by
lawsonjeff
@ 2006-12-12 - 19:25:05
Back from their Maldives honeymoon, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes held a post-wedding bash Saturday night at the Los Angeles home of Cruise's producing partner, Paula Wagner, on Saturday.
But the first order of the day was a trip to Cruise's daughter Bella's soccer game, where Cruise's sister Cass, mom Mary and Holmes's parents – all in town for the party – laughed and kicked the ball around at half-time (Mary even showed off some fancy footwork).
In the evening, it was off to Wagner's home, although Holmes's family stopped for appetizers at the Beverly Hills Hotel's Polo Lounge on their way.
At the party, they joined 230 guests including Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Brooke Shields, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith – all of whom made it to the couple's Italian wedding – as well as Steven Spielberg, Jerry Bruckheimer, Orlando Bloom, Dakota Fanning and Cruise's pre-Holmes girlfriend, Penelope Cruz.
Said one guest, "Tom seemed really proud, parading Katie around his guests." Any tension with his ex? No way! "There was so much love in the air that it seemed like a family reunion."
The bash, organized by event producer Travis Jackson of Ikus & Co. and event planner Damon Pearse, took place under three backyard tents; the tables featured centerpieces of cream roses, amaryllis and peonies in smoke-mirrored glass boxes and French linen napkins custom-dyed chocolate brown.
Dinner, from Salt of the Earth catering, was mashed potatoes, short ribs, a lavish caviar bar with pink ice and imported coral and a dessert bar that included strawberry aperitifs and chocolate cigars.
Cruise, in a dark suit, and Katie Holmes, in a pale pink dress, entertained their guests as a jazz trio performed until the party ended at 1 a.m.
"It was an intimate, joyful celebration," says a source.
As Fanning, Cruise's costar in last year's Spielberg-directed War of the Worlds, said Sunday at the premiere of her movie Charlotte's Web, "They were really happy. It was a fun party, it was great."