Tom Cruise

Tom & Katie the Honeymooners Return Home

UPDATED 12/18/2006 at 01:00 AM EST • Originally published 12/18/2006 at 01:00 AM EST

How do you top the celebrity wedding of the year? Enjoy the mother of all honeymoons. Fresh from their Nov. 18 nuptials in Italy's Odescalchi Castle, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes flew off to the idyllic Maldives, an emerald necklace of atolls in the Indian Ocean, with daughter Suri and 40 pieces of luggage in tow. "They looked so happy," says a local. For the next two weeks, the honeymooners chilled out on the Arctic P, a yacht owned by Cruise's buddy James Packer, the heir to an Australian media empire, and enjoyed the exclusive Kurumba Resort, located on a private island. Despite a tropical storm, they were all smiles when they headed home on Dec. 1. "These two just work," says Mission: Impossible III director J.J. Abrams. "You can't honestly say that with all couples—even newlyweds."

Now back in L.A., Cruise is already getting to work on his latest project: helping run the United Artists movie studio. Meanwhile, Holmes and Suri are getting back into the Hollywood social swing. On Dec. 4 they both popped by the Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas for a visit with new BFF Victoria Beckham, in town for a magazine photo shoot. "They talked about how great the wedding was," says a Beckham friend. They're not the only ones reminiscing about those dazzling nuptials. "There was just a lot of heart and soul," says director Cameron Crowe. "They're the real deal, and I'm so happy for them."