Telluride, Colo., provides a spectacular setting for the perfect wedding, and on Sunday, Lauren Bush, niece and granddaughter of former presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush, will marry her fiance, David Lauren, heir of Ralph Lauren’s fashion empire.
Bush’s ceremony will be a western take on a royal wedding at Ralph Lauren’s 17,000 acre Ridgway Ranch. Everything is hush-hush, and though the family did create a slight surge of employment for locals in the area, with a newly constructed chapel and even a baseball diamond, workers and business owners are sworn to secrecy. They were all required to sign confidentiality agreements as part of the deal.
Giving the ceremony a little more of a country-western feel, the couple will have singer Michael Martin-Murphy perform, and even a rodeo will be part of the festivities. It will be certainly be a gala filled with the rich and famous, with a Yugoslavian prince as the guest of Lauren Bush’s mother, and other guests, including, Ivanka Trump, daughter of the Donald.
There will likely be more media descending onto the area than guests, with everyone trying to get a glimpse into the lives of what’s been called “American Royalty.” Guests will fly into the tiny Montrose Regional Airport, about 70 miles north of Telluride.
The usual family scandals will also be a part of the big day, with Lauren’s father Neil and her mother Sharon, in attendance. The two went through a nasty public divorce proceeding after Neil was discovered to be engaging in illicit activities in the Far East. It was said Neil contracted herpes from one of his multiple exploits with escorts in Thailand and Hong Kong. It’s likely Sharon still harbors some angry feelings after what she had to endure. Perhaps Prince Dimitri will be a nice distraction for her.
Bush and Lauren are not the only famous couple who have chosen Telluride as a picturesque backdrop for a fairy-tale wedding. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise married there in a small sunset ceremony on Christmas Eve in 1990.
Christie Brinkley and Richard Taubman married there on the afternoon of Dec. 22, 1994, on a mountain top near the place their helicopter had crashed nine months before.
Both of those marriages failed, but perhaps it will be long wedded bliss for Bush and Lauren. Of all celebrity weddings, this might be the most interesting to attend. Wouldn’t you like to just be a fly on the wall for this one? I can only imagine what they might be discussing, or trying not to discuss, and when the champagne starts flowing, look out!