Excitement Builds as Clinton Prepares to Tie Knot

(July 31) -- The normally peaceful town of Rhinebeck, N.Y., is abuzz with excitement as Chelsea Clinton prepares to say "I do" after weeks of anticipation and media hype.

Roads were closed, metal barricades erected and bottles of wine distributed to the locals in anticipation of Chelsea's nuptials to Marc Mezvinsky later today at the palatial Astor Courts Estate.

Hundreds gathered outside the Beekman Arms & Delamater Inn last night in hopes of catching a glimpse of big-name attendees on their way into a private party.

"We love it here," President Bill Clinton told reporters Friday, according to The Associated Press. "Chelsea loves the area as well."

Chelsea, 30, and Mezvinsky, 32, have known each other ever since they were teenagers in Washington, D.C., and both of them attended Stanford University.

Mezvinsky works at G3 Capital, a Manhattan hedge fund. His family is no stranger to the political spotlight: both his mother Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky and his father Ed Mezvinsky served in the House of Representatives.

"In America, we don't really have royalty and I think that Chelsea, growing up in the White House, is kind of our royalty," Randy Fenoli, fashion director at New York's famous Kleinfeld Bridal salon, recently told the AP. "So this is kind of like our royal wedding."

Few details on the wedding filtered out today, but those hoping to spot celebrities may have been disappointed. Much-hyped guests such as Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand are said to not be attending, The New York Times reported. Still, rumors circulated that big names such as Jennifer Lopez and Kobe Bryant were in Rhinebeck today.

Most of the guests seemed to be in their 20s or 30s, The New York Times said.

The wedding has shone the spotlight on Rhinebeck, a quiet community about two hours outside New York City, even with the details of the event shrouded in secrecy.

Jonna Paolella, who runs the Olde Rhinebeck Inn, said that she guessed something was up when her Internet server alerted her that traffic to her business's website was getting so high that she was running out of bandwidth.

For Rhinebeck "the level of publicity is off the charts," Paolella told AOL News. "It really is a wonderful spotlight and feature on our town."

Paolella said that wedding guests occupy all four of the rooms in her inn, though she said there were "no household names." The guests made the reservation saying that they were attending a 50th anniversary celebration.

Chelsea has also maintained her usual low profile. Press spotted her in New York getting a pedicure and checking out the Vera Wang boutique, ABC News said.

Hillary Clinton, secretary of state and mother of the bride, also pitched in: she was seen carrying purchases from Tiffany's and a garment bag to her daughter's apartment.

Unsurprisingly, former president Bill Clinton was more gregarious. The 43rd president was seen walking around Rhinebeck, greeting locals and grabbing lunch in a town restaurant, where he took time to shake hands with customers and kitchen staff.

Estimates for the wedding's price tag vary. The AP cited a Clinton family friend as saying that the cost would come in no higher than $1 million, while other reports said the bill could hit $5 million. The average American wedding costs $24,000.

Some of the luxuries at the wedding certainly go beyond the ordinary. ABC reported expenses including $15,000 for portable porcelain toilets, $200,000 for security and a rehearsal dinner worth $250,000.

This isn't Rhinebeck's first brush with celebrity. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the town's post office in 1939 and singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright was born nearby, according to People magazine.

But whatever its illustrious history, Rhinebeck is now the center of global news attention -- for one weekend at least.

"Madison Avenue would charge us millions of dollars for the type of publicity we're getting," Mayor Jim Reardon told People.