Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMAPress.comSalma Hayek just said she is not spending $2 million on her wedding. I could buy like two houses for that. Do celebs really spend that much on weddings?
—Foster, New York
No. No, they do not. If that really is the cost of Salma's wedding, I highly suspect it's more like an estimated value, not the amount she will actually put on a check.
After all, I can almost guarantee—and I know this because I wrote it in a book—that Salmita has wedding experts lined up around her block begging to give her massive discounts on everything from the dress to planning fees.
Why? Because she's famous, dummy. And because even B- and C-list stars are getting serious discounts and freebies for their weddings these days. Wanna know who? In the mood for a blind item?
Well...
First, some basic facts about celebrity weddings.
A few wedding vendors have been known to—yes—offer to pay for the privilege of working a celeb wedding. Not a misprint.
The starting budget for an A-list wedding is maybe $1 million.
The average asking price for official wedding photos—at least before the recession—was $1 million. Coincidence? I think not. Consider: Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas got paid a reported $1.4 million from OK! magazine for their wedding photos—nine years ago. Eva Longoria Parker? She got a reported $2 million for her photos.
Insiders tell me that some true A-listers, such as Tom Cruise, do not haggle over wedding prices. Classy, that. Then again, there are only about three true A-listers on the planet at any given time.
Now for your blind item, which bolsters my theory beautifully.
According to someone who would know, one current prime-time dramedy diva got engaged and then approached a top celebrity wedding planner, demanding two-thirds off of the usual $30,000 in planning fees.
The wedding planner declined. Then another planner swooped in and offered to oversee the whole circus for free. True story. Ah, but who could it be...
Follow me on Twitter