Keeping up with the Kim Kardashian and Kanye West wedding

The celebrity couple, who have made a habit of over-the-top, public displays of affection, got hitched Saturday in a decidedly private spot: a Renaissance fortress in Florence.

Kim Kardashian, in a gown with a sheer back designed by Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, and Kanye West had their wedding at the 16th century Fort Belvedere in Florence, Italy. radaronline.com / Splash News

The celebrity couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who have made a habit of over-the-top, public displays of affection, got hitched Saturday in a decidedly private spot: a Renaissance fortress in Florence. The nuptials were confirmed to the Associated Press by Kardashian's representative, who noted the reporting of E! Online, the news site from the network that carries her reality show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

E! Online reported the wedding party consisted of Kardashian's sisters, while the stepfather Bruce Jenner walked her down the aisle. Andrea Bocelli and John Legend sang for the couple at the reception.

The Florence mayor’s office had said a week earlier that the couple had rented Fort Belvedere for a wedding to be performed by a Protestant minister. In the days before the nuptials, the pair held court in Paris, parading in front of photographers for pre-wedding festivities. Kardashian posted a picture on Instagram of the gardens of the fashion designer Valentino’s 17th-century Château de Wideville, west of Paris, where one of their events was held. The couple also toured the Château of Versailles.

The duo, who have one child together, have never been shy about their romance; West briefly appeared on Kardashian's reality show and he gushed about his love for her in a talk show hosted by her mother, Kris Jenner. Kardashian also starred in West's music video for Bound 2.

West, 36, proposed to Kardashian, 33, in October on her birthday and he rented out San Francisco’s AT&T Park to pop the question. But when it came to the wedding, journalists were only able to get photos of the many celebrity guests attending the big event.

Among the notables sighted arriving in Florence ahead of the nuptials were Steve McQueen, the director of 12 Years a Slave; La La Anthony, the wife of the New York Knicks basketball star Carmelo Anthony; and Jaden Smith, the actor and teenage son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith.

The nuptials drew crowds of fans eager to witness the glitzy event, but they were kept far away from the heavily-walled 16th century fortress, which offers stunning views of Florence and surrounding Tuscan hills.

As guests started to arrive in the city, fired-up fans filled the roads around Fort Belvedere, peering into every blacked-out car in the hope of spotting a favourite celebrity.

“Justin, Justin,” one young fan yelled, convinced the Canadian singer Justin Bieber might be inside.

“We’re here because of Kim, because it is her wedding, but also for Justin,” a fan named Chiara told AFP.

Others were drawn by rumours that Beyoncé and Jay Z would be among the 1,600 guests invited to party with the couple.

West was recently quoted in the Florence newspaper La Nazione as saying he and Kardashian had come to the city previously incognito.

It is the first marriage for West, and the third for Kardashian. Her last marriage, to the professional basketball player Kris Humphries, in 2011 lasted 72 days. That ceremony was featured in a two-part television special.

The festivities were based on a carefully orchestrated plan by the Kardashians, who became famous through reality television and were clearly eager to make this the marriage of the year.

The wedding could earn them up to US$21 million (Dh77m) thanks to sponsors and through the sale of exclusive photos of the ceremony.

The Florence mayor’s office last week said the €300,000 (Dh1.5m) rental fee for the fort would help fund restorations of Florence’s art treasures.

* AP, AFP