TOM CRUISE - HOLMES CRUISES DOWN THE AISLE

HOLMES CRUISES DOWN THE AISLE

Actor TOM CRUISE married KATIE HOLMES in a candlelit ceremony at Castello Odescalchi in Bracciano, Italy yesterday (18NOV06). The couple arrived at the venue separately - Holmes first in a limousine, while the TOP GUN star was briefly glimpsed in a black Mercedes van - in the afternoon, but kept press waiting until nearly 8.30pm local time to confirm they were officially husband and wife through Cruise's publicist ARNOLD ROBINSON. Holmes walked down the aisle in an Armani dress, while Cruise wore a suit by the same designer at the romantic ceremony in the 15th century castle overlooking Lake Bracciano, just north of the capital Rome. The couple wed in front of celebrity friends, including VICTORIA BECKHAM; ANDREA BOCELLI; WILL SMITH and JADA PINKETT SMITH; RICHARD GERE; BROOKE SHIELDS and husband CHRIS HENCHY; JENNIFER LOPEZ and MARC ANTHONY; JIM CARREY and JENNY MCCARTHY and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III director JJ ABRAMS. Also in attendance was their seven-month-old daughter SURI and Cruise's adopted children from his marriage to NICOLE KIDMAN - ISABELLA, 15, and CONNOR, 11. Cruise was supported by his mother MARY LEE MAPOTHER and sisters MARIAN, LEE ANNE and CASS, while Holmes was walked up the aisle by her lawyer father MARTIN HOLMES. Her mother KATHLEEN, brother MARTIN JR and sisters TAMERA, HOLLY and NANCY were also in attendance. The wedding was the first for Holmes, who ended her engagement to CHRIS KLEIN in February 2005, while Cruise has been married twice before; to MIMI ROGERS from 1987 to 1990 and Kidman from 1990 until August 2001. Cruise, 44, and Holmes, 27, married on the 18th because the number holds special memories for them - they had their first date on 18 April 2005, their daughter was born on 18 April this year (06) and the BATMAN BEGINS beauty's birthday falls on 18 December. The couple became engaged at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on 17 June 2005 - just eight weeks after they went public as a couple in Rome (27APR05).