Wentz the Name Ashlee
Forget that baby bump, Ashlee Simpson has another new appendage.
The 23-year-old newlywed has confirmed she’s taken her rocker hubby’s name and become Ashlee Wentz.
Pete Wentz said during an interview on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM show last week he wasn’t sure what Ashlee’s stage name would be”that’s all up to her”but “legally, she’s a Wentz.”
According to the popster, professionally she’ll go by Ashlee Simpson-Wentz.
“I think that that’s something that a woman should do when they’re marrying a man,” she told People today. “It’s a tradition that I think is a great tradition.”
Wentz and Wentz, née Simpson, tied the knot May 17 in front of more than 100 of their nearest and dearest at the Encino, Calif., home of the bride’s parents, Joe and Tina Simpson.
The mostly black-clad guests were treated to an Alice in Wonderland theme, replete with parting-gift cookies frosted with the words “Eat Me.”
Inside Ashlee and Pete’s Wedding
Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz got hitched Saturday night under tents and amid tight security, but News has an insider's account of the top-secret wedding ceremony and reception.
The ceremony was held in the backyard of parents Joe and Tina Simpson, decorated in an Alice in Wonderland theme.
"It was magical and beautiful," says the guest, who termed the whole affair "The Joe Simpson Show."
After escorting Ashlee down the aisle, Joe Simpson regaled the 100-plus guests with funny and touching stories of his daughter before performing the brief ceremony himself.
The elder Simpson got choked up throughout the ceremony, as did Ashlee and Jessica. "They were all crying," says the source. "It was very moving."
Seeming to acknowledge the challenges of marrying into the Simpson family, at one point Joe quipped, "Pete is a very patient guy."
Ashlee wore an ivory Monique Lhuillier gown with a veil for the ceremony, while the bridesmaids were draped in black Vera Wang numbers. The men wore black tuxes with skinny black ties. Guests had been asked to wear dark clothing, and most everyone did, with attire ranging from black jeans and sports coats to fancy black tuxes and dresses.
The reception and dinner followed.
Jessica and Tony Romo sat at the wedding party table, but the guest observes, "Jessica did not look happy the entire night. She just wasn't her bubbly self. She was very subdued, and she and Tony barely interacted the entire night, except for some dancing at the end.
"You could tell she was really happy for her sister, but that maybe she was a little bit sad that things aren't working out as well for her."
Jessica did, however, give a very emotional, off-the-cuff speech toast, saying that Pete and Ashlee's relationship "has inspired [her] to love again" and spoke very affectionately of her little sister.
"She apologized for not writing anything more formal," the guest says, "but it was very much from the heart."
Wentz's brother also gave a toast.
The guest says that for a wedding of two musicians it was subdued, with a DJ and no band. "It was weird. No one was dancing. There was like nobody on the dance floor until after they cut the cake, and then people finally danced."
After taking photos, the bride livened up and slipped into a "sexy black party dress" and danced. "She managed to hide her pregnancy pretty well," the source says. "She really didn't look pregnant."
Guests were required to check their cell phones and cameras outside the tent. "You could step out and make a call, but you had to check the phone in before returning back inside. It wasn't a big deal. Everyone there gets it."
The reception did experience some drama. At one point later in the night, Ashlee lost one of her William Noble-designed diamond earrings. "Pete got on the mic and told everyone to look for the earring," the guest says. "He said they cost more than the entire wedding!" Within a few minutes, a guest found the missing bling.
By about 1:30 a.m., the reception had died down and most guests had left. "It was beautiful. It was truly intimate…friends and family only. It wasn't a Hollywood wedding at all," says the attendee.
Guests were given a parting gift: a red box containing a cookie inscribed "Eat Me."
Ashlee and Pete: Newlyweds 2.0
Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz have made at least one thing official.
A little more than a month after announcing their engagement, the musically inclined couple swapped vows Saturday at the Encino home of the bride's parents, Joe and Tina Simpson, sources confirm to News.
"We're delighted to confirm that Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson were married this evening in front of family and close friends," a family rep told People.
Jessica Simpson, who served as Ashlee's maid of honor; her apparently still-willing beau, Tony Romo; Nicole Richie and Joel Madden; Scrubs star Donald Faison and his girlfriend, longtime Jessica pal and family friend Cacee Cobb; and Wentz's fellow Fall Out Boys were among the 100-plus guests in attendance.
Joe Simpson performed the nondenominational service, which took place about 7 p.m.
It's the first hitching for both the 23-year-old bride and her 28-year-old groom, who, sources have told News, are expecting their first child.
Simpson wore a wedding gown by Monique Lhuillier, accented with William Noble diamond-adorned necklace and earrings. Vera Wang took care of the bridal party dresses.
A source close to the Simpsons told News that many of the female guests painted their nails black and that "black or very dark" clothing dominated the fashion of many attending. The source described the entire theme as "goth-like" and "very unwedding like." A gothic cross on the altar reinforced the motif.
Jessica Simpson and Romo arrived a little after 11 a.m. and were joined shortly after by her longtime hairdresser and friend Ken Paves. Wentz showed around 2 p.m.
Guests were shuttled to the residence from a nearby parking garage.
Security was so tight that one of Wentz's groomsmen was almost not let in. After talking to security and explaining that he was a last-minute substitution, the groomsman, dressed in a skinny-cut tuxedo and white shirt, was let into the party. Other guests were instructed not to bring cameras of any kind and even told not to bring in cell phones.
Paparazzi helicopters buzzed the compound, which is behind gates on a private drive, but large tents kept the festivities largely under wrapsto provide a modicum of privacy and, presumably, to ensure that People magazine gets its money's worth for the exclusive wedding coverage. (The magazine reportedly shelled out seven figures for the privilege).
By 12:45 a.m. the party began to wind down, and Jessica Simpson and Romo made their getaway. Most of the rest of the guests were gone by 1:15 a.m.
While some guessed the wedding was going to take place weeks ago to coincide with the release of Ashlee's latest album, Bittersweet World, far more evidencesuch as dual bachelor/bachelorette parties on Thursday, a rehearsal dinner at her big sister's house Friday and delivery trucks swarming the Simpsons' homestead, one of which was hauling the cross-bedecked altarpointed to a weekend celebration.
Event-planning staff and Simpson-family employees were seen flowing in and out of the house starting Thursday afternoon, while the tents were erected in the backyard andover in the citified portion of Los AngelesWentz was spotted gassing up his car and fleeing Groom Watch 2008.
Having a wedding in the backyard was no easy task. As temperatures pushed 100 degrees in the Encino hills, biodiesel generators powered the air conditioning for the tents. Scaffolding decks and platforms had been erected for the dance floor and entertainment areas. Even fancy gray porta-pottys and a photo booth were trucked in.
Although the wedding itself seemed like a done deal, the venue was still relatively up in the airto inquiring mindsuntil just a few days ago. But even with all the secrecy, the Simpson-Wentz wedding ultimately took place at mom and dad's house.
The couple announced their engagement April 9 in a message posted on FriendsorEnemies.com.
"We know there has been a lot of speculation recently about Pete and I and we wanted our fans to be the first to know, because you guys are the best. Yes, we are thrilled to share that we are happily engaged," Simpson wrote.
"Thank you for all of your support and well wishesit means the world to us. We consider this to be a very private matter, and we wanted to be the first to tell you and to hear it straight from us."
Not so forthcoming have they been about their expectant status, with Wentz issuing a denial of sorts via email to MTV News and Simpson dodging questions right and left during her various recent media appearances.
Bump watch remains in full effect, but what with all this running around and location scouting, perhaps we all deserve a honeymoon.
Reporting by Ken Baker, Matt Donnelly, Whitney English, Mark McDermott and Claudia Rosenbaum
Simpson Wedding Watch, Ashlee Edition
The clock is ticking, the event-planners are bustling and maybe, just maybe, a fetus is growing.
After saying their respective farewells to the single life on Thursday nightwhich, aw, ended with the duo recoupling at the Roosevelt HotelAshlee Simpson and Pete Wentz are primed to swap vows sometime Saturday.
Sources once placed the nuptials at a friend's house in the tony beachside town of La Jolla, Calif., but now all signs are pointing to a Valleyfied affair at parents Joe and Tina Simpson's Encino home.
Party preparations started taking place Thursday as Simpson family employees, an SUV full of balloonsand, at one point, Jessica Simpson herselfwere spotted bustling in and out of the Royal Oaks Colony, the gated community where Joe and Tina live.
And, thanks to telephoto lens-toting paparazzi, a tent was spied going up in their spacious backyard.
E! News learned today that a truck from Jackson Shrub Supply (a longtime supplier for the film and TV industry) delivered urns, sod, sandbags and array of foliage, including California ivy, privets (clusters of white flowers), Eugenia (a common ornamental plant that can sprout fresh fruit), ligustrum hedges in planters and ball-shaped topiaries. All is supposed to be picked up Monday morning.
And that's not all the greenerya pair of pickup trucks towing biodiesel generators showed up at 10:54 a.m.
Here's a glimpse of the Royal Oaks action:
Also this morning, another truck delivering sound equipment was admitted through the gate andperhaps in rejection modea blue BMW full of orchids, gardenias and other flower arrangements was seen leaving the area.
Workers from Unique Tabletop Rentals exited the gate at 3:44 p.m., presumably after setting up a host of tables.
Meanwhile, a source said that, if not a wedding, at least a prewedding "gathering," such as a Friday rehearsal dinner, would be taking place at Casa Simpson.