PARIS — They had a glitzy, jet-setting courtship, but when it came time for the wedding, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former supermodel Carla Bruni opted for a simple, classic ceremony — and the bride wore white.
Sarkozy, 53, and Bruni, 40, were married Saturday in a small private ceremony at the presidential Elysee Palace, less than three months after they reportedly first met, and less than four months after his divorce from the previous first lady, Cecilia.
The newlyweds said in a statement only that they tied the knot “in the presence of their families in the strictest privacy.” The mayor who performed the ceremony filled in the details.
“The bride wore white; she was ravishing, as usual,” Francois Lebel, mayor of Paris’ eighth arrondissement, or neighborhood, told Europe-1 radio. The groom wore a suit and tie, and he “wasn’t bad either,” Lebel said.
About 20 friends and family members attended the 20-minute official ceremony in an Elysee drawing room, Lebel said. He referred to Sarkozy and Bruni as “young newlyweds” and said the wedding showed “great simplicity and apparently a lot of affection between the spouses.”
Under French law, couples must marry before a mayor to make their union official. Usually weddings take place at a city hall, with an official wedding announcement beforehand, but Sarkozy and Bruni were able to maintain their privacy.
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