wedding Nicole Richie Joel Madden Lionel Richie mansion elephant

...and here's the animal making its big arrival!

As we reported yesterday, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden's special day was made even more memorable by bringing in an actual elephant to, er, entertain the guests?

A source at the celeb-studded event tells us that it was "the wedding of the year!"

Nicole had three different outfits for the occasion: "She had her wedding gown, a dress for dinner and then she had a party dress for the reception. Everything was red, white and black and beautiful!"

Our source also says that Joel's bro Benji made a toast about Nicole that "had everyone in tears" and guests were able to take pictures with the elephant. Suh-weet!