Parties You Will Never Get Into

A very fine and very blurred line exists between the worlds of sports and showbiz. It’s not surprising to find celebrity couples belonging to both. “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria and 2007 NBA Finals MVP Tony Parker are one such couple.

Longoria was engaged to Parker on Nov. 30, 2006. Leading up to the day of the wedding, Parker quoted during the 2007 NBA All-Star game that “Eva is doing everything. I’m just going to show up and say yes.” Spoken like a modern man.

The official wedding ceremonies took place on July 7, 2007. In compliance with French law, official ceremonies were first performed at the Paris city hall. These were presided over by Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who praised the couple’s choice of venue for their wedding. (Not surprising, considering Parker was raised in France and because we all know and dream about France and all its romantic associations.)

In a fine example of modern simplicity, Longoria was clad in a pink Chanel mini dress and silver heels. Her guests wore combinations of white, cream, pink, and purple dresses and carried small Chanel shopping bags.

The day after the civil wedding, an extravagant church ceremony took place at the nearby Roman Catholic Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois Church in Paris.

This time, Longoria wore a brilliant mermaid gown designed by Angel Sanchez. The gown, a hitherto closely-guarded secret, was made of silk wool with silk gazar metallic embroidery.

The guest list was impressive: among the many celebrities and Hollywood personalities were French football superstar Thierry Henry and, of course, fellow NBA ball players including fellow Frenchman Boris Diaw of the Phoenix Suns and the LA Lakers’ Ronny Turiaf.

Diaw and Turiaf were also members of Parker’s entourage. Longoria arrived with a group of friends, including “Desperate Housewives” co-star Teri Hatcher, Jessica Alba and boyfriend Warren Cash, Mario Lopez, Ryan Seacrest, Brenda Strong, Nicolette Sheridan, and Felicity Huffman and husband William H. Macy.

The church wedding was followed by a small reception that lasted about 45 minutes. One of the highlights of the reception was a wedding cake that was reported to cost nearly $40,000 US. The cake itself cost about $15,000 US to make in California and was flown to Paris first class the day before the wedding. An escort accompanied the cake on the trip. The price of the cake plus two first class tickets brought the total cost to almost $40,000 US.

As is requisite for a “normal marriage” (if such a thing exists), their marriage has had its own share of trials: some time after the wedding, French model Alexandra Paressant claimed to have had an affair with Parker. These claims were never substantiated.