Liza's Star-Studded Nuptials

The wedding was as eclectic as the guest list.

The best man, Michael Jackson, carried the bride's train as she walked down the aisle, until Marisa Berenson remembered her maid of honor duties, guests said. Fans screamed as Elizabeth Taylor, who also was a maid of honor, arrived with Jackson.

The bride wore white, although it was her fourth wedding. She threw her bouquet into a crowd of screaming fans.

Liza Minnelli stopped traffic Saturday, as she married producer David Gest at a church on Fifth Avenue.

Hundreds of fans lined up to watch the mix of truly famous and slightly faded guests arrive in their limousines, Rolls Royces, and even yellow taxi cabs.

The guest list featured such A-list stars as actors Michael Douglas and Anthony Hopkins, rocker Elton John and TV news personality Barbara Walters.

Invitees such as David Hasselhoff, KISS band member Gene Simmons and Marilyn McCoo were on hand to watch Minnelli take her fourth walk down the aisle before a roster of celebrities who watched the bride celebrate with a brief dance at the altar, guests said.

Gossip columnist Liz Smith called it "the kissiest wedding" she's ever seen.

"They kissed the whole time," Smith said of Minnelli and producer David Gest.

Minnelli danced in happiness at the altar after tying the knot, other attendees said.

The crowd outside Marble Collegiate Church screamed as the newlyweds slipped out a side door.

"This is the closest we'll ever get to this kind of stuff," said Alyce Hoffman of Akron, Ohio.

A limousine took Minnelli and Gest to a reception at The Regent Wall Street Hotel that had an eclectic guest list reminiscent of Liza's days as a habitue of Studio 54.

Gest and Minnelli, who wore a long, white fur coat, appeared outside the hotel to greet delighted fans, who chanted, "Liza, Liza."

"This was one of the most thrilling weddings I've ever been to," actor Mickey Rooney told reporters and photographers as fans watched from across the street. Curious New Yorkers observed from rooftops and apartment windows.

The wedding extravaganza had promised more excess than Minnelli's first three combined.

"Liza's Nutty Nuptials," proclaimed a headline in the New York Post, home of gossip columnist Cindy Adams (one of the 15 dressed-in-black bridesmaids selected for the soiree).

The bride and groom were introduced by Jackson last year when Minnelli appeared in Gest's television production of "Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special."

While it's the first wedding for the 48-year-old Gest, he hits cleanup in Minnelli's marital batting order. She was wed previously to entertainer Peter Allen (1967-72), producer Jack Haley Jr. (1974-79), and stage manager/sculptor Mark Gero (1979-92).

Minnelli, who turned 56 on Tuesday, will honeymoon in Thailand. Afterward, the daughter of Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli will launch a European tour that kicks off with five shows in London.

For Minnelli, the wedding marks a personal comeback. Early last year, she nearly died after a battle with encephalitis. She was severely overweight and worried she might never sing again.

"She just keeps coming back," Hasselhoff told reporters Saturday.

The bride was expected to be 90 pounds lighter when she put on the long, custom-made Mackie gown. And she credited her future husband with getting her back into shape — which has not always been easy for Minnelli, winner of an Academy Award, an Emmy, two Golden Globes and three Tony Awards.

"David inspired me," she said last month in London.