Ring In The New - People magazine

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD

Olivia Newton-John heads the list of Hollywood heavies ringing in the New Year with new mates.

It was the season to be married. Which is to say, those were not sleigh bells but wedding bells you heard ringing the past couple of weeks for the likes of Bette Midler, George Peppard, Sally Field, Jamie Lee Curtis, Mariel Hemingway and Olivia Newton-John.

By all accounts, Newton-John's wedding to Matt Lattanzi was the most atmospheric the essence of Camelot, one guest was heard to sigh.

Tiny white lights lit the quarter-mile drive to the singer's five-acre Malibu Canyon retreat, where Lattanzi has been in residence for close to four years. The ceremony was private, performed by Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Jerry Pacht in Livvy's living room, which was lit by a Christmas tree and white tapers atop a white piano.

The 25-year-old groom wore a Giorgio Armani tux, while the bride, 36, was a confection of white taffeta and Chantilly lace set off with white pearls and assorted flowers and ribbons. It was the first marriage for both. The newly licit pair was flanked by siblings: Matt's brother, Steve, stood as best man, while Olivia's sister, Rona, served as matron of honor.

Jeanette Lattanzi, Matt's mother, called the new Mrs. Lattanzi a sweet, unaffected girl, who has always fit in with our family.

Just how unaffected Olivia really is rang clear in the toast offered by her father, English literature professor Brin Newton-John of Sydney, Australia, It seems that as a little girl Livvy wanted nothing more than to ride horses. After one three-day spree, her father finally admonished her that It was high time she took a bath. But, Daddy, said Olivia, then I won't smell like a horse. Newton-John responded to this anecdote with an appropriate bridal blush, then sat down to a dinner of turkey and ham.

Apart from the principals, there was nary a celebrity in sight. (John Travolta, Newton-John's Grease co-star, was in Africa.)

If Livvy hadn't been there, reports an industry insider, you would never have guessed it was a super-star's wedding.

The celebrity quotient may have been low, but there was at least a Jackson on hand. No, not that Jackson, but Olivia's Irish setter, whose name is simply Jackson. He walked between the bride and groom, says Jeanette Lattanzi, and then seated himself and watched like a real gentleman.

Photos by Herb Ritts/Visages.

Photo captions: Barbara Cartland couldn't have written a more romantic wedding, said one guest at the ceremony of Newton-John (with sister Rona and brother Hugh).
The most distinctive thing about the gathering was the absence of any anybodies, said a guest. Groom Matt Lattanzi's family (backdropping the newlyweds) made up much of the guest list..
Jackson, Olivia's Irish setter, and her boxer, Digger, were unofficial ushers.
She looked like a beautiful, radiant angel, said the groom's mother of Olivia (getting physical with her father, Brin)..