When Tom Cruise marries Katie Holmes this weekend, like many a devout Scientologist, he may promise to provide her with "a pan, a comb, perhaps a cat." The formal wedding of the Hollywood stars in Italy on Saturday is shaping up as not only the celebrity wedding of the year but as the most famous Scientology wedding since science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard founded the church in Los Angeles more than 50 years ago.

Unlike the mysteries of "silent birth" -- the no-words method used when Holmes delivered daughter Suri in April -- Scientologists say their weddings generally are like Christian affairs with flower girls, a ring, music and a party afterward. "A photo of a Scientology wedding usually has a bride wearing a white dress and the groom wearing a dark suit and the party behind them. It is a joyous affair," said Church of Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw. Pouw said what makes a Scientology wedding unique is the advice offered in the ceremony for couples to maintain and improve their relationship.

"They make a vow to each other that they won't go to sleep at night without having repaired any upset they may have had during the day," Pouw said. Twice-divorced Cruise, Scientology's most prominent advocate, and Holmes, 27, announced their engagement in June 2005 after a whirlwind courtship. It is the first marriage for Holmes, who was raised a Catholic. The couple are expected to choose from five versions of the wedding ceremony, ranging from the Traditional to the Double Ring. Each includes traditional vows and lasts between 20 minutes to one hour.

In the old-fashioned language that marks the Traditional version, the groom is reminded that "girls" need "clothes and food and tender happiness and frills, a pan, a comb, perhaps a cat" -- and is asked to provide them all. The bride, in turn, is told that "young men are free and may forget" their promises. In the Double Ring ceremony, the ring is a symbol of permanency and reaffirms the Scientology principles of affinity, reality and communication. While some outsiders may find the concepts of Scientology difficult to grasp, Pouw said Scientology weddings are "quite normal."

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Suri Cruise Makes Her Arrival

People magazine reports that Katie Holmes had her baby yesterday.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise "joyously welcomed the arrival of a baby girl, Suri, today," Cruise's rep said in a statement after PEOPLE first broke the news Tuesday afternoon. "The child weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 20 inches in length. Both mother and daughter are doing well." The name Suri has its origins in Hebrew meaning "princess," or in Persian meaning "red rose," the rep added.

In October, barely six months into their romance, an ecstatic Cruise and Holmes revealed that they were expectant parents. Cruise, 43, and Holmes, 27, had made no secret of their desire to start a family together: When asked by PEOPLE last June if they were planning to have children, Holmes smiled and said simply, "Yes."

Friends of the Toledo, Ohio-bred Holmes called her perfectly suited to her upcoming role. "She almost seems born for motherhood," said Oliver Hudson, actress Kate Hudson's brother and an old pal who costarred with Holmes in Dawson's Creek. "She's a nurturer. She's got mother qualities a lot of girls her age don't have." Cruise, meanwhile, is "a great dad already," according to his pal, actress Leah Remini. He has two children from his marriage to Nicole Kidman: Isabella, 13, and Connor, 11, whom Cruise and Kidman adopted as infants. Remini told PEOPLE that both kids are "so cool…You can sit and talk to them about life."

Did Katie get to scream? Did the doctors get to scream? Did Tom really eat the placenta (EWWWWW!)? We need more details. In an interesting twist of fate, Brooke Shields gave birth to a baby girl on the same day. Somehow we doubt Brooke is going to be calling Tom to arrange playdates for the tykes.

Posted on April 19, 2006
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Tom Cruise Denies Giant Binky Reports

Remeber to set your Tivos: tonight Tom Cruise goes mano a mano with Diane Sawyer on ABC's Primetime at 9 p.m. EDT. Here are some of the fun tidbits we'll get to hear Tom discuss.

Cruise suggested Scientology's doctrine of "silent birth," emphasizing a calm, quiet atmosphere in the delivery room, free from screaming and shouts of "push!," was misunderstood and exaggerated by the media. "It's basically just respecting the mother, you know, and helping to be quiet. (But) not the mother. The mother makes as much noise ... you know, she's going through it. She does what she's gotta do, OK?"

Contrary to perceptions that Scientology frowns on giving painkillers to women in labor, Cruise added: "We're there, you know, with doctors. ... Whatever the woman wants. ... If she needs an epidural, she's gonna get her epidural." He denied a tabloid report that he had bought an adult pacifier to muffle the moans of his 27-year-old fiancee. Asked whether their baby would be given a Catholic baptism, Cruise said, "No," then added: "I mean you can be Catholic and be a Scientologist. You can be Jewish and be a Scientologist. But we're just Scientologists." "Katie, too?" Sawyer asked. "Katie, too," he replied.

It was the first public acknowledgment from the couple that Holmes has joined Cruise, one of Scientology's most prominent adherents, in embracing a faith founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise denied media accounts of tension with Holmes' parents, who are devout Catholics, over her association with Scientology. "They're OK with her being a Scientologist since they're Catholic?" Sawyer asked, to which Cruise answered, "Absolutely, yes." The couple have yet to set a wedding date, but Cruise said in a separate interview with GQ magazine that they were looking to tie the knot sometime in late summer and early fall.

So he's denying that he bought Katie a giant, customized pacifier to bite on during childbirth, eh? Well, alright, fine. But what about the birthing posters? And if she screams for an epidural, will anyone be able to answer her? "Honey, we would have agreed to the epidural for the mind-boggling pain, but we couldn't hear your requests through the Cone of Silence. Sorry!"

Posted on April 14, 2006
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Katie Holmes and the Giant Binky

Star magaine is reporting that Tom Cruise visited his dentist to have a giant pacifier made for Katie Holmes to bite on during childbirth.

When Tom Cruise visited his local orthodontist's office recently, it wasn't to talk about his children's teeth. It was to craft a personalized pacifier — for fiancée Katie Holmes! "In keeping with a Scientology silent birth, Tom is prepared to do whatever it takes to muffle Katie's moans and groans during the delivery," says a source close to Holmes. "He commissioned an adult-sized 'binky' for her to clench between her teeth, hoping that it'll squelch her screams." The one-of-a-kind pacifier is made of rubber, and is molded to the shape of Katie's teeth. The mom-to-be herself, though, may prove harder to mold: As Tom goes further and further to ensure that the birth fits squarely within the rules of his church, Katie is showing serious signs of wear.

For weeks, Star reporter Brannon Castleberry has watched Katie, 27, spend day after day — up to eight hours at a stretch! — at the Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, often with Tom, 43, by her side. Now, Star has learned what's going on behind those closed doors: "If they're going to the center together regularly, it means that she is definitely resistant to something," a Scientology expert who prefers to remain unnamed tells Star. "It wouldn't surprise me if Katie secretly wanted out of Scientology, out of her relationship with Tom, or both." The source says that at the center, "they are probably putting tremendous pressure on Katie to find out if she has any second thoughts about Scientology."

Meanwhile, we're anxiously awaiting the Tom Cruise/Diane Sawyer interview. That should be most interesting.

Posted on April 13, 2006
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Birthing Posters for Katie Holmes

In anticipation of Katie Holmes going into labor, scientology elders delivered a big stack of Scientology posters to Tom Cruise's mansion. The posters remind Katie not to make a peep during labor: she has to be totally silent. And not talk to her baby for 7 days. And not allow him to have medical tests for 7 days. And...well, you get the idea.

Tom Cruise's pregnant fiancée Katie Holmes will be reminded to keep her vow of silence during birth - by signs plastered around their home. The couple - following the Scientology tradition of a silent birth - had the posters delivered to their Beverly Hills mansion. The 6ft placards will be placed so Katie can see them in labour. One reads: "Be silent and make all physical movements slow and understandable." Dawson's Creek actress Katie, 26, must "keep mum" and will not even be allowed painkillers when she has the couple's first child due any day.

Friends - believed to be Scientology elders - were pictured carrying the huge white boards through the gates. The "birthing boards" will also tell staff and visitors to stay silent. Followers believe it is traumatic for babies to hear their mother scream or groan when giving birth. They think it can cause "psychic" damage, which takes years of therapy to overcome.

We think people should hold up signs everywhere Tom Cruise goes that say something like, "Tom Cruise is Insane." You know, just to remind him.

Posted on March 28, 2006
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Is TomKat Over?

As a special Valentine's Day present to everyone, Life and Style is reporting that Tom Cruise and Katie (we don't care Tom says -- we just can't call her Kate) Holmes are ending their relationship.

Life & Style has learned exclusively that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have agreed to call off their wedding — and, ultimately, to split. Multiple insiders confirmed the story to Life & Style, with one longtime friend of Tom’s saying: "Their relationship is basically over." Another friend adds: "They both agreed that the marriage wouldn’t work and they wanted to end it before they learned to hate each other."

The insiders say that Tom, 43, and Katie, 27, plan to keep up the charade of a romance until after their baby’s birth this spring. In the meantime, the couple will live in his Beverly Hills home — though sleeping in separate bedrooms — through the summer. Then, presumably, they’ll announce a separation — but Tom plans to buy Katie a home nearby so he can visit his child whenever he wishes.

"They’ll share custody," says the friend, who claims the couple are drawing up a legal document to provide for Katie’s and the baby’s financial well-being for life. "Tom will set up Katie and the baby," adds the pal.

Cruise's reps are denying the story, but remember how everyone from Nick and Jessica to Brad and Jennifer also denied the story long before it became clear that the stories were true? Of course, it could just be wishful thinking on the part of Life and Style -- certainly everyone we know wishes this unholy union would destruct sooner rather than later. Now that we think of it, we haven't seen Tom jump on one couch or make out with his fiancee in public in months....

You can see scans of the magazine story here.

Posted on February 14, 2006
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Tom Cruise's Fabulous Gift to Katie

Tom Cruise really outdid himself when buying his fiancee Katie Holmes a 27th birthday present. What could it be, you're asking. A diamond ring? A yacht? A new house? Nope, it's much better than that: he gave her a matched set of DVDs of every movie he's ever been in.

The War of the Worlds star, 43, decided there was no better gift for his wife-to-be than a full history of his long and fruitful career. A source tells British newspaper the Daily Express, "Each was inscribed with a special handwritten love message to the future mother of his child."

What did he inscribe up the DVD cover of his naughty film starring ex-wife Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut? We can only imagine.

Posted on January 20, 2006
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TomKat Edges Ahead Of Brangelina in Blogularity

The continual press releases and very public courtship between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes is finally paying off. The oft-denied, secret "affair" between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (or Brangelina, if you like) has now fallen just slightly behind TomKat in the polls blogs. The graph below clearly shows that Brangelina had a slight edge during most of June. Brad and Angelina are clearly the wiser of the two pairs. By using stealth and denial they have generated great interest in their brand relationship with much less effort than TomKat. All that work by TomKat -- appearing on talk shows, jumping on couches and wildly professing their love to millions of shocked listeners around the world -- appeared unable to overcome the sexy, cunning denials by Brangelina and Angelina Jolie's dominatrix outfit in Mr. And Mrs. Smith. That is until Tom Cruise whipped out the giant diamond engagement ring and proposed to Katie on the Eiffel tower, causing TomKat to surge in popularity. But will TomKat's marriage plans and amorous PR assault plan be enough to hold the lead over the coy denials of Brangelina?


Graph by Blogpulse.com

Posted on June 19, 2005
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