Memorializing Your Union? Priceless, but Not Free

This land is your land -- but standing on it in a wedding dress is gonna cost you. The National Park Service is getting itself a piece of the billion-dollar bridal-biz: Newlyweds who want photo ops at D.C.'s monuments now have to pay for the privilege.

So Shaalini Ranasinghe learned when she inquired about permits for wedding-day pictures at the Jefferson Memorial, one of the most popular sites. Under a new policy effective May 15, it costs $50 to $250, depending on the size of the party. (Hey, flower girl! Wait in the car!) "It seems very arbitrary," says Ranasinghe, an architectural history PhD from Rockville who will marry Brian Stone on Saturday (but maybe not pose in the park). When a busload of fifth-graders line up on the same famed steps, "I'm sure they're not required to get a permit," she points out.

True, says Bill Line , spokesman for the Park Service's local operations. "If you're on a tourist visit and you're by yourself, there's no charge for that." But Congress recently passed a law commanding the NPS to charge the growing number of commercial ventures that photograph or film in parks all across the country. Some wedding parties bring in 50 people, and photographers need lights and electricity for a natural look, says Line. "There's an impact on park resources, and ultimately the taxpayer has been paying for that."

Professional wedding photographer Matt Mendelsohn bristles at the notion that his photo shoots are "commercial" simply because he's getting paid. "There's no public display, distribution or profit," he says. "Does this mean that NPS officers have been trained to discern a professional from a next-door neighbor who happens to be a shutterbug?"

Actually, officers have always checked for permits at photo shoots, even when those permits were free. "People are surprised when a police officer asks them to move along."

SURREAL ESTATE

The Bowie-Sevier house: Eight BR, 10 BA -- and a thousand-year mortgage?(Bob Narod)

Seller : Herb and Patricia Miller

Asking Price : $28 million

Details: Extreme home improvement! The Washington real-estate developer and his wife bought the 1810 Bowie-Sevier mansion at 31st and Q streets NW for $3 million in 1997, and spent $25 million updating the eight-bedroom, 10-bath, 28,000-square-foot property. (Pools! Game rooms! Gym! State-of-the-art techno everything!) Now they're downsizing, and asking a record price for a single-family residence in Georgetown. But don't be afraid to bargain: The Herbert Haft mansion recently sold for $15 million -- $5 million below the $20 million asking price.

THIS JUST IN . . .

Ivanka Trump and brother Donald Trump Jr. were on hand for their sibling Eric's graduation from Georgetown University.(Richard Drew - AP)

· Eric Trump (yes, those Trumps) graduated Saturday from Georgetown University with (what else?) a business degree, and the extended clan turned out en masse for the festivities: proud pop Donald and wife Melania, mom Ivana, older brother Donald Jr. and bride Vanessa, and sis Ivanka. Two-month-old half-brother Barron stayed home in New York. The group lunched at Smith & Wollensky, then jetted to Atlantic City for an early birthday bash for The Donald (he turns the big six-oh on June 14.)

· Bike at your own risk! Mike Wood , nominee for ambassador to Sweden, broke his collarbone Saturday morning while riding with President Bush. The two Yalies were biking at a Secret Service facility in Beltsville when Woods went splat, according to a White House spokeswoman, who added that Wood drove himself home and later sought medical attention for the "minor injury." How do you say " Ouch! Ouch!" in Swedish?

· In what has become a political rite of passage, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton shared her iPod faves with the New York Post: "Respect," by Aretha Franklin ; "Hey Jude," by the Beatles ; and "Take It to the Limit," by The Eagles. What? No Van Halen "Big Bad Bill?"

QUOTE

"It's like the cat in the microwave. It's not something we would track."

-- GE spokeswoman Kim Freeman , declining to discuss alternative uses for a freezer such as . . . oh, stashing $90,000 in cold cash, a la Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), the subject of a year-long FBI corruption probe.