At No. 3 in our Top 10 Over-the-Top Weddings of 2009 are Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett, who wed at the Playboy Mansion on June 27, just seven months after the bride moved out.
The couple, who met at the Playboy Golf Scramble (a charity event) in the spring of 2008, were engaged by November, before TV audiences watched Kendra’s tearful breakup with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner on The Girls Next Door. (Whatever. I still cried!)
Thanks to Kendra’s eponymous spinoff show, we also got front row seats to the proposal (on top of the Space Needle), the wedding shower, all the planning, the bachelorette party, and the couple’s big day. (See pics here!)
Having accepted Hefner’s gracious offer to get married on the Playboy grounds—the only other person to ever do so was Hef himself—the bride spent the morning of her wedding in her old bedroom, eating sandwiches with her seven bridesmaids, including fellow former Girls Next Door Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, before stepping into a custom-designed $20,000 white duchesse-silk R-Mine gown embellished with 1,200 crystals. (The dress was let out following the couple’s June 7 announcement that Kendra was pregnant.) Topping off the dress were $100,000 worth of diamonds on loan from Michael Barin. On her feet, $795 Christian Louboutin heels.
The bride was walked down the aisle in the mansion’s front yard by her brother, Colin, to start the 25-minute civil ceremony in front of 300 guests, including NFL players, Hefner, and his three new girlfriends. The groom and his groomsmen all wore white Sy Devore tuxedos with lavender ties, which matched the R-Mine bridesmaid dresses. After exchanging vows, Hank placed a third ring on Kendra’s finger. The second was in honor of their on-the-way baby.
Under a tent in the backyard, the bride and groom danced to “I Cross My Heart” by George Strait. Kendra and Hef then danced to “As Time Goes By” from Casablanca, his favorite movie, before the reception got under way.
I know these were special circumstances—I’ve certainly never dated Hugh Hefner!—but I don’t think I’d ever get married at my ex's house. Never mind sharing my second dance with him! Even if your ex had a crazy, over-the-top mansion, would you guys get married there?!
The rest of the best weddings from this year:
* No. 4: Tom Brady and Gisele’s Super-Secret Wedding—Times Two!
* No. 5: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s 500-Person Party
* No. 6: Fergie and Josh Duhamel and Their Woodland Wonderland
* No. 7: Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams and Their Whirlwind Romance, Whirlwind Wedding
* No. 8: Mark Wahlberg and Rhea Durham and Their Funky Bunch
* No. 9: Alyssa Milano and David Bugliari’s Rustic Family Affair
* No. 10: Salma Hayek and Francois-Henri Pinault and Their Masked Rehearsal Dinner
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