All we know or care about Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie engagement

After years of speculation and enough tabloid spread to encircle the globe, megastar couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie announced Friday that they will be making it official. Finally. The Jolie-Pitt wedding is sure to be a topic of discussion for, well, the entire run-up to the Jolie-Pitt wedding, with each and every detail picked apart and analyzed in true Hollywood stalker – I mean journalism – style.

Indeed, even the most high brow among us can't help thinking and speculating a bit about any couple finally tying the knot – love is interesting, after all.

But to get you started, Modern Parenthood has compiled some of the key points released, or guessed at, thus far. You can thank us later.

The main story is the ring he put on it, of course. People Magazine, which very unsurprisingly put the couple on its cover, noted the custom made diamond was designed personally by Mr. Pitt. Reported cost: $1 million. Reported weight: 10 carats, at least. Let's hope Angie's hand can support the weight! Jeweler Robert Procop's representative told The Hollywood Reporter that the jeweler and the groom-to-be spent a year finalizing the design.

The Pitt-Jolie brood, on the other hand, now currently holding at six, seems to be taking the proposed change in marital status in stride. However, the globe-trotting family may be heading to the U.K. for the next couple of years, according to a story in The Sun, due to reported back-to-back film commitments for Mama Angelina. The family has a home in France, however, which is where The Sun speculates a European ceremony would occur.

Us Weekly senior editor Bradley Jacobs, however, is predicting a low-key affair, rather than a blow out. The family is known to be generally very private – in fact some people have already wondered at the fairly uncharacteristic “movie star” quality of the announcement. It's all a bit Beyonce and Jay-Z, isn't it? Speaking with the AP Mr. Jacobs said, “I don’t think you’re going to see a bunch of fanfare. It’s certainly not going to be a Kim Kardashian-style wedding.... It’s going to be very subdued.”

For that small minority of Americans unaware of the love triangle from which this new union will be formed, suffice to say that Team Edward and Team Jacob, have nothing on the original Team (Jennifer) Aniston versus Team Jolie rivalry. Friendships were tested by this all-important social issue. Linked since their co-starring turn in the 2005 action romcom “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” there was no small outcry when it was announced Brad was divorcing one of America’s favorite sweethearts.

Although the outrage has generally faded, Jennifer seems to have won that publicity battle due in no small part to the overwhelming popularity of her Friends alter ego Rachel, her unflappable, honey-hued, girl next door hair, and because in her earlier years Angelina wore a vial of a second husband Billy Bob Thornton’s blood around her neck. But Aniston, currently linked romantically to the dangerously dashing Justin Theroux, is reportedly happy for her former husband, according to Hollywood Life. Here’s hoping the news doesn’t result in another spate of “poor Jen,” magazine covers, since it is fairly clear at this point that she is anything but.

There are still so many questions left to be answered, of course. What will the dress look like, and who will design it? How long will the slit be this time? Will Brad wear a tux? Will Angelina wear her hair up? Who will make the guest list? Who will take the pictures, and for how many millions will they then be sold? The list goes on, clearly.

One thing’s for sure, the hype is already beginning, with the media blitz setting its sights on hyperbole of epic proportions. Stephen Galloway, executive editor of features at The Hollywood Reporter, is already making the (rather obvious) parallel between the American stars and the royal wedding last year. “This is really a state wedding,” Mr. Galloway said in an Associated Press story. “This is America’s equivalent to Prince William and Kate Middleton.”