On the set with 'Bachelor No. 2'

'It looked like one of the many swanky black-tie weddings that take over the ballroom of the Fairmont Copley Plaza. But yesterday the hotel was playing host to "Bachelor No. 2" star Dane Cook and the first of three days of shooting on the comedy, also starring Kate Hudson. Yes, we're told, that was local actor Tom Kemp wearing a priest's collar being escorted through the lobby. A veteran of "The Departed," "Gone Baby Gone," and Showtime's "Brotherhood," Kemp was on hand for the wedding scene, though no one would spill the beans about who was getting hitched. For today's filming, director Howie Deutch has tapped La Fête Catering's Margaret Nichols and Kevin Carter to prepare a multicourse meal to fill the tables of the Fairmont's grand ballroom. And soon, UpStairs on the Square co-owner Mary Catherine Deibel and Boston PR guy Chris Haynes will get their screen time as extras in a wedding cake scene.

Boston Ballet artistic director Mikko Nissinen and Museum of Fine Arts director Malcolm Rogers are expected to be among the fashionable throngs at tonight's chichi opening gala for the new Nordstrom in Natick. (The event is a fund-raiser for the ballet and the MFA.) Several Nordstrom family members will be on hand for the revelry, including brothers Blake, president of Nordstrom Inc.; Erik, president of Nordstrom full-line stores; and Pete, president of merchandising. Among the Boston arts patrons on the evening's planning committee are Ted and Barbara Alfond, Pamela Humphrey, and Joan Belkin.

He may be better known as Princess Diana's brother, but Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, is expected to draw quite a crowd when he comes to Boston next week to unveil a line of furniture - The Althorp Collection - based on pieces in his family's ancestral home. The earl is giving folks a peek at the pieces Tuesday at Grand Rapids Furniture in the Boston Design Center. Proceeds from the event will go to the local chapter of the Marfan Syndrome Foundation.

During a break in filming at 33 Restaurant & Lounge yesterday, "The Women" star Debra Messing was spotted having a sandwich on the patio. Although the scene involved a full meal - the creation of which was overseen by the eatery's co-owner, Greg Den Herder - the grub was for the cameras only, not the hungry cast and crew. In the scene with Messing (a Brandeis alum) were Jada Pinkett Smith, Annette Bening, and Meg Ryan.

It's been a tough stretch for Kelly Clarkson. After butting heads with label boss Clive Davis over the direction of her new album and firing her entire management team - girl- friend didn't belt "Miss Independent" for nothing - Clarkson was forced to cancel her summer arena tour because of poor ticket sales. But it looks like the original "American Idol" is finally getting her career back on track. Clarkson will hit theaters in the fall in support of "My December," and the tour stops at the Orpheum on Oct. 23. Fans holding tickets for the canceled Garden date are eligible for a special Ticketmaster code for the upcoming show, available at kellyclarkson.com.

Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli gave an autograph and a pledge to become a registered organ donor to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center nurse Richard Caswell yesterday. Mirabelli toured the Red Sox's official hospital in anticipation of Monday's Organ Donor Awareness Night at Fenway Park.

"Hatchet" writer-director Adam Green knows about product placement. The main character of Green's indie-horror flick wears a Newbury Comics T-shirt in the film as a nod to the stores where the Holliston native spent all his "time and money." The company paid him back by hosting last night's red-carpet screening at the AMC Loews. "It's my old T-shirt," Green told us. "I thought I should let Newbury Comics know." Green credits comic books and a summer at a camp in Middleborough for the idea that would become "Hatchet." "It was the worst experience of my life," Green said of camp. "They told us to stay away from this one cabin because Hatchet Face was there . . . and I made up the story from that." The flick, which stars Joel Moore and Tamara Feldman, opens here on Friday.

Getting in a little more quiet time on Martha's Vineyard before heading back out on the presidential campaign trail, Senator Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, had dinner on Sunday night at the Sweet Life Cafe in Oak Bluffs.

Joan Anderman of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.