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President Joe Biden’s granddaughter Naomi Biden is saying “I do” in America’s most exclusive venue: the White House. On Saturday, Naomi and her fiancé, Peter Neal, will have a “private celebration for their friends and family,” on the South Lawn. Biden and Neal are just one of several couples to make history at the Executive Mansion. The list, which includes nine presidents’ children and two presidents, spans centuries and covers 18 weddings and four receptions. Let’s look back at the unexpected romance of American politics in chronological order—exactly how your American History teacher would prefer.
The First White House Wedding
Despite Lucy Payne Washington’s thoroughly presidential surname, she has no relation to the first U.S. President George Washington. Instead, she was the sister of First Lady Dolley Madison. Like President Washington, though, she is remembered for an important first in this nation’s epoch-making annals as the first-ever White House bride. In March 1812, she married Thomas Todd, a Supreme Court justice.
For the next twenty years, wedding bells frequently rang at the White House. There were six weddings, half of which happened during President Andrew Jackson’s administration. He hosted one for a close family friend’s daughter, another for his son, and a final fête for his grandniece.
President John Tyler and Julia Gardiner’s Intimate Reception
The newly-widowed President John Tyler was instantly smitten when he met New York socialite Julia Gardiner. After two proposals, she acquiesced, and they exchanged vows in New York City on June 26, 1844. The entire wedding party quickly returned to Washington, D.C. to host a reception at the White House the next Saturday.
Nellie Grant and Algernon Sartoris’s Widely Publicized 1874 Wedding
President Ulysses S. Grant’s daughter married Algernon Sartoris in the East Room. The wedding was a spectacle for the media, as the groom-to-be was a prominent English singer at the time. Despite the hubbub over the big day, the New York Times reported that only 300 invitations were sent out for the celebration.
The First President’s Wedding at the White House
On June 2, 1886, President Grover Cleveland became the first—and so far, only—president to marry inside of the White House. He and Frances Folsom stood at the altar in the Blue Room. The ceremony was an intimate affair with just 28 of the couple’s closest friends and family members in attendance. The New York Times devoted an entire page to the wedding coverage, divulging key details of the day. Folsom donned a corded ivory satin gown with orange floral embroidery and a 15-foot train. The seated dinner commenced in the state dining room with an extravagant floral centerpiece of scarlet blossoms, coral, and Jacqueminots.
Alice Roosevelt’s Spectacular 1906 Wedding
On February 17, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt walked with his daughter, Alice Roosevelt, down the aisle—of course, on most days that flower-adorned aisle would be more easily recognized as the White House’s Grand Staircase. The bride grew up running around the halls of the White House, betting on horses at the racetrack, and attending hundreds of soirées every year. Regarded as “Princess Alice” by the press, she invited more than 1,000 guests to see her wed Ohio Representative Nicholas Longworth in the East Room.
The event’s grandeur was unparalleled. Crowds clamored for a glance at the festivities. President Roosevelt actually pleaded with “true friends of the family” to stay home and minimize the hysteria. The White House received gifts like a Goeblin tapestry from the King of France himself, a mosaic from Pope Pius X, and even a teak chest full of exquisite treasures from the Empress Dowager of China. Dressed in a gown equipped with an 18-foot train, the bride used an elevator, one of the first of its kind, to enter the Grand Hallway. At the reception, Alice borrowed a sword from a military aid to cut the cake. Six decades later, the bon vivant recalled her wedding day to the press and said, “It was a good party, a very good party. A cozy wedding is a rather horrifying idea.”
Jessie Woodrow Wilson and Francis Bowes Sayre’s Ceremony in the East Room
President Woodrow Wilson’s daughter married Francis Bowes Sayre in the East Room on November 25, 1913. Sayre would eventually become the United States ambassador to Siam, which is present-day Thailand. He would also be the assistant secretary of state several decades later for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration.
Eleanor Wilson and William McAdoo’s 1914 Ceremony in the Blue Room
On May 7, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson’s other daughter, Eleanor, married the Secretary of the Treasury in the Blue Room. Four years later, President Wilson’s niece, Alice, also wed her husband, Reverend Isaac Stuart McElroy, Jr., in the same room.
Louise Macy and Harry Hopkins’s 1942 Wedding in the Yellow Oval Room
In the midst of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt brought joy to the White House and allowed his close friend and future Secretary of Commerce, Harry Hopkins, to marry Louise Macy in the Yellow Oval Room. At the time, this was Roosevelt’s personal study.
Luci Baines Johnson and Patrick Nugent’s 1966 Reception
On her wedding day, first daughter Luci Baines Johnson laid her veil across Abraham Lincoln’s bed while she and her bridesmaids got ready. She married Patrick Nugent at the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception before joining guests for a reception at the White House on August 6, 1966. The chef, Henry Haller, curated the menu for both Luci and Lynda Johnson’s White House weddings and for Tricia Nixon’s reception several years later.
Lynda Bird Johnson and Captain Charles S. Robb’s Wintertime White House Wedding
Photo: White House Historical Association.
The White House was busy with wedding preparations for two Johnson daughters for nearly two years. Lynda Bird Johnson married Capt. Charles S. Robb in the East Room. “It’s where I was living. It’s a beautiful setting. It was an easy decision,” the bride told the press about her venue selection. The President’s Palace was decked out with evergreens, twinkling lights, and wintry decorations. Social secretary Bess Abell noted that red should be incorporated into the color palette to complement the White House poinsettias. Hence, the bride chose bright crimson dresses for her bridal party.
The Right Reverend Gerald Nicholas McAllister officiated the service in front of 500 guests. The wedding cake was actually in the room while it happened—a screen concealed the cake from the audience and was removed during the reception. It is rumored that the “very sentimental” President was emotional all day long. The first lady spent the majority of the event consoling him. Alice Roosevelt Longworth, a White House bride alum herself, attended the wedding as well.
Tricia Nixon and Edward Finch Cox’s Impressive 1971 Nuptials
The first daughter’s wedding is the closest American alternative to a royal wedding, so when President Richard M. Nixon’s daughter Tricia married Edward Finch Cox, the nation watched from the wings. 110 million people, more than half of the country’s population, tuned into the wedding coverage. White House reporter Helen Thomas even threw a bridal shower for Tricia Nixon with mostly female journalists in attendance. The Vice President’s wife hosted a kitchenware shower with other politicians’ wives for the young bride. Tricia Nixon’s kitchen was fully equipped after that party’s present haul, which included an orange juice squeezer.
In June 1971, the bride and groom exchanged vows in the Rose Garden gazebo. She donned a brilliant-cut diamond Harry Winston ring that was inscribed with “Ed – Trish, June 12, 1971.” J. Edgar Hoover and the Rev. Billy Graham were among the hundreds in attendance. An 87-year-old Alice Roosevelt Longworth made an appearance on the guest list and once more enjoyed a reception in the East Room. The nearly seven-foot-tall cake was placed in the North Portico Hall and was baked using the first lady’s recipe.
Tony Rodham and Nicole Boxer’s 1994 Interfaith Rose Garden Ceremony
In 1994, first lady Hillary Clinton’s younger brother, Tony Rodham, exchanged vows with Nicole Boxer in a Methodist and Jewish ceremony. The family ties run deep in American politics because the bride is the daughter of former U.S. California senator, Barbara Boxer. 250 guests attended the ceremony in the Rose Garden, which was in full bloom with pink and white geraniums. The first daughter, Chelsea Clinton, was one of four bridesmaids dressed in teal.
Jenna Bush and Henry Hager’s 2008 Reception
In June 2008, President George W. Bush’s daughter, Jenna Bush, and his son-in-law, Henry Hager, celebrated their nuptials at the White House. The couple actually married a month earlier at a private ceremony at the Bush family ranch in Crawford, Texas. The White House reception was not a “recreation” of the original wedding, but the Bush family spared no expense with the festivities. The event’s 600 guests dined on a four-tier tres leches cake and savored music by the live music group, otherwise known as the United States Marine Band. The White House pastry chef Bill Yosses wheeled the cake into the Blue Room and can still recall how terrified he was it might topple over as “the ushers kept asking us to move the cake to improve traffic.” An after-party followed at the Washington, D.C. mainstay, the Old Ebbitt Grill.
Pete Souza and Patti Lease’s Picturesque 2013 Rose Garden Wedding
Photo: Lawrence Jackson via The White House.
President Barack Obama’s official photographer Pete Souza set his camera down to be the subject for once. In 2013, President Obama hosted a wedding in the Rose Garden for Souza and his bride, Patti Lease.
Naomi Biden and Hunter Neal’s 2022 South Lawn Wedding
Hunter Neal proposed to his longtime girlfriend, the President’s granddaughter, with an emerald-cut diamond set in his late grandmother’s engagement band. Many have speculated which designer will dress Naomi Biden for the big day. Possible guesses include Reem Acra, a favorite of Dr. Jill Biden; Tom Ford, which Naomi Biden once interned for; Christian Siriano; Veronica Beard; Valentino; or Ralph Lauren, which Biden wore to her grandfather’s 2020 inauguration.
Biden and Neal are understandably keeping the details of their upcoming wedding top secret. Here’s all of the classified information we know in the meantime: One of OTM’s favorite wedding planners Bryan Rafanelli, known for high-profile nuptials like Chelsea Clinton’s in 2010, is in charge. He requires confidentiality agreements with every vendor, which is practically White House protocol. Rafanelli values privacy with any client, so Biden’s wedding is no exception.
The first lady’s Communications Director Elizabeth Alexander has told the public that “consistent with other private events hosted by the first family and following the traditions of previous White House wedding festivities in prior administrations,” the Biden family is paying for the wedding.
