Australian country music singer Keith Urban, left, and his Oscar winning wife Nicole Kidman, right, meet with an unidentified friend in the lobby of a Sydney hotel, Monday, June 26, 2006. Urban and Kidman were married yesterday in a traditional Catholic ceremony in a clifftop chapel in the Sydney beachside suburb of Manly.
SYDNEY, Australia - Australia's hottest celebrity couple, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, jetted out of Sydney on Monday, likely bound for a secluded honeymoon getaway on the golden sands of the South Pacific.
The Oscar-winning actress exchanged vows with the Grammy award-winning country music star in a tearful, candlelit ceremony overlooking the Pacific late Sunday.
The newlyweds kept a low-profile Monday, emerging only to have lunch with family at a luxury waterfront hotel.
Kidman, 39, appeared relaxed in a black and white dress topped with a black cardigan, while the 38-year-old country music superstar wore jeans and a light blue T-shirt.
The pair were spotted boarding Kidman's private jet on Monday evening, prompting frenzied media speculation about where they might spend their honeymoon.
Kidman and Urban have been tight-lipped about their immediate post-wedding plans, but local media have widely tipped either Fiji or Tahiti as the most likely destinations.
Several reports have suggested the pair have spent up to 250,000 Australian dollars (US$183,000; €146,000) to hire out Fiji's exclusive Wakaya Club Resort for a week.
The ultra-exclusive island resort is a preferred destination for superstars seeking to avoid the prying eyes of paparazzi and celebrity gawkers. It is also where Rolling Stones rocker
Keith Richards injured his head after reportedly falling out of a palm tree in April.
However, Fiji was once a favored vacation spot for Kidman and her former husband,
Tom Cruise, prompting speculation that she and Urban will opt instead for a luxury resort on Tahiti's Bora Bora island.
Kidman, who was born in Hawaii to Australian parents, exchanged vows with Urban, who was born in New Zealand but raised in rural Queensland state, by the light of around 1,000 candles at a small chapel overlooking Sydney's iconic Manly beach.
The beaming bride wore a flowing white Balenciaga gown and pearl drop earrings. Her cream Rolls-Royce limousine drove from her waterfront mansion across the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge, through streets lined with cheering fans.
Kidman, accompanied by her father, Antony, smiled and waved to well-wishers outside the Gothic-style St. Patrick's College building, which was dramatically floodlit for the twilight ceremony.
Urban wore a black suit with a white rose in his lapel matching a bouquet clutched by Kidman.
The traditional Roman Catholic ceremony was private, amid intense public interest and speculation about the details.
The longtime family friend and pastor who married the couple, Rev. Paul Coleman, said Kidman shed "a bit of a tear" as she pledged her love to Urban.
"But she got through her vows beautifully and so did Keith, but it was just such a human, touching, solemn, uplifting moment. That is the best way I can describe it," he told Australia's Nine television network.
The couple followed a traditional script with their vows, according to The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, each promising to love and honor the other "in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health."
After the wedding Urban serenaded Kidman with an acoustic rendition of his song, "Making Memories of Us," which brought even more tears to the actress' eyes.
"Everyone was sitting round at their tables and he just walked up onto the stage unannounced and pulled out his guitar and sang this beautiful song," television personality Jessica Rowe told the Nine network on Monday morning.
"I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. She cried, everyone cried."
The guests included a who's who of Hollywood stars with long-standing Australian ties. Kidman's childhood friend and fellow actress Naomi Watts was among the guests, along with Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe and "X-men" star Hugh Jackman. Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch also attended with his wife, Wendi Deng.
Kidman won the best actress Oscar in 2002 for "The Hours" and Urban took home a Grammy this year for best male country vocalist.
It was Urban's first marriage. Kidman and Cruise divorced in 2001 after 10 years of marriage.
Kidman has said she and Urban will set up home in Nashville, Tennessee when they return to the United States.
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