Today in Madonna History: December 8, 1997

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On December 8 1997, Madonna attended the Met Gala at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Madonna attended the Met Gala with Ingrid Casares, Donatella Versace and Cher.

The Met Gala (formerly called the Costume Institute Gala) is a fundraising benefit that serves as an opening celebration for the Institute’s annual fashion exhibit. Following the event, the exhibition runs for several months.

Each year the event has a theme, and includes a cocktail hour and a formal dinner. During the cocktail hour, guests arrive to walk on the red carpet, tour the years themed exhibition, and be seated before the dinner party that includes entertainment. The theme of the December 1997-March 1998 exhibition was Gianni Versace.

Today in Madonna History: August 16, 1985

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On August 16 1985, Madonna and Sean Penn were married at a clifftop mansion in Malibu, California. Their wedding day was also Madonna’s 27th birthday.

Some of the celebrities attending the wedding included Rosanna Arquette, Tom Cruise, Andy Warhol, Cher, Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Carrie Fisher, Diane Keaton, David Letterman, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken, Steve Rubell and many others.

Sean and Madonna later honeymooned at the Highlands Inn in Carmel, California.

Andy Warhol recalled this about the wedding:

It was just the most exciting weekend of my life. Martin went down to the hairdresser earlier in the day to have his hair done. We rode in a limo out to Malibu and when we saw helicopters in the distance we knew we were at the wedding. Somebody had tipped the reporters off about where the wedding was and about ten helicopters were hovering, it was like Apocalypse Now. And one helicopter had a girl hanging off with a camera and they were all trying to get in close. And the security people found camouflage-outfitted photographers in the bushes. And I looked really close at Madonna and she is beautiful. And she and Sean are just so in love. She wore white, and a black bowler hat, I don’t know what that was supposed to mean. And someone said that Sean had shot at the helicopters the night before. The only boring celebrity there was Diane Keaton, really. And it was the right mixture of nobodies and celebrities. Sean came over to say hello, and the good-looking family of Madonna was there, all the brothers. And you can see Madonna and Sean love each other so much. Really, it was the most exciiting thing ever.