An aerial photo shows Astor Courts, the rumoured site of Saturday's wedding of Chelsea Clinton to Marc Mezvinsky. (Mike Groll/Associated Press)

Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former U.S. president Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will marry on Saturday in a much-talked-about, multimillion-dollar wedding in upstate New York.

The 30-year-old will wed Marc Mezvinsky, 32, an investment banker whose parents are former Democratic politicians, at a private estate in Rhinebeck, a village 145 kilometres north of New York City just east of the Hudson River.

Details have been scarce about what has alternately been called "the wedding of the millennium" (New York Daily News), "the most talked about wedding of the summer" (CNN) or Chelsea's "lavish nuptials" (Fox News), prompting some media outlets to go the extra mile to find facts.

A rare image of the couple shows former U.S. president Bill Clinton, left, with daughter Chelsea and boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky, right, at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Sept. 25, 2009. (Chip East/Reuters) On July 21, two Norwegian journalists were charged with trespassing after they attempted to take pictures of the historic Astor Courts, the estate where the wedding is expected to take place.

On Wednesday, The Associated Press published aerial pictures taken by one of its photographers and showing large party tents set up at the estate.

People and US Weekly magazines are planning special coverage of the event, while CBS's The Early Show, NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America have or will be providing live coverage from Rhinebeck.

$3M price tag?

Industry insiders have gathered enough intelligence to come up with a rough idea of what the wedding will look like, according to Sally Kilbridge, deputy editor of Brides magazine.

Kilbridge estimates the 400-guest wedding bill could reach $3 million US, including:

• $750,000 for catering, with an additional $30,000 for beverages.
• $600,000 for tents.
• $250,000 for flowers.
• $40,000 for entertainment.
• $20,000 for the cake.
• $15,000 to $20,000 for portable toilets.

The bill is also expected to include a $20,000 gown by Vera Wang, whose New York store Chelsea Clinton was photographed visiting — despite trying to hide under a floppy hat.

While the wedding couple will be the focus of the day, they'll be sharing the spotlight with a host of celebrities who received what the New York Times has called "this summer's ultimate status invitation."

Singer and actress Barbra Streisand, director Steven Spielberg and media mogul Ted Turner are rumoured to be attending, along with dozens of political figures and donors. President Barack Obama stated Thursday on ABC's The View that he had not been invited to the wedding.

Security is also a major consideration. The U.S. Secret Service will maintain protection of Clinton's parents because of their titles. The Federal Aviation Administration has also declared a no-fly zone over the area where the nuptials are expected to take place.

The last wedding of a former president's offspring to garner this much attention was that of John F. Kennedy Jr. to Carolyn Bissette in 1996.

With files from The Associated Press