President Joe Biden‘s granddaughter Naomi Biden and her new husband Peter Neal were married this morning on the South Lawn of the White House.
Biden and Neal are the first couple to ever host a wedding on the South Lawn of the iconic house, and the nineteenth to marry at the White House.
In a press briefing on Friday by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, it was made clear that the event would be a private affair.
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“The wedding of Naomi Biden and Peter is a private one. It’s a family event. And Naomi and Peter have asked that their wedding be closed to the media, and we are respecting their wishes,” Jean-Pierre explained.
While we can expect photographs of the occasion and a statement from the President and the First Lady at some point following the wedding, the details have for the moment remained a closely-guarded secret. But this is what we know so far about the one-of-a-kind nuptuals.
What we know about the couple
Neal, 25, met Biden, 28, in 2018 through mutual friends. Neal later proposed to the president’s granddaughter in his hometown of Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2021.
Naomi is the eldest daughter of Hunter Biden and his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle. Working as a lawyer, the bride is also rumored to have played a key part in encouraging her grandfather to run for the presidency against Donald Trump whom she dubbed the “worst president in American history” in a series of Tweets in September 2020.
Peter Neal was an intern in the Obama White House in 2015 when President Joe Biden was the vice president. He also worked on Clinton’s 2016 election campaign and today is an associate at Georgetown Law’s Center on National Security.
What we know about White House weddings
Biden’s and Neals wedding is the 19th in White House history. The first closely followed White House wedding was in 1874, when the daughter of former President Ulysses S. Grant, Nellie Grant, was married to Algernon Sartoris in the East Room.
Gabriella Rello Duffy, the editorial director of Brides, told Newsweek: “White House weddings, especially ones hosted in honor of a sitting President’s relative, are incredibly rare. The last comparable wedding held at the White House would be Tricia Nixon’s wedding, which took place 50 years ago in 1971 and included a full ceremony and reception on the property.”
The only sitting president to get married at the White House was Grover Cleveland, who married 21-year-old Frances Folsom in 1886.
“Everyone—American or not—knows the White House and has seen photos of generations of state dinners and formal events held there. A family wedding is so much more intimate, giving us a glimpse of the First Family’s personal life, and there’s nowhere more beautiful to imagine a wedding than on the property’s sprawling lawns,” Duffy said.
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The last wedding event was held at the White House in 2008, when Jenna Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush, and Henry Hager held their wedding reception there after saying their vows at the Bush family ranch in Texas.
Duffy said that a wedding at such an iconic location is is something spectacular in itself.
“It’s something most of us can really only imagine: The average American would never be able to attend a wedding at the White House, let alone get married there, so when it does happen, we all want a glimpse of what that spectacular party looks like,” she said.
What we know about the event
The specifics of the Biden-Neal wedding have been kept closely guarded in the run-up to the event, but we do know that the Bidens have hired celebrity wedding planner Bryan Rafanelli to help them organize the occasion.
Voted one of the best wedding planners in the world by Vogue, Rafanelli has been designing and producing high-profile events for many years. His past events include the wedding of Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former President Bill Clinton, and many events held at the White House for former President Barack Obama.
While it is difficult to know what sort of bill might be involved in a wedding at the nation’s most iconic house, we do know that it is not being paid for by taxpayers. In July, Karine Jean-Pierre told reports that the wedding would not be funded with taxpayer money.
“It’s impossible to even guess what the cost could be without any details, but what we do know is that the Biden family is paying for the wedding, not the American people,” said Duffy.
Many will be watching closely to get a glimpse of the bride’s dress and to see how the South Lawn has been prepared as a wedding venue.
There has been speculation that the bride could wear a dress by Reem Acra, who has a close friendship with first lady Dr. Jill Biden. But Naomi is also known to enjoy designs by Christian Siriano and Valentino. She also attended the Ralph Lauren Fall/Winter 2022 fashion show.
Decorations and set-up are thus far under wraps, but Naomi did post a teaser on her own Instagram page yesterday. A short video featuring a wreath of white roses fixed to gates at the presidential residence appeared on her Instagram story with The Dixie Cups’ 1960s favorite “Chapel Of Love” playing in the background, leaving many speculating about a white theme.
Pictures emerged yesterday as well, showing the set-up on the South Lawn of the White House. The images featured more beautiful white rose wreaths, arches and decor throughout the South Portico.
