Celebrity Wedding Bar

When it comes to love and the grand march down the aisle, we’re fascinated with what charmed celebrities with unlimited money and show-stopping resources can do — as well as where those charmed people can take a wrong turn and create something dreadful. We love to compare notes, get inspiration, or even squeal with horror when things go wrong. Here are my favorite celebrity wedding tidbits to entertain you, and perhaps inspire you, as you plan your own big day.

Nothing holds as much intrigue as the huge engagement rings that brides of Hollywood flash around tinsletown. By now, most of the world knows about J. Lo.’s 6-carat pink diamond from Harry Winston. But other ladies have equally enviable rocks. Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn’s adorable daughter, married rocker Chris Robinson in a whirlwind romance. He proposed to her with an old fashioned 5-carat Asher-cut diamond in an art-deco mounting.

For Brad Pitt, buying a ready-made diamond for Jennifer Aniston wouldn’t do. He had one made to his instructions. (He also designed their wedding bands.) The Aside band in white gold with .18 carats of diamonds was the result. Of course, this isn’t the first ring that Pitt has designed. Who can forget the sparkler he gave Gwyneth Paltrow when they were engaged? He also designed that ring, which had three small diamonds set into the band on the palm side, so every way you looked at it, it glittered.

Director Guy Ritchie put some personal thought into the Edwardian Ring he gave Madonna; the platinum Neil Lane ring had a decorative band and three large stores to symbolize their family.

Not everyone goes the traditional route. Colored gemstones are a stunning departure from tradition and often catch the eye more than plain diamonds. American Beauty star Mena Suvari chose to use her birthstones — amethysts and citrines — when she married her husband, cinematographer Robert Brinkmann. The stones are set in an asymmetrical design around a gold band.

All of Hollywood was buzzing when Catherine Zeta-Jones sported her 10-carat antique diamond engagement ring from Michael Douglas, reminding us of the days when Liz Taylor stunned the world with the Taylor-Burton diamond. Douglas and Zeta-Jones prove once again that in Hollywood, size definitely matters.

Often the true sentiment of the romance is captured by the inscription inside the ring. It’s traditional for the date or the name of your future spouse to be engraved inside, but modern brides often like a little love note or personal joke instead. Courtney Cox and David Arquette reportedly have “A Deal’s a Deal” engraved inside their rings. Among the current rumors swirling over possible engagement plans for Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake, is one that says that her engagement ring simply has his initials inscribed on a gold band.