Grand Slam Wedding
In-Style
Magazine, February 2000
by Lisa Simpson, photos by Simone &
Martin
The courtship of
champions: After only a nine-month romance
and 16-week engagement Pete Sampras and
Bridgette Wilson wed in an intimate backyard
ceremony.
He has earned
a record 13 Grand Slam tennis titles playing
singles, but when it came time to wed actress
Bridgette Wilson, seven-time Wimbledon
champion Pete Sampras proved that he may even
be more of a natural at doubles. In an
emotional ceremony that included friends'
children as well as relatives, a sentimental
dance between Bridgette and her dad, and a
nod by Pete to his Greek heritage, the focus
was on celebrating family: Pete's,
Bridgette's and the one they were forming
together. And as befits a tennis hero and his
actress bride, there was a showstopping
suprise as well.
It all began
in September 1999. Pete 29, had been
dominating the tennis world for 10 years, but
romantically he hadn't met his match. Then he
spotted Wilson, 27, at an L.A.cinema. "
I said to my friend, half-kidding, 'I'd love
to meet her,'" recalls Pete. His pal got
her number from a mutual friend, and the
match was on.
When told
about her famous admirer, Wilson had no idea
who Pete Sampras was. " I had never
watched tennis, so I wasn't familiar with
him," she says, laughing. "But when
I saw his picture, I was like, 'Oh yeah, he's
a cutie.'"
At her
sister's urging, Wilson accepted an
invitation to dinner with Sampras - which she
now calls "the closest thing to a blind
date I've ever been on." (This was only
after she was assured that the 6-foot-1-inch
Sampras stood taller than her own 5 feet 9
inches).
Nine
months later, on June 7, Sampras proposed
with a platinum ring with oval-shaped diamond
from Cartier. " I can't remember the
exact day I knew she was the one; I remember
it was an accumulation of what she's about,
where she came from, and her family,"
says Sampras, who proposed at his Los Angeles
home.
In the days
after they became engaged, Bridgette had some
experience playing a busy bride-to-be--not
only was she planning her own wedding, but
she had also just wrapped The Wedding Planner
(due out in theaters in February 2001). Then
she was cast in the series The Street and had
to head to New York to shoot. Throw in
Sampras's hectic tour schedule, and it became
a major challenge to find a date to wed - and
the time to plan the event. To the rescue
came wedding coordinator Rob Smith of Laurels
Custom Flora in Los Angeles, as well as
Bridgette's sister and maid of honor, Tracy,
both of whom helped the jet-setting lovebirds
plan an intimate but elegant event in just
six weeks.
" Tracy
chose the invitations and tasted the food for
me. I was like, if you think it tastes good,
I will," says Wilson. "Bless her
heart, she did so much for me, and Rob just
worked magic to get it all done in
time."
On September
30, as the sun set on a glorious California
day, about 80 guests (mostly family members
and a few close friends including Wayne
Gretzky) gathered in Sampras' backyard, which
had been converted into a dream-like setting
with white chairs facing an archway covered
in white flowers, and white candles and
flowers floating in the pool.
Bridgette was
also a vision in white, wearing a sleek
georgette Vera Wang dress that had arrived by
Fedex just the day before. After she and her
father walked down the aisle to "The
Wedding March", Pastor Tim Brueckner, a
family from the Oregon Sunday school where
Bridgette once taught and ran the nursery,
performed the 20 minute ceremony. "The
moment I loved was when I was walking down
the aisle and I got to look Pete in the eye.
And when he was repeating a few of the vows
to me, I started to cry," recalls
Wilson.
After Sampras and
Wilson became Mr. and Mrs., guests enjoyed
hors d'oeuvres and cocktails by the pool
before entering a tent that transformed his
tennis court into a romantic reception hall
with flowers, chandeliers and mirrors. The
newlyweds entered, then danced their first
dance to "I know how the river
feels" by Diamond Rio. Guests dined on
risotto and fillet of beef, prepared by
Joachim Splichal, the chef at L.A.'s Patina
restaurant.
After dinner
Pete had a surprised for his guests: Sir
Elton John arrived by limo, sat down at the
piano and played 45 minutes' worth of his
greatest hits, ending with "Can you feel
the love tonight". Even the bride was
floored. "That's one of my most vivid
memories of the wedding," she says.
Another
emotional highlight for Bridgette was dancing
with her father to " I love you enough
to let you go" by Alabama. " I was
crying my eyes out," she recalls.
"It was that moment of acknowledging
that he's trusting Pete to take care of me
and the family we raise together."
After a
dance-music group, the One o'clock band,
began playing, the newly-weds took to the
floor again, staying there until guests left
at about midnight. At one point Sampras took
a break to honor his own family's heritage:
Following a Greek celebratory custom, "
I cracked a plate into a number of pieces for
good luck," he says. Guests left with a
favor of Jordan almonds, another Greek
tradition, as well as an Elton John CD.
Sampras may be
used to being the centre of attention on
centre court, but being the focus of friends
and family on his wedding day was a different
experience. "When you win matches, it's
a short-lived high," he says. "This
was something I was committing to for life.
Tennis will one day stop, but I'll always
have Bridgette. That's the biggest reward of
all."
<more
photos>
Pete Sampras, Brigette
Wilson Marry
.c The Associated Press
LOS
ANGELES, Calif. Sept 30, 2000 (AP) - Tennis
champion Pete Sampras, a longtime singles
specialist, is now playing the doubles game.
Sampras
married actress Brigette Wilson at his
Beverly Hills home Saturday.
The
couple got engaged May 29 after Sampras was
beaten in the first round of the French Open.
The
26-year-old bride walked down the aisle in a
Vera Wang gown and over $400,000 worth of
diamond jewelry, according to a statement
from the Diamond Information Center,
publicists for Fred Leighton, the jeweler who
provided the jewelry.
Wilson
was Miss Teen USA in 1990. Her film credits
include ``Last Action Hero,'' in which she
played Arnold Schwarzenegger's daughter, the
teen scream flick ``I Know What You Did Last
Summer'' and ``Billy Madison.'' She also
appeared on the soap opera ``Santa Barbara.''
AP-NY-10-02-00
0318EDT
Sampras signs up Elton for
Wedding
UK Mirror
TENNIS ace Pete Sampras
married actress Bridgette Wilson in his back
garden -and hired Elton John to entertain
them.
Pistol
Pete told the 85 astonished guests:
"Here's Elton John. He doesn't normally
do weddings, but he's making an exception for
us."
The
superstar sat down at the piano and serenaded
the couple with a 45-minute set packed with
some of his biggest hits.
Sports-mad
Elton is a big tennis fan and has been a
close friend of 29-year-old Sampras for
years.
Friends
said last night that the idea that he should
perform at the wedding was initially put to
Elton as a joke.
But
he immediately replied: "I'll do
it."
Sampras,
the most successful player in history, and
his 26-year-old bride tied the knot on
Saturday in an open-air ceremony in the
grounds of his pounds 4million Beverly Hills
home.
After
they were pronounced man and wife, the couple
led the guests, who included former U.S.
champ Jim Courier, to a marquee on Sampras's
tennis court.
Pete's
big rival Andre Agassi and former Centre
Court bad boy John McEnroe were also invited
- but both sent their apologies.
After
Elton's spot Sampras, whose family has Greek
roots, followed tradition by joining his
bride to smash a huge plate on the floor.
Sampras
first asked Bridgette for a date over a year
ago after seeing her half naked in a film
called Love Stinks.
He
said later: "Not only is Bridgette
beautiful but she is also so sweet, nice and
smart.
"And
she's funny and fun to be with."
Bridgette,
a former Miss Teen USA, once said: "I
know I want to have a family and be a
housewife.
"That's
really the most important thing with
me."
Article
supplied by Nadine Ymga Tembiwe
Match of His Life
Tennis Champ Pete
Sampras takes actress Bridgette Wilson as his
bride
(People, October 16, 2000)
It's
tough to come up with the perfect wedding
present for a multimillionaire tennis star
like Pete Sampras, whose titles have already
left him with an embarrassment of silver
trophies, cups and platters. But trust a pal
to rise to the challenge. As the 81 guests in
the backyard of Sampras's Benedict Canyon
home for his twilight wedding to actress
Bridgette Wilson on Sept. 30 were savoring
the last morsels of their dessert, the groom
had an announcement. "I have a friend
who is nice enough to come by and play a few
songs for us," said Sampras, 29. Then he
introduced Elton John.
With
that, John, a fervent tennis fan, took his
seat at the piano on a small stage and
treated the guests, including hockey Hall of
Famer Wayne Gretzky and his wife, Janet
Jones, to a 45-minute greatest-hits medley.
John ended his set with "Can You Feel
the Love Tonight," which he introduced
by observing, "This is kind of a
schmaltzy song-but this is a wedding."
Then he slipped away into a waiting limo.
"That was pretty incredible," said
guest Mike Ovitz, whose management company
represents Sampras. "It was a lovely,
intimate evening of celebration." That's
just the way the couple wanted it, according
to Wilson's sister Tracy, 29, the maid of
honor. "The whole point," she had
said earlier, was "to be as private and
special as possible."
The
wedding succeeded on both counts. The stucco
walls and lush foliage surrounding Sampras's
home provided a natural screen for the
nuptials. And the tone of the evening was as
elegant yet understated as the groom's Armani
tux and the 27-year-old bride's ivory silk
georgette bias gown by Vera Wang, which
Wilson accented with $400,000 in diamonds
lent by jeweler Fred Leighton.
As
a sliver of moon shone over Sampras's yard,
the couple's family and close friends took
their seats for the service in a narrow
garden bordered by rose bushes.
"Bridgette was as radiant as the white
roses," says Sampras's longtime friend
David Higdon, an executive on the men's
pro-tennis tour. "During the ceremony
she was dabbing at tears pretty much the
whole time."
For
the reception, the couple and their guests
retired to a tented ballroom erected over
Sampras's tennis court, where they enjoyed a
supper that included filet of beef with
artichokes and au gratin potatoes. After
Elton John's set and the serving of the
three-tiered white buttercream-iced cake,
Sampras, in a nod to his Greek heritage,
smashed a plate for luck. Then, as an R&B
band kicked in, the newlyweds danced and
danced-and danced some more. In fact, though
the pair were about to depart for a weeklong
Mexican honeymoon before the bride begins
filming her new FOX-TV series, The $treet, in
New York, "Pete was one of the last ones
to leave the dance floor," says Hingdon.
"I don't believe I've ever seen the guy
as content and as happy."
Article
supplied by Betty
Love Match: Pete Sampras
weds Bridgette Wilson
New York Daily News
Tennis
great Pete Sampras sealed his love match to
TV actress Bridgette Wilson last night.
The
pair played doubles in a romantic Los Angeles
wedding ceremony attended by six other
couples.
After
the service, the bridal couple hosted a
dinner for 60 guests right on the tennis
court in the backyard of Sampras' home in
Beverly Hills.
Wilson,
the stunning star of the new Fox-TV series
"The Street," has been jetting back
and forth between L.A. and New York, where
the show is being filmed at Chelsea Piers.
Her
curly-headed hubby has been taking it easy
since getting bounced in the finals of the
U.S. Open last month.
The
couple has been an item for only about a
year.
The
former Miss Teen USA started seeing Sampras
in 1999, when he was on the rebound following
a two-year romance with "Father of the
Bride" co-star Kimberly Williams.
The
13-time Grand Slam champion's only other love
sets over the years were a brief flirtation
with actress Lauren Holly and a six-year
relationship with Delaina Mulcahy, a South
African-born law student who he met when she
was seeing his then-agent, Gavin Forbes,
Wilson
plays a devious money manager on the new Fox
show about Wall Street brokers, which debuts
Nov. 1.
Article
supplied by Elle
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