Extravagant Weddings

• May 11, 2009
• Vol. 71
• No. 18

Salma Hayek's Venice Wedding Bellissima!

By With reporting by Peter Mikelbank

From a Masked Ball to Serenades from Famous Friends, the Star Celebrates in High Style

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From PEOPLE Magazine

As usual, Venice's Teatro La Fenice was host to a glamorous crowd—but those weren't the strains of Verdi filling the historic opera house. During Salma Hayek's April 25 wedding to French luxury-goods mogul François-Henri Pinault, Edward Norton and Woody Harrelson led 150 guests—including Penélope Cruz, Charlize Theron and Ashley Judd—in a Hawaiian-style rendition of "Over the Rainbow." Later, U2's Bono joined the bride, Cruz, Theron and Harrelson for a performance of "Stand by Me." Says a guest of the wedding weekend, which began Friday with a carnival-style masked ball: "It was one magical moment after another."

Hayek, 42, and Pinault, 46, who have a 19-month-old daughter, Valentina, already wed once, in a small civil ceremony in Paris on Valentine's Day. For this grander occasion, they recited their own vows of love and devotion. Then, at the elegant reception, with tables decorated with red roses, orange peonies and glass candelabras, guests enjoyed a sit-down dinner prepared by Spanish-born top chef José Andrés before hitting the dance floor to a 14-piece band. The couple's first dance was to Bruce Springsteen's "Drive All Night." Hayek, who had changed into a hot-pink cocktail dress, "looked like a princess," says a guest. At one point, the group burst into yet another song, singing "Happy Birthday" to Cruz, who turned 35 on April 28. "It was all about friends, family, love and singing!" says a guest. "It was a night to remember."