How does the guest list for a big celebrity wedding—like Fergie and Josh Duhamel's—work? Is it like the red carpet, where publicists work to get guests an invite?
—Anna, Portland, Ore.
Most of the time, thankfully, no. "I'm not saying that's never happened," veteran personal publicist Howard Bragman tells me. "But that's a little unseemly, even for Hollywood—a little creepy, OK?"
Instead, I am told, celebrity brides and grooms keep their guest lists very close to the tuxedo vest, right up until they're ready to hand them over to their simpering planners, much like any other wedding.
For the 200-person Ferghamel affair, the guests reportedly included Molly Sims—a Duhamel castmate—and Mario Lopez, a childhood friend of Fergie's. As for exactly how many famous people get to come to a star wedding, the deciding factor is pretty crass...
...and that's whether the bride and groom plan to sell the wedding photos to a magazine.
At a typical celebrity wedding, "maybe 30 to 40 percent of the guests will be Industry"—including stars, publicists, agents and managers. But Bragman adds, "If you're getting paid by a magazine, the whole idea is photos of celebrities. As the celebrity bride, you're going to invite every star you've ever worked with."
In other words, if a bride hopes to pimp out her wedding photos for—ideally—a six-figure sum, it's she who chases the celebrity guests, not the other way around.
Does that mean that, in inviting Kid Rock and Kate Hudson, Fergie was gunning for a major payout? I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.
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