When “American Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi spoke to PEOPLE for the Most Beautiful People issue in May, she admitted that her fiancé, Mike McCuddy, loves her sans makeup. “He’s from Maine,” she explained. “He likes that earthy girl, just-out-of-the-shower look.”
It was fitting then, that DioGuardi, 38, looked radiant on July 5 in Prospect, Maine, at her wedding to McCuddy, 34, a general contractor.
“They were married at the Prospect Harbor United Methodist Church,” confirms a rep for DioGuardi, who added that the bride wore a Vera Wang dress.
And what’s a wedding without some sparkle and shine. “She wanted something glamorous,” says jeweler Neil Lane about DioGuardi’s wedding bling.
The result: a 30-carat diamond-and-platinum bracelet and chandelier earrings with 20 carats of diamonds. The value of the jewels? $250,000.
After a year and a half of dating, McCuddy proposed on Dec. 8, 2008 — DioGuardi’s 38th birthday. The engagement took place while they were on vacation in Mexico.
In the spring, DioGuardi told PEOPLE she wanted a Maine wedding. “It’s so natural, so beautiful, so calm, so accepting,” she said. “If all this went bad, I’d be on the next plane to Maine. You wouldn’t see me for a few years!”
But all is going well for the prolific songwriter, who is expected to work with Rascal Flatts and Little Big Town in August. Among her hits have been “I Do Not Hook Up,” with Kelly Clarkson; “Ain’t No Other Man,” with Christina Aguilera; and “Pieces of Me,” with Ashlee Simpson-Wentz.