Nicole Kidman Says This Wedding Day Memory Was 'One of the Most Emotional Things in My Life' (Exclusive)
The Oscar winner was driving with her father to the church for her wedding to Keith Urban when she experienced an 'extraordinary' moment that warmed her heart
When Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban exchanged vows on June 25, 2006, at Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel church in Sydney, Australia, it was a dream come true.
But even before the romantic candle-lit ceremony, Kidman recalls enjoying a special, deeply moving moment earlier in the day.
"I remember being in Sydney and driving down the street and I was with my dad, who's obviously not around now, and he was in the car with me… We were driving to the church and there were so many people on the street, sort of celebrating us," the Expats star tells PEOPLE in an interview for the magazine’s 50th anniversary special issue.
"It was just one of the most emotional things in my life… It really was an extraordinary day."
In the moment, Kidman opened the window of the vintage white Rolls-Royce, waved and thanked the cheering locals as she and her father, Antony Kidman, made their way to the church.
"Nicole cried all the way to the church in the car," a wedding guest told PEOPLE at the time, adding that it was an "emotional and beautiful" ceremony, witnessed by a long-time pals including Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts.
"When Nicole and Keith looked at each other it was like they were the only two people in the room… It was the most incredible wedding."
The pair had an instant attraction when they first met at a gala in 2005. They exchanged numbers, but Urban didn't call Kidman for four months.
"I had such a crush on him and he wasn't interested in me. It's true!" Kidman told host Ellen DeGeneres in 2017. "He didn't call me for four months."
Urban, of course, did eventually call and on her 38th birthday, he stood on the stoop of her apartment at 5 a.m. to bring her gardenias. "That is when I went, 'This is the man I hope I get to marry,' " she later PEOPLE. "I believed by that point he was the love of my life."
In 2016, Urban told CBS News, "Meeting her and getting married wasn't life-changing, it was life-beginning."
Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban at The 57th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on November 8, 2023.To mark their 17th wedding anniversary last summer, Kidman shared a black-and-white snapshot of the pair.
Dressed to the nines, the smitten duo can be seen leaning in close to one another, as Kidman sweetly touches Urban’s face.
Kidman captioned the photo: "Happy Anniversary my Love."
The actress is mom to daughters Sunday Rose, 15, and Faith Margaret, 13, with Urban and says she has an incredible support system in her husband and family.
"I'm raising a soon to be 16-year-old and a 13-year-old who are divine," she says. "They're just lovely people and I'm so lucky that I have Keith, who's just my love, my deep, deep love. That gives me the ability to go and do whatever I have to do because I know where I can come back to."
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
