Italian town prepares for Cruise/Holmes wedding

A medieval lakeside town outside Rome and its residents today braced themselves for an onslaught of fans, celebrities and paparazzi on the eve of the expected wedding of movie stars Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

Streets were cleaned, the grass cut and weeds pulled out. Road signs outside Bracciano warned drivers that the centre of town would be closed to traffic tomorrow to free the area around the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle - the likely venue for the celebrity wedding.

The historic town's narrow streets teemed with journalists and camera crews.

"This is good for the town. It's a beautiful thing that will make Bracciano known to the whole world," said Iolanda Barbarani, who owns a hardware shop.

Lidia Sabbatini, who owns a flower shop, said residents were besides themselves with excitement.

"Everybody is so enthusiastic … it's not an everyday thing to have a Hollywood star as a guest," Sabbatini said. "That's all anyone is talking about. Wherever you go, they're talking about it. People aren't even taking the time to buy bread!"

Yesterday, Bracciano Mayor Patrizia Riccioni said the celebrity couple would likely wed Saturday in a Scientology ceremony at the castle, 27 miles north of Rome.

While she stopped short of confirming the actual date of the wedding, the town's website had a picture of Cruise and Holmes under the headline, "The wedding of the year in Bracciano, Saturday, 18 November 2006."

Scientology ceremonies contain many elements of traditional weddings - rings, procession and vows - but they also include certain Scientology fundamentals, including vowing to never to go to bed without communicating about any differences.

They also stress the Scientology tenet known as ARC - A for affinity, the closeness between a couple; R for reality, what a couple agrees on; C for communication, the exchange of ideas and thoughts.

A spokesman for the Church of Scientology for Rome said they had not been contacted about the Cruise-Holmes wedding. Cruise belongs to the Church of Scientology.

Spokesman Fabrizio D'Agostino said an exchange of vows with a Scientology rite was not legally recognised in Italy, and would have to be preceded or followed by a civil union.

The medieval castle - with its frescoed library and a loggia looking out on a lake - and the town that surround it have seen celebrity weddings before. CNN foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour and U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin married there in 1998.

The same year, Italian pop star Eros Ramazzotti and his bride, TV personality Michelle Hunzicker, had their reception at the castle, gathering a crowd of TV celebrities and pop stars, including Tina Turner.

Cruise and Holmes have been staying this week at a luxury hotel near the Spanish Steps in Rome. They dined out last night with about 50 guests at a small, nearby restaurant.

Those spotted coming and going into the restaurant included Mission Impossible III director, JJ Abrams, Brooke Shields and Jennifer Lopez and Lopez's husband, singer Marc Anthony.

Meanwhile, more VIP guests were expected to fly into Rome today, including Will Smith and, possibly, soccer star David Beckham and his pop-star wife Victoria.

Cruise and Holmes were first photographed together in Rome in April 2005. They became engaged in June 2005 and are the parents of a daughter, Suri, who was born April 18.

Cruise flew into Rome on Monday with an entourage of 10.