Chelsea Clinton marries Marc Mezvinsky in New York village

07/31/2010 by Corinne Heller

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, wed longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky in the New York village of Rhinebeck on Saturday.

The ceremony took place at the lavish Astor Courts and was conducted by a rabbi and a reverend, as Chelsea Clinton is Methodist and Mezvinsky is Jewish.

The former president escorted his daughter down the aisle. The bride wore a strapless white, floor-length gown with a veil, diamond earrings and she carried a bouquet of white flowers. In addition to a dark suit, the groom wore a yarmulke on his head and donned a tallit - a Jewish prayer shawl - over his shoulders as the couple walked down the aisle.

Chelsea Clinton marries Marc Mezvinsky in New York village

Guests clad in black tie attire began to be shuttled to the venue around 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the Associated Press said. The VIP guest list was said to have included Oprah Winfrey, Steve Spielberg, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, designer Vera Wang and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright.

"We could not have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate the beginning of their life together, and we are so happy to welcome Marc into our family," the Clintons said in a statement.

"On behalf of the newlyweds, we want to give special thanks to the people of Rhinebeck for welcoming us and to everyone for their well-wishes on this special day," they said.

Mezvinsky, 32, is an investment banker and the son of two former Democratic members of Congress. His father served prison time for fraud.

He and Chelsea Clinton attended Stanford University and met in South Carolina during a Renaissance Weekend, an annual intellectual and spiritual fest popularized by the Clinton family, when they were teenagers. While his new wife is an only child, Marc has 10 siblings, some of whom are adopted.

President Barack Obama was not in attendance and said he was not invited to the ceremony.

"I am not going and I have to say it would be tough enough having one president at a wedding - you don't want two presidents at a wedding," Obama said on Thursday on the ABC talk show The View. "I was not invited to the wedding. Because I think Hillary and Bill, properly, want to keep this thing for Chelsea and her soon-to-be husband."

Check out photos of Chelsea Clinton's wedding!