Looking Back on Every Lavish Detail of Paris Hilton's 3-Day Wedding

Originally appeared on E! Online

Paris Hilton was never going to be a simple bride.

The socialite turned reality TV phenom, in-demand DJ and entrepreneur managed to transform turning 21 into a must-attend event with six lavish bashes on three continents. So naturally she'd been dreaming about an appropriately over-the-top celebration for her happily ever after since she was a little girl. And there were a few non-negotiables.

The groom, of course, needed to be her perfect prince. "Someone who wasn't fascinated with 'Paris Hilton' but instead, someone who saw the real me and loved me for me," the OG influencer explained on her eponymous website. "Someone who is loving and kind." Having found all that in venture capitalist Carter Reum, a longtime pal who suddenly became something more at a 2019 Thanksgiving get-together, she honed in on the particulars.

The date may have seemed like a head-scratcher at first, Nov. 11, 2021, falling on a Thursday, but, as Paris explained to Vogue, "11:11 has always been my favorite time of day. It's my reminder to make a wish and be open to miracles. This date is special to Carter and I—it represents our love story."

Inside Paris Hilton and Carter Reum's Wedding

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Plus, when you intend to celebrate that bond for 72 hours straight, the weekend has to start a little early.

The location was another essential, Paris having long dreamed of marrying The One at her late grandfather Barron Hilton's former Bel-Air manse. "As a little girl, I always told myself that I would get married at my grandfather's former estate," she told Vogue of the 13-bedroom spread. "I imagined having my fairy-tale wedding here, and it's amazing that it actually came true."

Bringing all of your fantasies to life? That's hot.

By the time Paris made her way down the mirrored aisle in the custom Oscar de la Renta that required months of planning and 1,400 hours of hand embroidering, planner Mindy Weiss and her team had meticulously seen to every detail—from installing all four bars to crafting the oversized floral lawn arrangement. All the 42-year-old had to do was slip on her Aquazzurra heels, grasp her bouquet of white roses and try not to freak out as she listened to Kim Petras perform a rendition of the bride's surprise 2006 chart topper.

"If I didn't have butterflies before, I definitely had them then," Paris wrote on her site. "It was so surreal hearing 'Stars Are Blind' being sung by one of my favorite singers now at our wedding, and knowing that as soon as it finished I would begin my walk down the aisle."

Fighting to keep her emotions in check through Kim's cover of Elvis Presley's "Cant Help Falling In Love," when Paris reached the oversized white floral arch "and Carter took my hands in his," she recalled, "suddenly I wasn't as nervous. Carter has that effect on me."

Though the couple predictably teared up while exchanging self-penned vows in front of a tent packed with well-known faces—everyone from Kim Kardashian and Nicole Richie to Emma Roberts and Paula Abdul submitting to the requisite COVID testing and surrendering their iPhones—the rest of the night was every bit the fairy-tale Paris had envisioned.

"The exchanging of our vows, and then our 'I do's' were definitely a dream," she wrote on her site. "I finally became a wife to the most charming Prince!"

Guests, meanwhile, were equally charmed, sufficiently wowed with the turnaround Mindy and co. managed inside the tent while they snacked on passed apps of crispy vegetable spring rolls, duck potstickers and delicacies from the caviar station.

The 13-piece band providing the cue to return, it was "fun to see people's expressions," Mindy told E! News of the big reveal of white rose- and candle-topped tables and a monogrammed dance floor. "They know they were in this tent for the ceremony—how did we turn it over and make it even larger?"

The surprises continued following a well-rehearsed first dance to Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" (Paris revealed that they practiced "for weeks") and a dinner of butternut squash tortelloni, potato-crusted sea bass and New York steak.

When Demi Lovato took the stage to belt out Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You," the pop star was "incredible," raved Paris, who made several outfit changes throughout the evening, including an off-the-shoulder tulle Galia Lahav ballgown and an Oscar de la Renta mini. "It brought so much emotion and love to the event."

And with the six-foot five-tier Joanie and Leigh's Cakes confection and the dance floor appropriately opened, DJ Beat Breaker took over with a "raging" hours-long set that included a flash mob planned by the groom, 42.

"It was the best day and night of my life," said Paris of the party that lasted until 2 a.m. despite its residential location. (Credit Mindy's team for delivering thoughtful notes to all the neighbors a day earlier.) "If I could do it all again I would in a heartbeat."

Which, uh, she kinda did. Matron of honor Nicky Hilton, Demi Lovato and DJ Diplo turned up for night two on the Santa Monica Pier, the Coachella-inspired neon carnival concept dreamed up by the Alice + Olivia-clad bride herself.

"I'm just such a kid at heart," Paris explained to Harper's Bazaar. "I love going on rides, I love neon." And having been forced to miss out on two years of Coachella—and their popular neon carnival—thanks to the pandemic, "I wanted to be able to re-create that for everybody."

The bash that saw guests enjoy funnel cakes, hot dogs and amusement park attractions and compete for Paris-themed throw pillows "was definitely, like, my special touch on the wedding," she continued, "that tied the whole thing into what I envisioned."

A second reprisal on Saturday evening saw the group head back to Bel-Air for one final reception and the last of the weekend's six-plus looks for Paris: a semi-sheer plunging Oscar de la Renta. In a tent still adorned with blankets of twinkle lights, gilded chandeliers and fabric draping, Jaden Smith, Kate Beckinsale, Macy Gray, Sofia Richie and others enjoyed another round of speeches, dancing and culinary delights.

"Paris provided every food imaginable for her guests," an insider told E! News. "There was caviar, chicken, sandwiches, sushi, pizza—literally everything under the sun." Including a McDonald's truck ready to indulge the bride's craving for fries.

And with cameras rolling the entire time for the 13-part Peacock series Paris in Love, the couple have "the ultimate wedding video," Paris shared on The Bellas Podcast in April 2022. "It just looked so beautiful and it's something that I'll cherish for the rest of my life."

Perhaps something to show the kids one day? Having enjoyed a seven-week, round-the-world honeymoon (with stops in Bora Bora, Anguilla, London and the Maldives) and that all-important first year of marriage, they were ready for the next milestone. "I cannot wait," Paris shared on E!'s Daily Pop in January 2022 of her plan to have two or three kids. "That is definitely one of my top priorities."

Precisely one year later, she realized that dream when she and Carter welcomed son Phoenix. Sliving her best life ever since ("He is my world and makes my life feel so complete," Paris gushed on Instagram), she's eager to add more love.

"I can't wait to have my own little princess one day," she told E! News' Francesca Amiker in October, "and that's something that we talk about and think about all the time."

She's already found her prince charming. "It's been such a special time," Paris added. "My little baby boy is my world and he's made my life feel so complete. My husband is just the sweetest, kindest, most loyal and loving partner—just my everything."

And she's loving their not-so-simple life. "It's been amazing being a mom, being a wife and this new phase of my life," Paris continued. "I just never felt so happy."

(This story was originally published on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 at 6 a.m. PT.)