PARIS (AP) - Professional basketball star Tony Parker married "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria at a civil ceremony in Paris on Friday - a prelude to their expected star-studded weekend wedding bash at a lavish and storied chateau.
Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe officiated and gave a speech saying how happy he was that they were married in the City of Light, said the mayor of Paris' 4th District, Dominique Bertinotti.
Longoria, 32, showed up first in a white stretch limo, wearing a way-above-the-knee pink Chanel dress with striped black and white straps. She was accompanied by about eight guests in cream, pink and purple dresses. She turned, smiled and waved for the crowd of waiting photographers and reporters who were kept well back behind two rows of police barriers.
Longoria then changed into a short white dress for the ceremony, said Bertinotti - whose office acted as the dressing room.
Parker, the 25-year-old San Antonio Spurs star who was born in Belgium and grew up playing basketball in France, arrived about 10 minutes later in a gray minivan, wearing a dark suit. He went straight in without waving. French soccer star Thierry Henry was in his group. In between, other guests arrived in a Humvee stretch limo.
The ceremony, in a room with blue-and-white trimmed walls, a French flag and a portrait of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, lasted about 45 minutes. Bertinotti said there was a small reception afterward that also lasted about 45 minutes.
French law requires couples who marry to make their vows official at a city hall, even if they have a church wedding as well.
Parker translated Delanoe's speech into English for the guests, who numbered about 40.
"It was very joyous, very nice," Bertinotti said. "The atmosphere was very warm and very authentic."
The couple left in a black Mercedes sedan with tinted windows.
They were thought to be planning a second wedding ceremony Saturday at a Paris church that used to serve French royals. Then, they and their guests were to party at Vaux-le-Vicomte, a 17th century chateau 34 miles southeast of Paris.
In an interview with Le Parisien published Friday, Parker said he was eager to have kids.
"That would be even better than my NBA titles, even if I don't compare private life and sports," he told the newspaper. "Eva talks to me about it all the time. I'd like to have girls, because I come from a world of boys."
He also said he considers himself "the luckiest guy in the world."
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