Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman are married

Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman got married recently in Hawaii -- and in hindsight they appear to have been leading the year-end bride-and-groom bandwagon, not jumping on it. 

Santana and Blackman said "I do" on a rainy Dec. 19 at the Ritz-Carlton on Maui, with 180 guests including George Lopez, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, the couple told People. They brought things indoors and integrated the rainwater into the ceremony -- and Hancock and Shorter played at the reception.

Makes sense that Santana would be hip to the love vibe, as he proposed to Blackman during another celebrity wedding bender during the summer. The guitarist popped the question four songs into a July 9 concert in Illinois, right after his girlfriend finished her drum solo. Yes, the crowd went wild.

"Cindy is a match with everything that I am," Santana told the magazine, "from fire of passion to vulnerability."

Couples tying the knot in December and into the new year included Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs, Valerie Bertinelli and Tom Vitale, Shania Twain and Frédéric Thiébaud, and Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky. Among those getting engaged: Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied, Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris, Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth, Jason Mraz and Tristan Prettyman, Bret Michaels and Kristi Gibson (finally), royal Zara Phillips and rugby player Mike Tindall, and Tony Romo and Candice Crawford, sister of actor Chace Crawford.

And what about Prince William and Kate Middleton? Already old news, kids -- that engagement came way back in November.

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-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Carlos Santana performs at the 2010 American Music Awards in L.A. on Nov. 21. Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Comments

[OMG]

Just heard news on local radio station. Disappointing, but I live in a fantasy world where old timers like me are loyal to their original partners. Guess I'm funny that way.