Despite the grief her father John Edwards put the family through with his extra-marital affair and lovechild, Frances Quinn, 3, Cate had her father walk her down the aisle. But press-shy John, who’s been charged with using over $900,000 of campaign funds to support his ex-mistress Rielle Hunter, didn’t walk out the front door of the church after the ceremony- instead, escaping out the back.
Cate, who became engaged last Thanksgiving, reportedly planned the wedding with her mother Elizabeth Edwards before her death on Dec. 7 2010. Cate had her 13-year-old sister Emma Claire serve as her maid of honor and little brother Jack, 11, held his post as one of the groomsmen.
Not only did Cate do her best to keep her mother’s memory alive by sticking to the “rustic romantic” theme they’d planned together — a candle burned on the altar in memory of Elizabeth. Cate spoke to Glamour about how lucky she feels to have been able to share the wedding planning experience with her mom.
“I feel so lucky to have shared that joy with her, to have had the time to leaf through bridal magazines together and talk about the wedding,” Cate says. “We agreed the reception would be outdoors, with a “rustic romantic” theme.’ Mom advised me to think carefully about the ceremony: It could be an important map, she said, for our life together. Even though I’ve had to plan the wedding without her, I feel blessed because, in her last weeks, she told me she was comforted to know I’d set forth on my own life path, with someone she loved and respected, and with whom she truly believed I would be happy.'”
Guests accompanied the newlyweds back to the family’s estate where they danced to “Wagon Wheel” — the first song the Princeton graduates ever danced to.
Cate and Trevor will make Washington, D.C. where Trevor will continue his studies as an oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute. Meanwhile, Cate, a lawyer has been running the Elizabeth Edwards Foundation, since last June.