"For the Americans this was very special, because Americans do not have this kind of thing back home, and they dream of such things in our beautiful country, and you can see the surprise and the awe on their faces," said Armani, who also designed the clothes of the rest of the wedding party and the couple's immediate family.

Italian singer Andrea Bocelli serenaded the couple at the reception and the bride and groom cut a five-tiered white chocolate wedding cake. Fireworks later burst above the castle, but the view was marred by a foggy night.

Other famous guests included Brooke Shields, Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carrey and Victoria Beckham, wife of soccer star David Beckham and former Posh Spice of the Spice Girls.

The two stars arrived separately to the castle earlier Saturday, with pouring rain forcing Holmes and her daughter to take shelter under large, green umbrellas as they left their limousine. The sun was shining on the castle when Cruise arrived in a van from Rome, where the family had been staying in a luxury hotel near the Spanish Steps, with some fans shouting, "Tom, Tom!"

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

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

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

Security was tight, with Carabinieri paramilitary police patrolling the walls of the castle and all vehicles banned from the center 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, an American 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.

There was even a bit of stargazing on at least one Seville-to-Rome flight when the pilot pointed out to passengers the castle where the wedding was taking place.

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.

The publicists said Cruise and Holmes had "officialized their marriage in Los Angeles prior to their departure for Italy," saying that was customary for couples marrying outside the United States. Cruise's publicist Arnold Robinson wrote in response to an e-mailed question about whether that meant they had been married in a civil ceremony that "the required steps were taken for the marriage to be legal."

Holmes and Cruise became engaged in June 2005, about two months after they went public with their relationship, kissing and posing for photographers in Rome. Their daughter was born April 18.

Much of the attention given to Cruise since their relationship began has been negative. He was mocked for the couch-jumping episode, criticized for his comments about Shields' use of prescription drugs to treat postpartum depression and questioned about his embrace of Scientology, the religion founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard that holds an opposition to psychiatry and related medication among its tenets.

Cruise, star of the "Mission: Impossible" series and "War of the Worlds," was divorced from Kidman in 2001, was previously married to Mimi Rogers and had a high-profile romance with Penelope Cruz. Holmes, who starred in TV's "Dawson's Creek," and last year in "Batman Begins," had been engaged to Chris Klein.

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