Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Kyle O'Sullivan

Inside Donald and Melania Trump's wedding - inedible cake and celebs 'forced' to be there

Donald Trump and wife Melania like to stand out from the crowd - and their extravagant wedding day was far from ordinary.

The couple are celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary this week, having tied the knot in a Florida church on January 22, 2005.

Trump was actually on a date with another woman when he first met Melania Knauss at a party in New York City in 1998 - and the Slovenian model wouldn't give him her number.

When his date went to the toilet, Trump 'sneakily' secured some alone time with Melania and gave her all of his contact details to they could arrange their first date.

The former US President wanted to make his third marriage the event of the year and broadcast on TV, but it's believed Melania wasn't keen and put her foot down.

Melania later revealed she'd been tasked with organising the big day, while her husband-to-be chose to play golf instead of getting too involved in all the details.

Famous guests

Donald Trump and wife Melania before their big day in 2005 (Getty)

Many famous faces were among the 450 guests who attended the wedding at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida.

Many of the guests were given free accommodation at his Mar-a-Lago mansion, where they were treated to bathrobes embroidered with their initials, spa treatments and rounds of golf ahead of the wedding.

From the music world, there was Elton John, Simon Cowell, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Paul Anka and Russell Simmons.

While from the fashion industry there was supermodel Heidi Klum and Vogue's Anna Wintour, and sport stars included Derek Jeter and Shaquille O'Neal.

During the ceremony, Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka read a Bible passage and opera star Camellia Johnson sang Nessun Dorma, a request which came from the bride herself.

There were also plenty of politicians, although at that stage no one could ever have imagined Trump becoming president.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was Governor of California at the time, was in attendance as well as Trump's lawyer and former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani.

Donald and Melania Trump with Hillary and Bill Clinton at their wedding reception in 2005 (Maring Photography/Getty Images)

But the most controversial guests of all were Bill and Hilary Clinton, who would later run against Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

At the time, Bill was four years out of the White House and the two couples were firm friends, but a decade later Trump would be calling Hilary "crooked".

The image of the Clintons and Trumps laughing together would go on to damage Hilary's chances of getting into the White House - and she explained why she attended.

"I happened to be planning to be in Florida and I thought it would be fun to go to his wedding because it is always entertaining," she said.

However, during a 2015 debate, Trump claimed Hilary "had no choice" but to come to his third wedding.

He claimed that because he was a donor to the couple's Clinton Foundation, they felt obligated to come.

"I'll tell you what, with Hillary Clinton, I said, 'Be at my wedding,' and she came to my wedding," Trump explained. "You know why? She had no choice, because I gave."

Stunning dress

Melania Trump arriving at her wedding to Donald in 2005 (Jeffrey Langlois/PB Daily News/Palm Beach Daily News/REX/Shutterstock)

Melania looked stunning as she walked down the aisle in a spectacular in Christian Dior wedding gown.

It featured 300 feet (91 metres) of duchesse satin, needed 550 hours worth of embroidery and weighed more than four stone.

The dazzling $148,000 (£100,000) dress was so heavy Melania could barely walk in it, but it landed her on the cover of Vogue magazine.

A dramatic veil covered her elaborate up-do and she accessorised the fishtail-style gown with a diamond necklace, three diamond bracelets and the 12-carat $1.5million diamond engagement ring Donald had previously given her.

She didn't carry a bouquet and instead held a bespoke set of rosary beads interlaced with flowers.

But the Dior gown turned out to be too difficult to walk around in, so for the evening reception Melania changed into a Grecian-style fitted Vera Wang number featuring a knee-length split in the skirt.

Trump had two best men, his sons Don, Jr. and Eric, and Melania had one bridesmaid.

Lavish reception

Guests were entertained in the enormous Grand Ballroom at Mar-a-Lago (maralagoclub.com)

After they tied the knot, they were greeted by crowds of cheering locals who came down to watch the spectacular event.

The happy couple and guests headed back to Trump's Mar-a-Lago home for the reception, which took place in a ballroom said to have been inspired by the Palace of Versailles.

It was decorated with around 10,000 flowers which had all been shipped in massive trucks from New York to Florida.

The colour scheme was "classic white" and featured towering 1.5 metre tall centrepieces packed with hydrangeas, roses, orchids and gardenias.

Outside a plane passed overhead with a banner that read, "Melania, You're Hired" - a reference to Trump's catchphrase from The Apprentice.

The newly-weds and their guests sat down to a lavish wedding breakfast which included lobster salad with a Champagne vinaigrette which was followed by medallion of beef.

Melania hired a full orchestra to play during the reception, with members all dressed in white tuxedos.

Later on, Billy Joel, Elton John and Tony Bennett all performed for the couple and their guests.

Inedible cake

Aerial view of Mar-a-Lago (NY Daily News via Getty Images)

One of the most extravagant parts of the wedding was the massive seven-tiered cake - but no one could eat it.

The 14 stone concoction was around five feet tall, measured almost two metres across, was covered in 3,000 hand-spun white sugar roses and filled with Grand Marnier buttercream.

The masterpiece took two months for pastry chef Cedric Barberet to design and make, and was so tall it had to be held upright by an elaborate rigging.

However, this meant none of the guests could actually tuck into it, so they had to make do with individual chocolate truffle cakes instead

The $50,000 (£37,000) creation was enjoyed by staff at the resort, who got to scoff it after the wedding was over.

Cedric Barberet, the former pastry chef at Mar-a-Lago who helped prepare the cake, told The Hollywood Reporter: "We served it to the staff after the wedding.

"We had some very hungry employees."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.