Chelsea Clinton, Marc Mezvinsky Finally Married. Mazel Tov!

They're married. Yes they are.

So let's cut straight to the chase.

Chelsea Victoria Clinton's bridal gown. Designed by Vera Wang. Strapless. Silk organza and tulle. Fitted bodice with beading at the waist. Voluminous skirt that looked perfectly proportioned on her ballet-trained frame. Blond hair in an up-do under a long veil. A bouquet of white moth orchids.

A father walking her down an aisle between rows of white chairs, trying to keep it together. Then the paternal hand-off to her intended, Marc Mezvinsky, who wore a white tallit, the traditional Jewish prayer shawl around his custom Burberry suit. Behind them a sweeping expanse of Hudson River, evoking countless 19th-century romantic landscape paintings. The couple met as teenagers and began a long and deep friendship that over the past five years turned into love.

As the sun inched toward the horizon on a clear and glorious late afternoon, Clinton, 30, and Mezvinsky, 32, exchanged vows in an interfaith ceremony. They had chosen to wed at Astor Courts, an opulent private Beaux-Arts mansion on 50 wooded acres just outside the village of Rhinebeck, ending weeks of speculation and rumor about every little detail of the nuptials. Security could not have been tighter, with both airspace and nearby roads closed off, and guests under strict orders not to blab.

Because the bride's parents are Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton -- who wore a full-skirted, ombre-plum Oscar de la Renta gown -- and former President Bill Clinton, the first official word came by emailed press release, shortly before 7:30 p.m.

"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. 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. On behalf of the newlyweds, we want to give special thanks to the people of Rhinebeck for welcoming us and to everyone for their well-wishes on this special day."

Rabbi James Ponet, Yale University's Jewish chaplain (for the groom's side) and the Rev. William Shillady of New York's Park Avenue Methodist Church (for the bride's side) performed the interfaith ceremony, The New York Times reported. Borrowing from traditional Jewish weddings, friends and relatives read the Seven Blessings after the couple exchanged vows and rings.

They stood under an arch of twigs and vines and the palest of flowers, in a nod to the Jewish chuppah, or wedding canopy.

A ClintVinsky guest read aloud a brief love poem, "The Life That I Have," by Leo Marks, according to The Associated Press.

The late British codebreaker wrote, short and so very sweet: "The life that I have, Is all that I have, And the life that I have, Is yours. The love that I have, Of the life that I have, Is yours and yours and yours. A sleep I shall have, A rest I shall have, Yet death will be but a pause, For the peace of my years, In the long green grass, Will be yours and yours and yours."

Finally, Chelsea, the Clintons' only child, and Marc, one of 11 biological and adopted children of former U.S. Reps. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky and her then-spouse, Edward Mezvinsky, were declared husband and wife. Some 400 guests rose and applauded.

Mazel Tov!

Then came the reception, and the part of the story where I'm supposed to describe how beautifully Rafanelli Events of Boston and superstar florist Jeff Leatham -- artistic director of the Four Seasons George V Hotel in Paris, where that V means five and is pronounced "sank" -- and others too numerous to mention transformed a massive white weather-proof tent into a spectacular fairyland using divine chandeliers, real glass windows, fabric-draped ceilings and walls, flower-festooned support poles and 40 or 50 beautifully dressed, set and decorated tables.

But I know squat. Nada. Guests were not allowed to bring devices capable of Tweeting, texting, taking pictures or transmitting conversations, lest they be tempted to reveal secret details to journos like me. We'll have to wait for a few mercifully indiscreet (translate tipsy?) guests to break the families' rigid cone of silence.

Celebs? Many of the guests, per the wishes of the bridal couple, were simply family and friends, and thus unrecognizable to the gawkers and global media scrum that converged on Rhinebeck. Live sightings were reported of bridal gown designer and family chum Wang; former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; actors Ted Danson and his wife Mary Steenburgen, an Arkansan who's known Chelsea since she was 10; Bill Clinton confidant Vernon Jordan and his wife Ann; former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe and movie producer Steve Bing.

On Friday night, some 125 of those guests attended the rehearsal dinner at Grasmere, a 525-acre Revolutionary era-estate nearby.

The NupCouple's table was in the center of the stone barn there, flanked by those of their parents. One was anchored by the mother of the groom, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, another by Bill and Hill. The groom's father, Ed Mezvinsky was seated elsewhere in the barn, with his four daughters from a previous marriage. His most recent claim to fame, alas, is that he spent five years in federal prison for bilking hundreds of unsuspecting investors, including family members, out of $10 million in an elaborate fraud scheme. He was released in November 2008 but remains on parole. There is, not surprisingly, lingering bad blood in the family.

One partisan of the groom's mother described him as a "mini-Bernie Madoff," but don't ask who told me this; my lips are also sealed.

Fashion was much on the mind of Rhinebeck locals, curious tourists and a certain segment of the American population who couldn't resist critiquing the invitees' attire. By Saturday afternoon, Hillary Clinton's rehearsal dinner ensemble -- a caftan-cocoon-like blue-green Oscar de la Renta number -- was the talk of the Internet. The discussion was particularly pointed at the People magazine site:

OMG...What was she thinking???? and who the heck is her clothes advisor?????
- debbie hulles on July 31st, 2010
Gorgeous! Fantastic! Ethnic! She is a true woman of the world!
- Natalie Thunberg on July 31st, 2010
She really needs to do something with that hair of hers, with all her money you would think she could find a hair stylist that could do something better with it....and that "tent" go figure
- Sandy on July 31st, 2010
Yeah, it's not that great – ok not great at all I don't consider that stylish or figure flattering. I hope she wears something better at the wedding.
- JustASmallTownGirl on July 31st, 2010
I agree, not flattering. But at least it's more feminine than she usually is seen wearing.
- R on July 31st, 2010

By Sunday, the whole elaborate production will be taken down and carted away. The happy couple will go off to a secure, undisclosed location for their honeymoon, then settle into the $4 million Flatiron District condo the groom bought in 2008. He'll return to hedge funding. It's not clear what she will do, having just earned a Columbia University master's degree in public health.

And the question I first raised several weeks back still bears pondering.

What names will the newlywed answer to? Chelsea Clinton Mezvinsky, with or without the hyphen preferred by her mother-in-law? Or just Chelsea Clinton. Marc Mezvinsky Clinton, with or without a hyphen? Or just Marc Mezvinsky. Mr. & Mrs? Mr. and Ms?

Still so many questions.