If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Kim Kardashian's wedding Saturday to 26-year-old NBA player Kris Humphries is a tribute to celebrities who walked down the aisle before her.
Short engagement like Prince William and Kate Middleton? Check. Hush-hush meetings with Vera Wang like Chelsea Clinton? Check. Marrying a basketball player like Eva Longoria? Check.
Club-sponsored bachelorette party in Las Vegas like Vanessa Minnillo? Yep. "It is no surprise to me that a lot of Kim's choices are not original, just because honestly, in Hollywood, there are only a few vendors that celebrities go to," says Us Weekly's West Coast bureau chief, Melanie Bromley. "I always find that celebrities are a little bit like sheep — and I mean this in the best possible way — in many aspects of their life, whether it's choosing an interior designer, going to the right colorist, the right facialist."
Yet it is the Kardashian family's steadfast adherence to the "rules" of stardom that is likely playing a role in her decision to find inspiration among the A-list. "If there was a celebrity bible of what you should do, that's what (the Kardashians) do, from carrying the Hermès bags to wearing the Christian Louboutin shoes to going to the right beautician," Bromley says. "The whole thing is exactly what you would expect a celebrity to do if you were going to write a script. "Khloe Kardashian has dubbed the lavish affair the celeb world's "royal wedding," and that's no surprise given the Kardashian clan's devotion to fame. "It's a little nauseating sometimes, because they're everywhere, but they have been consistent," says Essence magazine's entertainment director, Cori Murray. "They are clear: 'This is our business. We want to be celebrities.' They get it."
The one rule of stardom that Kardashian has not subscribed to is privacy. "Every single aspect of her life is on TV. I don't know what is private. We've seen her doing everything," says Bromley. And the wedding has been no exception. Kardashian has blogged and tweeted details about her big day for weeks now. She wrote on her blog Aug. 1 that Wang "has been a close family friend for a long time and we had talked about this moment for years." She has also struck a deal with her home network E! (natch) to film the wedding for an October special and has launched a special wedding edition of her perfume to mark the occasion.
Her reluctance to stay silent about the wedding marks a departure from the standard celeb "no comment" response to questions about love lives. That level of oversharing comes as no surprise, says Murray.
"Whether you love her or hate her or question her celebrity, since she's been on the scene, she has pretty much stayed true to who she is and true to what her goals are, and that's to be a star."Since part of being a star is acting the part, Kardashian's borrowed wedding playbook falls right in line with "doing the right things to somehow maintain the superstar image," says Bromley. Bromley recalls a story that Us Weekly ran recently about Kardashian's desire to take inspiration from William and Kate's wedding cake.
"That did make me laugh, because that's not something that I've heard Kim talk about before," she says. But with all of the royal wedding hubbub and Kardashian's quest for attention, "it makes sense!"
Last week, paparazzi snapped Kardashian sampling cakes inside L.A.'s Hansen's, the go-to bakery for Tori Spelling and other stars.
"She's taking from the best. She wants to be regarded as a respected celebrity," Murray says. At this point, Bromley says, the only thing that would surprise her from Kardashian is a simple wedding. "If they were going to have the wedding in (groom) Kris' hometown, that would be completely different. If she was going to have a wedding in (Minnetonka) Minnesota, that would surprise me."
