AP
 
Bracciano, Italy, Nov 19: In a fairy-tale setting fit for royals, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes crowned their love story Saturday with a wedding in a 15th-century castle in a usually sleepy, medieval lakeside town.

Cruise and Holmes exchanged vows in an evening ceremony in the Odescalchi Castle, Entertainment Tonight said, citing Cruise's publicist Arnold Robinson. The TV show, which first reported the news, said on its Web site that Italian singer Andrea Bocelli serenaded the couple afterward.

Oil-fed torches glowed from the battlements of the castle towering over the town on the shores of Lake Bracciano, and tiny candles, placed in the castle windows, flickered as the couple and fellow stars gathered for the ceremony in the town 40 km northwest of the Italian capital.

One of the celebrity guests was 7-month-old Suri, the couple's daughter, who, dressed in white, arrived in her arms of her mother. Holmes wore a black dress and boots before she changed into a Giorgio Armani gown for the wedding. Cruise came from Rome, where the family had been staying in a luxury hotel near the Spanish steps, in a van and, sporting dark shades, waved to fans.

When the groom drove up, Holmes, anxiously gesturing with a hand, watched from a castle window.

Other VIPs arriving in limousines or vans through the castle gates included Brooke Shields, Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez and Jim Carrey. Sky TG24 reported that Will Smith and David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, also came to the castle.

One of the VIP guests, Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, told Sky TG24 TV by telephone from inside the castle before the ceremony that "I will sing something as a gift to the newlyweds" after the ceremony. He said that because he was a Roman Catholic he would not sing during the wedding, which was expected to be a Scientology ceremony.

Pouring rain had forced Holmes and her baby to take shelter under large, green umbrellas as they left their limousine. But the sun was shining on the castle when Cruise arrived.

As the sun began to set, candles were placed in pots along the road to the castle. Men wearing tuxedos and women holding up the hems of their long gowns walked up the steep path to the castle.

Carabinieri paramilitary police patrolling the walls of the castle and all vehicles banned from the centre of Bracciano.

The flag of the Odescalchi family, whose ancestors include Benedetto Odescalchi, the 17th century pope Innocent XI, fluttered over the castle's towers.

"When I first walked here, I didn't know why they chose this place," said Emily Roeder, 19, from Atchison, Kansas, who came to Bracciano for the day from Florence, where she is studying. "Then I saw the castle and the streets all around, and it's really romantic."

Hundreds of the town's 14,000 residents and fans of the stars braved intermittent rain to catch a glimpse of the arrivals.

"I want to see at least one of them — even if it's not Tom Cruise," said 15-year-old Erica Bandiera.

"I want to see Beckham's wife," said her friend Luca Costanzi, 15, with a huge grin.

The first guest to drive through the castle's gates was Roberta Armani, niece of the fashion designer.

Holmes was giving Cruise a wedding gift of a Vacheron Constantin watch engraved simply, "I Love You," the watch company said in a statement. It said she bought the gift in Los Angeles last week.

Scientology ceremonies contain many elements of traditional weddings, including rings and vows. But they also include certain Scientology fundamentals, including vowing never to go to bed without communicating about any differences.

A spokesman for the Church of Scientology for Rome, Fabrizio D'Agostino, said an exchange of vows with a Scientology rite was not legally recognized in Italy, and would have to be preceded or followed by a civil union.

Bracciano mayor Patrizia Riccioni said her office had not received a request to celebrate a civil wedding as of midday Friday.