likely caused sedimentation of Post Creek," the report said.

The 12-member commission is scheduled to consider the proposed settlement agreement at a meeting in Long Beach on June 14. The fine would be used to improve coastal access and recreation in the area, according to the report.

It says that in addition to paying the penalty, the 33-year-old groom has said he would restore the wedding site to its condition prior to his developing it for his dream wedding.

Parker said in a statement that he and his bride were "proud to be working with the Coastal Commission to develop public-benefit programs that will provide greater coastal access and expand conservation areas for everyone while building greater awareness of the incredibly beautiful Big Sur area."

A 1972 ballot initiative established California's Coastal Act to ensure access to the scenic shoreline. The commission permitted the Ventana Inn to rent rooms starting at nearly $600 a night in exchange for operating the public campground. But the campground has been closed since 2007, and the inn allowed Parker to use it exclusively since January.

Sarah Christie, a commission spokeswoman, said her agency learned about the wedding plans in early May and decided to allow Parker and Lenas to proceed with their nuptials at the public campground because the damage already had been done.

"It didn't make any sense to cancel the wedding," she said. "That wasn't going to help anything."

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Lisa Shumaker)

View the original article here

LOOK: This Groom REALLY Wants Dave Grohl At His Wedding

Groom Marcus Cox's love for his soon-to-be-wife is matched only by his love for one other person -- Dave Grohl.

On Friday, Cox's sister, Reddit user TakeMeOhmTonight, posted Cox's open letter to the Foo Fighters frontman on the site. In it, he invites "Dave f***ing Grohl" to join him (with a plus one, of course!) at his August 2013 wedding. The humble groom-to-be -- who describes himself as "30-year-old Caucasian male...with a receding hairline. Control your jealousy" -- writes:

"In the off chance that you decide to accept my wedding invitation, I will make sure that you are well taken care of with whatever it is your heart desires. If your heart desires an outdoor wedding with a reception to boot (all in the same place; I got you) that will have the finest draft beer, then I'd say we've got you covered."

Check out the rest of the hilarious, but sincere, invitation below:

No word yet as to whether or not Grohl will be making an appearance. (Dave, if you're reading this, email weddings@huffingtonpost.com if you'd like to attend).

Click through the slideshow below for eight celebrities who crashed "regular" people's weddings.

Loading Slideshow

Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber and then-girlfriend Selena Gomez were strolling on the beach in Malibu, Calif. in July 2011 when they heard Bieber's hit song "One Less Lonely Girl" playing at a local wedding reception. According to TMZ, the famous pair snuck up on some guests and then got on the mic to give the newlyweds a toast. "We just crashed it. We heard a party so we decided to just come. So let's party," Bieber said in an exclusive video.

When Freya and Graham McAnally got married at the Manchester Town Hall in England in December 2011, they knew that cameras were nearby filming "The Iron Lady" starring Meryl Streep. But what they didn't know is that Streep would show up at their wedding. According to The Daily Mail, the Oscar-winning actress made an appearance at the couple's nuptials, then sent them autographed photos of herself bearing messages of congratulations. "I thought it was amazing, the last thing you expect is an A-List celebrity at your wedding," the bride said.

Believe it or not, royals crash weddings sometimes too. In March 2012, Queen Elizabeth showed up at John and Frances Canning's Manchester, England wedding and completely shocked the couple, who had invited her but never really expected her to actually attend. "Basically it was a wedding gift for us," the bride told CNN affiliate ITN.

In September 2008, "Entourage" actor Adrian Grenier accidentally walked into a wedding while leaving the Ritz-Carlton's spa in Marina del Rey, Calif. But according to the New York Daily News, no one really seemed to mind. In fact, some guests were all too eager to take some snapshots with the actor.

John Travolta and Robin Williams once crashed a wedding together, but it was long before the two were big in Hollywood. According to USA Today, the friends had stopped to get a drink near Travolta's Santa Barbara home back in 1977. After a few drinks, "We were having fun, starting to relax, when we saw there was a wedding next door," Travolta told USA Today in 2009. "We figured we'd crash it."

In April 2013, comedian Conan O'Brien crashed an Atlanta couple's wedding. A friend of the couple had been tweeting at O'Brien all day, inviting him to the wedding -- and he actually showed up! At left, O'Brien is pictured with the bride.

Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost Weddings on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Get Alerts

View the original article here