Edinburgh readying for Zara Phillips' royal wedding (Pictures)

(CBS) Preparations are already under way in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter Zara Phillips to rugby star Mike Tindall on Saturday.

Police are searching and guarding the church, built in the late 1600s, where the mid-afternoon wedding will take place, and are banning all parking in the narrow streets around it.

Pictures: Zara Phillips
Pictures: Wedding preparations in Scotland

The Rev. Neil Gardner will officiate at the private service conducted at Canongate Kirk before about 2,000 guests, including the queen, the Prince of Wales and the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The wedding party and guests will then proceed along the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse for a reception.

Phillips, 30, is expected to spend the night before her wedding at the palace, along with several other members of the royal family. A Friday night dinner in Edinburgh is among the pre-wedding festivities planned.

Phillips is the daughter of Princess Anne, the queen's daughter, and her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, and is 13th in the line of succession. She is an accomplished equestrian who has won medals around the globe.

Tindall, 32, plays outside center for Gloucester Ruby and is captain of the England team.