Robert Stolarik for The New York Times  Aretha Franklin performing Sunday at the wedding of Bill White and Bryan Eure at the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan.  If most New Yorkers have probably not heard of the couple who celebrated their wedding in spectacular style on Sunday evening, that’s because most New Yorkers are not celebrities, mega-wealthy or ultrapowerful.  The guest list of 670 read like a telephone book, if the White Pages printed a version containing only the rich and influential. Broken into categories by their spheres of influence, in the “Political and Elected” section there were (to name a select few) former Gov. David A. Paterson; former Mayor David N. Dinkins; the Brooklyn borough president, Marty Markowitz; and the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn. Under “Media” were Barbara Walters and Gayle King, and listed in “Celebrity and Social” were the music impresario Clive Davis, the Victoria’s Secret model Karolina Kurkova and the actor Joel Grey.  Oh, and the wedding singer? Aretha Franklin.  The couple were Bill White, 44, the former president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and Bryan Eure, 32, who insures commercial real estate. Their extravaganza on Sunday at the Four Seasons restaurant in Midtown, planned by Harriette Rose Katz, was political as much as it was matrimonial.  The event — and its high-profile guests, all people the couple were “on a first-name basis with,” Mr. White said — was a carefully orchestrated spectacle to draw attention to legalizing same-sex marriage, which is allowed in six states and the District of Columbia.  “We have each other; that’s the blessing we have from above,” Mr. White said. “There are a lot of people who can’t get married who love each other dearly, and we hope people see it’s not such a bad thing and it’s not hurting anybody.”  Red, white and blue spotlights roved the building’s facade. Guests walked up one of three carpets — red, white or blue — flanked by 40 uniformed members of the Naval R.O.T.C. Honor Guard. Meredith Connell, 35, a tourist from Jacksonville, Fla., stood with a half-dozen others at the foot of the carpets trying to figure out what dignitary, celebrity or member of royalty was getting married — none that they had heard of, to their chagrin. Ms. Connell then Googled Mr. White’s name on her smartphone and read his Wikipedia biography to the confused crowd.  At the coat check, the Gay Men’s Chorus heralded guests with “Son of a Preacher Man” in front of a gaggle of identically dressed young women who seemed to be siphoning celebrity guests from the crowd, directing each group into different rooms. “I thought I was friends with everybody,” said Mr. Paterson, standing next to a pool where the gold letters “B&B” floated, “but no, they have me beat.”  Mr. Grey, leaning on the marble ledge of the pool, said of the couple, “No, they’re really friends of mine.”  He added: “There are many, many city guest lists, and then there are P.R. guest lists. You put them all together, you get this.”  To start the ceremony, Ronan Tynan, of the Irish Tenors, and others sang “God Bless America.” The bartenders stopped serving to film the performance with their iPhones. Before them, bowls were filled with American flag lapel pins instead of peanuts.  Mr. Markowitz tried to explain why so many prominent people were there: “There are a number of New Yorkers that got ‘it,’ and he’s got ‘it,’ ” he said, referring to Mr. White.  On a balcony, Ms. King fanned herself with a reporter’s notebook as she sat behind a velvet rope next to Ms. Walters. The air-conditioning had to stay off, Mr. White said from a stage, because Ms. Franklin, who was about to perform, could not abide it.  “I don’t know most of the people here,” Ms. Walters said. “It’s not my wedding; it’s theirs.”  Ms. King, like many others, expressed her support of same-sex marriage and remarked on the beauty of the ceremony, in which Mr. Eure tearfully recited his vows to Mr. White.  “It just bothers me that in 2011 this is still an issue — that you cannot marry the people you want to marry in some states; it just drives me nuts,” Ms. King said. She added that she loved the couple but couldn’t not remember how she had met them.  At evening’s end, Ms. Franklin took to the stage with a brass band and backup singers. Her finale was “I Will Always Love You,” sung to the couple, who did not take their arms off each other.
Bill White and Bryan Eure may not have household names, but the guest list at their extravagant wedding on Sunday was impressive.