Tom & Katie Hit NYC Before Italian Wedding

There are only 8 days left until Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes? wedding in Italy.

Last night, the couple warmed up with a little low profile partying in New York ? complete with a top secret mission only Tom could accomplish?sneaking past a massive press line into one of the city?s premiere events, Keep A Child Alive?s Black Ball.

Access Hollywood’s Tim Vincent was also on hand for the annual gala, which raises money to fight AIDS in Africa, and asked the night?s hostess all about the couple of the hour.

Tim: ?Did they ring you or did you ring them??
Alicia: ?They called me and I sent them an invitation wanting them to come.?
Tim: ?It?s a week before the wedding, there’s dress fittings, there’s all kind of stuff.?
Alicia: ?That’s why I’m gonna go in there and give them a really, really big hug and thank them for being so generous.?

And that?s just what Alicia did, greeting an excited Katie and posing for photos inside with the pair.

At first, Tom and Katie?s wedding was rumored to be taking place at George Clooney?s mansion on Italy?s Lake Como. Last night, however, at Tony Bennett?s 80th birthday celebration in Hollywood, George laughed off any suggestion that he was hosting the nuptials, telling Tony Potts, ?Last year it was Brad and Angelina. I think every year someone’s getting married at my house.?

It appears the ceremony will actually take place inside a medieval castle in the small Italian town of Bracciano. Only 13,000 people live in the quiet town, which is located 31 miles north of Rome ? the city Tom and Katie first went public with their relationship.

For now, however, the town?s mayor, Patrizia Riccione, will not confirm the news and says only, ?It is my great hope as well as that of all Bracciano citizens that this great event may take us on the international scene.”

Older residents of the town don?t necessarily agree with the mayor. One man told the press, “We don’t care much about it, but we are happy because it will make money, and money is always useful” while a woman remarked “We will go to the wedding, but we won’t see anything, just black cars.?

Fellow Scientologists John Travolta and Kelly Preston are expected to arrive soon enough, and more celebrities are expected, but even the big celebrity names didn?t dazzle the resident who joked, “I don’t care about the wedding and the stars. My husband looks like John Travolta anyway.”

Tom & Katie Hit NYC (November 10, 2006)