Derek Jeter to marry Minka Kelly at Oheka Castle, source says

Yankee and longtime eligible bachelor Derek Jeter will add one more ring to his collection this fall - a wedding ring, in a ceremony planned for Huntington's glamorous Oheka Castle, a source with knowledge of the event's planning said Sunday.

>> PHOTOS: Inside and outside Oheka Castle

>> PHOTOS: Derek Jeter and the women he's dated

Jeter, 36, is to wed television star Minka Kelly, 29, on Nov. 5, just days after the 2010 World Series would conclude. It marks the capstone of a courtship of about a year between the five-time World Series champion shortstop and the brunette star of "Friday Night Lights," who became a Yankee Stadium fixture this season.

News of the nuptials came as a shock to Anne Sachs, a longtime Jeter fanatic - she has twice dressed as Mrs. Jeter for Halloween - who is the editorial director for Glamour.com and its wedding section.

"Derek Jeter has been on women's fantasy playlists for so long it's hard to imagine who will replace him," Sachs said. "If a serial dater like Jeter can finally commit, there's hope."

Oheka Castle has been the site of several lavish weddings. Kevin Jonas of the Jonas Brothers was married there in December and former Sen. Alphonse D'Amato married his wife, Katuria, there in 2004.

Oheka's owner, Gary Melius, declined to confirm or deny the Jeter news.

Sunday the 100,000-square-foot mansion hosted the 400-person wedding of Jack Cohen and Amanda Harary, both of Brooklyn. Harary's father, Joe, said he's a big Yankees fan and wishes Jeter and Kelly well.

"I'd just like people to know that we booked this place before the Jonas brother and before Jeter," he said.

Robert Thompson, the Syracuse University pop culture professor, said Oheka is the perfect site for Jeter's wedding.

"If these kinds of celebrities are our equivalent of royalty," he said, "of course they should get married in a castle."

The wedding of this longtime bachelor could inspire lovelorn singles to look for a life partner, said Maureen Tara Nelson, who runs a private matchmaking service in Melville.

"There are a lot of people out there who are very guarded," she said. "Then they look at this and say, 'Wow, he found love, and I really do want to be in love.' "

Jeter this past season broke the New York Yankees' hit record held by Lou Gehrig for more than seven decades. Jeter's opposite-field grounder gave him 2,722 hits, one more than Gehrig. Jeter is widely regarded as one of the greatest players - and most eligible bachelors - of his generation.

At Oheka Castle for a political "power lunch" Sunday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said her staff was hopeful that Jeter might also be on the grounds. (He was not.)

"This is a beautiful venue," Gillibrand said. "The Jeter wedding at Oheka would be a home run."

>> PHOTOS: Inside and outside Oheka Castle

>> PHOTOS: Derek Jeter and the women he's dated

>> PHOTOS: Derek Jeter through the years

>>VIDEO: Click here to watch a tour of the Oheka Castle in Huntington

PHOTOS: Brides modeling wedding gowns at Oheka

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