Chelsea Clinton says 'I do' to longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky

Ending weeks of secretive build-up, former US first daughter Chelsea Clinton has married her longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky in "a beautiful ceremony" at a heavily-guarded luxury estate along New York's Hudson river in what was being billed as the 'Wedding of the Millennium'.

30-year-old Chelsea, who is a Methodist Christian, exchanged vows with her hedge fund manager beau Marc (32), a Conservative Jew, in Rhinebeck, a quaint rural weekend getaway in the Hudson Valley last night, amid extraordinary security.

After the lavish ceremony which is estimated to have cost between $3 million and USD 5 million, the bride's parents, former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, issued a statement expressing their "great pride and overwhelming emotion."

"Today, we watched with great pride and overwhelming emotion as Chelsea and Marc wed in a beautiful ceremony at Astor Courts, surrounded by family and their close friends," they said.

"We could not have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate the beginning of their life together, and we are so happy to welcome Marc into our family," the Clintons said in in the statement after the wedding of their only child at Astor Courts, a historic 50-acre estate on the Hudson River, about 160 km north of New York City.

On behalf of the newlyweds, the bride's parents said, they wanted to give "special thanks to the people of Rhinebeck for welcoming us and to everyone for their well-wishes on this special day."

Indian-American hotelier Sant Chatwal, who is close to the Clinton family; former secretary of state Madeleine Albright; actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen; film producer Steven Bing; and fashion designer Vera Wang who designed Chelsea's dress, were among some 500 guests at the wedding, according to People magazine.

Hillary wore an Oscar de La Renta number at the wedding, details about which were kept closely guarded till the end.

"We want to wish them (Chelsea and Marc) the best," Danson told People. "They are great kids, very family-oriented."

The guests must have had a personal connection to the bride or the groom to be invited. This is Chelsea's day, not her famous parents' day, 'The Washington Post' reported.

"They (Bill and Hillary) respect her and what she thinks... They want what she wants," said a family friend speaking on condition of anonymity. "They raised her to be her own person - independent in thought."

Rumoured guests like President Barack Obama and talk show queen Oprah Winfrey did not attend the wedding. Last week, Obama had said at ABC's 'The View' that he had not been invited.

"I was not invited to the wedding because I think Hillary and Bill, properly, want to keep this thing for Chelsea and her soon-to-be husband," President Obama had said.

Though he joked, "You don't want two Presidents at one wedding. All the secret service, guests going through (metal detectors), all the gifts being torn apart."

Chelsea and Marc, who works at G3 Capital -- a Manhattan hedge fund, were friends as teenagers in Washington DC and attended Stanford University together. Chelsea completed her master's degree in public health this year at Columbia University.

The marriage at the Astor Courts -- which had been declared a 'no-fly' zone with hundreds of security personnel blocking all roads leading to the venue -- was an interfaith wedding since the bride was brought up as a Methodist Christian and the groom is Jewish. The ceremony was conducted by a rabbi and a reverend.

Citing the family, American media reported that the ceremony included a poem by Leo Marks titled, "The Life That I Have."

In an interview with NBC in Islamabad last week, Hillary had expressed her support for the interfaith marriage.

"Over the years, so many of the barriers that prevented people from getting married, crossing lines of faith or colour or ethnicity have just disappeared," she had said.

"Because what's important is: 'Are you making a responsible decision? Have you thought it through? Do you understand the consequences?' And I think in the world that we're in today we need more of that," she had said.

On Friday night, Bill and Hillary waved at spectators gathered near the venue as they arrived at the Beekman Arms Inn at the centre of Rhinebeck for a post-rehearsal dinner party.

Bill Clinton charmed the locals during a casual stroll through the town ahead of the wedding, saying that he was pleased with his daughter's choice of life partner.

"I like him (Mark) very much," a smiling Clinton said "I really do. I admire him. Hillary feels the same way."

Casual in jeans and a black golf shirt, the former president shook hands and greeted the crowd like he was back on the campaign trail, according to the New York Daily News which described Chelsea's marriage as the 'Wedding of the Millennium'.

Despite its persistence, the media, which had been swarming the small town, could not dig out too many details about the marriage.

Tight security kept the press away from the ceremony. Airspace above Rhinebeck had been closed for 12 hours from 3 pm local time yesterday for the wedding.