President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted the wedding of their granddaughter, Naomi Biden, at the White House last week in a ceremony that honored the space’s past with charming details and vintage touches.
Naomi did the celebrity thing where the White House suggested the wedding would remain private but then did a whole cover shoot with her fiancé and Jill Biden for Vogue. It’s the public relations equivalent of Brangelina asking for privacy while selling their children’s baby photos to People Magazine.
Anyways, for the Mid-Atlantic-esque wedding on the South Lawn — the first of its kind — Naomi drew inspiration from Tricia Nixon’s Rose Garden wedding in June 1971 along with Luci and Lynda Johnson’s weddings in 1966 and 1967 by reviewing old issues of Time Magazine.
Among those inspirations, Naomi told Vogue she chose a custom high-neck, long-sleeved Chantilly lace Ralph Lauren gown with a cathedral-length silk organza veil for the ceremony in a nod to Grace Kelly’s iconic wedding dress when she wed Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956.
Fun fact: The same designer that created Grace Kelly’s bridesmaid dresses also designed Tricia Nixon’s wedding gown. Kelly’s gown was designed by the notorious Helen Rose. She also designed Elizabeth Taylor’s first wedding gown.
It is quite a task blending three decades of weddings, the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, together especially considering the deflated skirts of the 70s stood in stark contrast to the fullness and frillyness of the 1950s.
Naomi’s gown is no doubt a stunner though some color to her sweat pea and lily of the valley bouquet would have been a beautiful accent to have her stand out from the arrangements adorning the exterior of the White House which served as a backdrop for the ceremony.
For the Vogue shoot, relying on the historical beauty of the White House’s Green Room was a stellar choice as the color palette added to Naomi’s timeless aesthetic.
Though it feels like Jill Biden is just always trying to ruin such aesthetics whether it be her dark teal Reem Acra coat that she wore to the ceremony or her Reem Acra seafoam blue frock that she wore to the reception with glitter pumps. Did she even look over the vibe of this wedding before choosing these looks?
Likewise, I would have preferred Naomi take the traditional route and remain in her custom Ralph Lauren ceremony gown for the reception as well. Instead, she changed into a Reem Acra strapless ivory silk body-con dress that had little to do with the classical nature of the day.
In this handout provided by The White House, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden attend the wedding of Peter Neal and Naomi Biden Neal on the South Lawn of the White House on November 19, 2022 in Washington DC. (Adam Schultz/The White House via Getty Images)
Naomi Biden, 28, granddaughter of US President Joe Biden, is seen during her wedding to Peter Neal, 25, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 19, 2022. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Naomi Biden, 28, granddaughter of US President Joe Biden, and Peter Neal, 25, walk to the White House following their wedding on the South Lawn in Washington, DC, on November 19, 2022. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
I cannot critique Naomi’s wedding without reviewing Tricia Nixon’s which is easily my favorite of all White House weddings.
The wedding was especially special because it was the first in the White House’s Rose Garden which, luckily for Tricia, had been overhauled about a decade earlier by then-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and turned into a staple of the space.
Tricia’s wedding gown was designed by Priscilla Kidder, known as Priscilla of Boston, who also designed Luci Johnson’s and Julie Nixon’s wedding gowns. The Edwardian-inspired gown featured silk organdy, lace, silk crepe, and embroidered lilies which paired perfectly with the stunning white iron gazebo that the couple was married under as well as the pale yellow flowers that were seemingly sprinkled in every spot possible.
In particular, the dainty gazebo is a detail that has really fallen out of favor with the so-called fashionable but a touch that must return. It centers an outside ceremony and keeps a bride and groom the focal point. Tricia’s wedding gazebo now sits at the Nixon Library.
Unlike Jill Biden, Pat Nixon’s Priscilla of Boston-designed dress for Tricia’s wedding was probably one of the most stylish looks of her time in the White House. With its pastel flowers in blues, yellows, pinks, and golds, the dress featured a similar scalloped hem and neckline to Tricia’s gown. Importantly, everyone looked like they were attending the same event.
Speaking of cohesion, Tricia also ensured that her multi-tiered wedding cake resembled the gazebo she was wed under.
After taking their vows, Edward Finch Cox and Tricia Nixon Cox walk through rows of flowers past their guests en route to the White House for the reception, following their wedding in the White House rose garden.
Tricia and Ed Cox walk arm in arm after history’s first Rose Garden wedding at the White House yesterday. (Paul DeMaria/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Tricia Nixon Cox and Edward Cox departing the Rose Garden during their wedding. (NY Daily News via Getty Images)
Washington, D.C.: General views of the receiving line at White House reception following marriage of Tricia Nixon to Edward Finch Cox.
Washington, DC.: President Richard M. Nixon escorts his daughter Tricia from the White House to the rose garden for her marriage to Edward Finch Cox, June 12th.
The wedding ceremony of Tricia Nixon and Edward Cox June 12, 1971 at the White House. (National Archive/Newsmakers)
First Lady Pat Nixon, President Richard Nixon, Tricia Nixon and Edward Cox pose for photographers at wedding reception June 12, 1971 at the White House. (National Archive/Newsmakers)
Washington, DC.: President Nixon and Patricia Nixon pose with newlyweds, their daughter Tricia and Edward Finch Cox, for family portraits in the White House after the rose garden wedding.
Washington, DC.: close up of bride and groom, Edward Finch Cox and Tricia Nixon, after they exchanged wedding vows in a White House rose garden ceremony.
President Nixon with Daughter Tricia on Her Wedding Day (Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Pres. Nixon escorts Tricia to the altar set up in the Rose Garden 6/12. At top of steps left is Julie Nixon Eisenhower, matron of honor.
U.S. President Gerald Ford walking with Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat, Sadat’s wife Jehan and First Lady Betty Ford, Washington, D.C., USA, Warren K. Leffler, November 5, 1975. (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Tricia Nixon Walking with Her Father at Her White House Wedding (Paul Demaria/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Washington: Edward Finch Cox escorts his bride, the former Tricia Nixon, down the aisle following their wedding in the White House Rose Garden
Tricia Nixon on her way to the Rose Garden with her father, President Richard Nixon, at her White House wedding. (Paul Demaria/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
President’s Daughter Weds. Washington, D.C.: Edward Finch Cox escorts his bride, the former Tricia Nixon, from the Rose Garden of the White House following their outdoor wedding.
Washington, DC.: At the wedding of Edward Finch Cox and Tricia Nixon, the bride and groom cut the wedding cake as guests look on.
Tricia Nixon Cox and Edward Cox enjoying their wedding cake at the White House. (Frank Hurley/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Tricia giggles as Ed teases her with a piece of wedding cake. (Frank Hurley/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Washington, DC.: Mr. and Mrs. Edward Finch Cox pose for a formal photograph in the White House following their wedding in the White House rose garden.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.