John Coale once dashed off a $500,000 check to help install Martin O'Malley in the governor's mansion. Last weekend at Kim Kardashian's wedding, he got to sit back and enjoy watching somebody else spend wildly.

The Democratic fundraiser and his wife, Fox New's Greta Van Susteren, were among the reported 440 guests invited to the over-the-top nuptials in Montecito, Calif.

Coale, whose last-minute, $500,000 loan to the O'Malley campaign helped the Democrat oust Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich in 2006, reports that they had a lovely time watching Kardashian and Kris Humphries get hitched.

"The wedding was great," he e-mailed me. "Very fancy. Much more family and friends than expected and smaller."

I guess 440 is an intimate affair for that demographic.

"High point," Coale continued, "I danced with Vera Wang, who knew?"

Just what does Wang, who designed Kardashian's three (!) gowns, wear to someone else's wedding?

"Vera had a simple white dress," Coale wrote. "Very tasteful."