An old Italian medieval castle is believed to be the venue for the forthcoming wedding of Tom Cruise and his actress fiancee Katie Holmes. Dubbed TomKat by the European media, the couple are due to marry next week, amid worldwide media attention. This report from Christian Fraser:

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In its time Castello Odescalchi has hosted popes and kings - but it's unlikely to have seen anything quite like this. The word is the celebration will span three days, with a warm up party on November 16th. The Catholic wedding will follow the next day with a final ritual on the 18th conducted by Scientology - the church founded by science fiction writer Ron Hubbard, of which Tom Cruise is a member.

The arrangements for the ceremony and the design of Katie Holmes' gown have been given to Giorgio Armani at an estimated cost of 2 million dollars. Even the towels in the bedrooms have been carefully selected. For 7,000 dollars they'll be made in the colours of the wedding day outfits and will carry the couple's initials. Of course the guest list will include some of the biggest names in Hollywood. One newspaper reported this week that 100 black limousines have been ordered for the occasion along with 300 bodyguards.

Christian Fraser, BBC News, Rome

Listen to the words

dubbed
named, called (instead of the real name)

speculation
making guesses, thinking or talking about something without having necessary facts

the media hunt
journalists' attempts to find out information about people or events

venue
location, place where an organised event happens

span
last for (referring to time)

a warm up party
an occasion when people meet together to enjoy themselves in preparation for the main event

ritual
a ceremony or customary acts which are always performed in the same way

conducted by
organised and led by

outfits
sets of matching clothes

limousines
big expensive comfortable cars often used to take people to special events

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