'I like him very much': Father of the bride Bill Clinton gives Chelsea's groom the seal of approval on eve of nuptials

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By Daily Mail Reporter

Father of the bride: Bill Clinton emerged in Rhinebeck, New York, today ahead of his daughter's highly anticipated wedding

Former President Bill Clinton gave his future son-in-law a public seal of approval today.

The 63-year-old spoke to fans as he arrived for lunch in Rhinebeck, New York, where his daughter's lavish nuptials are expected to take place tomorrow.

When quizzed about his thoughts on Chelsea's groom, investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, he said: 'I like him very much. I really do. I admire him. Hillary feels the same way.'

Hilary, the secretary of state in President Barack Obama's Cabinet, sat the trip out this morning, presumably to focus on last minute preparations ahead of the ceremony.

The popular Democrat looked relaxed in blue jeans and a black knit shirt as he walked with security a few blocks north from the picturesque village's main intersection.

He also said his daughter, who was photographed looking exhausted in New York yesterday, is 'doing well'.

Between 400 and 500 guests are expected to attend Saturday's ceremony at the grand Astor Courts, an estate on the scenic east bank of the Hudson River.

Rumors had abounded for weeks leading up to Friday, including one that Rhinebeck was an elaborate decoy planned by the media-shy Chelsea, and that the wedding would be elsewhere.

Man of the people: The former president happily greeted fans

Prosecutors called him ‘a one-man crime wave’. After six years in prison, Ed was released in 2008 but remains on parole.

He fits the bill: Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky are set to wed tomorrow

Divorced from Marc’s mother Marjorie, he is expected to attend the ceremony but not the reception. Relations between the prospective in-laws are said to be ‘cool’.

The no-expense-spared ceremony is expected to cost the Clintons a cool £3 million.

Around £400,000 has been spent on erecting the marquees on the 50-acre former estate, while a further £75,000 has been spent on the tables and crockery.

The bride has also ordered a £7,000, five-tier, gluten-free wedding cake.

Chelsea and Mezvinsky were friends as teenagers in Washington, and both attended Stanford University.

They now live in New York, where Mezvinsky works at G3 Capital, a Manhattan hedge fund, and Clinton is pursuing a graduate degree at Columbia University's School of Public Health.

Mezvinsky worked previously at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker.

Bride-to-be: Chelsea Clinton looked as if wedding pressure had taken its toll and appeared exhausted as she caught a cab in New York yesterday

Last minute preparations: Chelsea's big day is rumoured to have cost around £3million and has been described as the biggest wedding of the year

Chelsea has long sought a life away from the spotlight. She lives quietly in a Manhattan apartment and is described as casual, modest and friendly.

She has blossomed from the gawky corkscrew-curled 12-year-old who entered the White House in 1992 into an assured young woman who has a strong relationship with both parents, even in the storm of her father’s adultery with Monica Lewinsky.

Ferociously bright, Chelsea studied history at the Ivy League Stanford University before taking a masters in International Relations at Oxford — where she reinvented herself with a sleek makeover, being named by Tatler as one of the world’s most eligible females.

In 2003 she returned to New York to work for management consultancy McKinsey & Company, and later a small hedge fund run by one of her father’s major supporters.

She’s now studying for a master’s degree in Public Health at New York’s Columbia University.

Despite hitting the campaign trail for her mother’s Presidential bid in 2008, Chelsea has made it clear she has no intention of following in her parents’ political footsteps.