Eschewing any pretense of privacy, the 56-year-old actor and his 31-year-old blushing Welsh bride exchanged vows in front of some 350 friends and family at New York's Plaza Hotel, while hundreds of onlookers lined up outside for a glimpse of the black-tie affair.
With limos pulling up to the posh hotel, fans watched as celebs including Martha Stewart, Art Garfunkel, Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, Oliver Stone, Christopher Reeve, Sharon Stone, Goldie Hawn and Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe filed inside to watch Douglas and Zeta-Jones tie the knot. The guest list also reportedly included the likes of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, Michael Caine, Jack Nicholson and Steven Spielberg.
As Douglas and Zeta-Jones arrived by limo at Friday's rehearsal dinner, the groom was asked what he considered the best thing about marrying the raven-haired beauty. "You're looking at her," he replied.
Kirk Douglas was similarly thrilled by his son's new bride. "I'd marry her myself, but my wife won't let me," the iconic actor joked.
In a ceremony where the wedding photos were said to have cost $60,000 alone, some published reports claim the total price tag for the night reached as high as $2 million. The wedding cake was designed by couture baker Sylvia Weinstock, and a small army of workers pitched VIP tents outside the hotel to greet guests.
Douglas and Zeta-Jones even served hors d'oeuvres to the paparazzi during Friday's rehearsal dinner, held for 150 people at New York's swank Russian Tea Room.
Zeta-Jones also reportedly flew in relatives from her hometown, Swansea, in Wales. According to the Associated Press, stores in the seaside corner of Swansea--where Zeta-Jones was born and raised--put out bunting and flags Saturday giving best wishes to the couple, and sent a congratulatory fax to the Plaza.
The posh affair topped off what's already been a whirlwind year for the couple: Following a courtship that began last March, Douglas proposed to Zeta-Jones on New Year's Eve at his home in Aspen, Colorado. And soon after the engagement news came word that they were expecting a little bundle of joy. Zeta-Jones gave birth to their son, Dylan Michael Douglas, in August.
This is the first marriage for Zeta-Jones--whose big-screen credits include Entrapment and The Mask of Zorro--and it's the second for Douglas, whose 22-year marriage to producer Diandra Douglas ended in 1997.
According to the New York Post, Douglas' 21-year-old son from that marriage, Cameron (who was recently charged in New York with cocaine possession), was the best man for Saturday's nuptials.
Meanwhile, those who didn't get a chance to see Douglas and Zeta-Jones gussied up for their big day can check them both out in the upcoming Steven Soderbergh film, Traffic, which hits theaters next month.