Elizabeth Smart wedding photos to be published by 'People'

Elizabeth Smart wedding photos to be published by 'People'


4 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — The bride wore a white dress. The groom a traditional Scottish kilt.

People magazine has the exclusive photos from Elizabeth Smart's last-minute marriage in Hawaii.

The new issue that hits newsstands on Friday has a picture of Smart in her wedding gown on the cover.

On "Good Morning America" Wednesday, People magazine's Betsy Gleick shared another photo from the magazine of the smiling couple running hand-in-hand on the beach next to the ocean in their wedding outfits.

Smart and Matthew Gilmour were married Saturday on the North Shore of the island of Oahu. They were married in the Laie Hawaii Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the morning, had a small lunch and reception in the afternoon and that night celebrated their marriage with a luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

"Things went very well. Her wedding went off without a hitch. She was elated she got what she wanted," said Smart family spokesman Chris Thomas who helped organize the wedding.

What Elizabeth wanted, he said, was "what every woman wants: a wedding with family and friends in a nice, private, intimate affair.


Things went very well. Her wedding went off without a hitch. She was elated she got what she wanted.

–Chris Thomas


"The only way she was going to get that was to get married in an unscheduled ceremony outside of Utah," Thomas said. "It came together almost overnight. She called and asked, 'Can we make it happen?'"

When asked whether Smart was paid anything by People for the opportunity to get the exclusive pictures and story, Thomas would not directly answer the question.

"She's not a celebrity," he said. "Her intention was to tell her story. They called and were very cooperative, and worked with her in telling the story of her engagement while not being intrusive. They approached her and because of her relationship with them, she was more apt to work with them."

Since Smart and Gilmour, from Scotland, announced their engagement in January and that they were to marry in the summer, both families have been continuously hounded by the press about wedding details, Thomas said.

"The day the story broke, I got 200-plus calls from the media," he said.

One of those calls was from People magazine, which Smart had worked closely with before. In 2008, she granted the magazine what was then a rare exclusive interview. In 2005 when she was 17, Smart was listed in the publication's annual 50 Most Beautiful People issue.

Although Smart wanted to avoid a lot of media publicity, which is why she decided only two weeks ago to push the wedding date up, Thomas said she knew there would still be a lot of public interest.

"Elizabeth knew that regardless of when and where she got married, there would be intense pressure on her family, friends and others involved with the wedding to divulge information about the wedding. She believed it was in her and her family's best interest to (invite People)."


"She felt she'd have pretty good control over how story was told. Her objective was to tell her story and take pressure off her and family."

Thomas said Smart picked People because she liked the way previous stories about her had been written.

"She felt she'd have pretty good control over how story was told," he said. "Her objective was to tell her story and take pressure off her and family."

Smart is also a commentator for ABC News. On "Good Morning America," Gleick talked about how Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, and other family members also had a little Scottish flavor on their wedding clothes, including a Scottish thistle. Elizabeth's wedding dress was purchased in New York.

The new magazine article, titled "Happily Ever After," talks about how Gilmour had no idea who Smart was when the two met on their LDS mission in France.

After Smart was rescued in 2003 after being kidnapped and held captive for nine months when she was 14 years old, she and her family went to Oahu and the Polynesian Cultural Center, partly to recover, Thomas said.

"Hawaii is a place that is special to her," he said. "The Polynesian Cultural Center is a favorite of hers. She wanted to share that with her husband."

Thomas described the past two weeks as "crazy," trying to organize everything last minute.

"It was amazing how well it came together," he said.

Because of Smart's heavy schedule in the coming months, including speaking engagements, President's Day weekend just happened to work out, Thomas said.

He noted, however, that Smart is considering a possible reception in Utah for extended family and friends when she returns.

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Pat Reavy

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast