STORY OF THE WEEK
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Jack and his bride chose to get married amid
the elegance of London's Hurlingham
Club grounds.


Top international polo player Jack Kidd showed the world he'd finally met his match when he married American fiancée Be Kemeny last week at London's Hurlingham Club. Over the summer months a hectic polo schedule deemed Monday July 31 the only day the knot could be tied, and that very evening the newlyweds hot-footed it over to France so that 26-year-old Jack could take part in a polo tournament. But not before their stylish guests, including, naturally, Jack's model sisters Jemma and Jodie, were able to share in their nuptials. Among those on hand to wish Jack and Be well were socialite couples Robert Hanson and Sophie Anderton, and Lucas White and Normandie Keith, as well as Tetra Pak mogul Hans Rausing along with fellow millionaires such as Knute Sears of Amazon.com and Dan Abraham of Slimfast. Not to mention a host of polo players including Andrea Vianini and Henry Brett.

Although Jack and Be have known each other for three years it wasn't until a Millennium eve party in Barbados - where both their families have homes - that love blossomed. Their wedding day was the culmination of what Jack describes as a "full-on, serious whirlwind". Already they are eagerly expecting their first child, due in January.

With that excitement still some way off, 34-year-old Be was led into The Terrace Room at the Hurlingham by her father Tom, as a calypso band played Here Comes The Bride on kettle drums. Wearing a long full cream skirt with a train and a sleeveless beaded cashmere top, the bride carried a bouquet of cream roses, complementing the roses, tuberoses and lilies filling the room.

Be's bridal attendants included her two daughters, Ashley, 14, and nine-year-old Autumn, the younger ones decked out in polo players' uniforms. After a short but emotional service Jack didn't wait for prompting by the registrar to kiss his bride, an initiative which brought cheers from the 128-strong gathering.

The guests, who had travelled from Australia, the USA and all over Europe to be there, then settled down to the wedding breakfast, tucking into a starter of fresh roasted figs and melon with Serrano ham, followed by Black Angus beef, strawberries and lemon sorbet. Each table had the Barbados-polo touch with pink pineapples, cream orchids and Jack & Be commemoration polo balls.

Afterwards, proceedings moved outside as Kemeny family friend Dan Abraham presented the newlyweds with a young polo pony, given on the understanding it would be named Lady Ewa after Dan's wife. Unable to resist jumping aboard, Jack toasted everyone's good health from the saddle. Sister Jodie - herself an accomplished horsewoman - looked keen to do the same but her Missoni dress made it impossible. Back in the Terrace Room good luck messages were read out, including one from Bill and Hillary Clinton. The bride's father, Tom, then wished the couple "happiness, good health and success in all their endeavours", and hoped that "they may also find the necessary wisdom to be able to live in harmony."

As the celebrations continued Jemma, gorgeous in a Maria Grachvogel dress, spoke for many when she enthused, "It's been the most fantastic day," adding, "I'm so proud of Be and Jack." But Jack went further in his praise for his new bride. "The main thing about Be is that she is so kind. She's just one of the most peaceful people I've ever met in my life. She's so balanced and is my rock."
Jemma and Jodie's brother
TOP POLO PLAYER
JACK KIDD WEDS AMERICAN FIANCEE BE KEMENY
IN A STYLISH LONDON CEREMONY




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Jack and Be are toasted by Jack's model
sisters Jemma and Jodie




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FULL PICTURE


The family (above, back row, left to right):
Ashley; Jack's half-sister Debbie Parris;
their mother Wendy Kidd; Jack's
half-brother Nick Whiting; the groom; his
father John Kidd; Jemma and Jodie; and
Hans Rausing. In the front are Be and her
sister Eva Rausing with Autumn and the
Rausings' daughter dressed in polo gear;
Jack's grandmother Lady Hodge; and Be's
parents Tom and Nancy Kemeny





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Jack couldn't resist jumping straight into
the saddle of his new polo pony


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