Celebrity weddings

Las Vegas Bride
Over the years, Las Vegas has seen umpteen celebrity couples pass over its chapel thresholds. Some enjoy the informality, others think it's kitschy. But for downright spontaneity, Britney Spears takes the biscuit.

Britney Spears
"Not so innocent" Britney married childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander at the Little White Chapel in 2004. Wearing ripped jeans and a baseball cap, Britney was escorted down the aisle by a hotel employee at 5:30 a.m. (Apparently neither bride nor groom was drunk at the time.) "We were just looking at each other and said, ‘Let's do something wild. Let's get married, just for the hell of it,'" the groom told Access Hollywood. Britney admitted she didn't realize the ceremony was legally binding and did it to upset her parents. The marriage was annulled 55 hours later. Britney, 23, married backup dancer Kevin Federline at a surprise wedding last year.

Joanne Woodward
When actress Joanne Woodward first met Paul Newman in 1952, she thought he was "too pretty for words-I hated him on sight." He was also married. Six years later they tied the knot at the El Rancho Hotel. Their enduring marriage proves that some Vegas weddings really do stick. Repeatedly asked for the secret to his long and happy relationship, Newman says, "When you have been together this long, sometimes you drive each other nuts, but underneath that is some core of affection and respect." Woodward has her own view: "Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that's a real treat."

Beach Bride
Sugar-white sand and a heart-melting sunset feature high on celebrity wedding lists: Renée Zellweger, Michelle Branch and Kate Winslet all chose a tropical setting. The best part of escaping to paradise to exchange vows? It's a legitimate excuse to ditch the dreary relatives.

Cindy Crawford
When supermodel Cindy Crawford wed Rande Gerber in the Bahamas, they booked up the entire 70-room Ocean Club resort, spending some US$160,000 on the weekend nuptials. For the beach ceremony, Cindy wore a white Galliano slip dress, and Rande wore a white shirt and Armani trousers. Both went barefoot. This was the second time round for Cindy. Her first -- to Richard Gere -- was in Vegas, when they made wedding bands out of tinfoil. The union lasted four years, ending soon after the couple took out an ad in the London Times saying: "We are heterosexual and monogamous and take our commitment to each other very seriously."

Pamela Anderson
This Vancouver Island-born actress first met Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee at a New Year's Eve party in 1994. (He came up and licked her face. Yum). After much mewling, he managed to get a date, only to have it cancelled because she had a photo shoot in Cancún. He followed her to the beach and, after four days of partying, they married. Pamela wore a white thong bikini, and Tommy wore shorts. Back in L.A., they had wedding rings tattooed on their fingers (Pamela's says "Tommy's"; Tommy's says "Pamela's"). The couple divorced in 1996. They remarried a month later, only to divorce again in 1998.

Photography courtesy of Splash News/Keystone Press