The history of White House weddings, the ultimate public-private event

On the occasion of Naomi Biden’s South Lawn nuptials, a history of the ultimate public-private event.

November 15, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. EST

Lynda Johnson Robb and Chuck Robb hold a sword to cut their wedding cake at their 1967 White House wedding reception with President Lyndon B. Johnson and first lady Lady Bird Johnson standing at their side. (Yoichi Okamoto/Courtesy of LBJ Library)

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An earlier version of this story misspelled Peter George Heermann Neal’s name. The story has been updated.

When presidential granddaughter Naomi King Biden and Peter George Heermann Neal get married on the South Lawn of the White House on Saturday, they will join a short list of couples, including presidential children, nieces and friends, and one president (Grover Cleveland), whose wedding days were celebrated in a residence that is a cultural icon.

“It’s the most famous house in the country,” says Carl Sferrazza Anthony, author and presidential family historian. “Look at the proportions of those rooms and the high ceilings, whether you choose to get married in the Blue, Green or Red rooms. Or if you marry out on the lawn, it’s those columns and the magnificent view of the nation’s capital.”

Lynda Robb, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, says there was no question of where she would marry Marine Capt. Chuck Robb on Dec. 9, 1967: the White House, of course. “It’s where I was living. It’s a beautiful setting. It was an easy decision,” she says.

The White House hosts hundreds of events every year, but none are as personal and romantic as a wedding. The combination of history, grandeur and celebrity makes it a rare and unforgettable experience. But having a personal event in a public space also comes at a price. Patti Davis, daughter of President Ronald Reagan, and Julie Nixon, who married President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s grandson after her father was elected but before he took office, opted out of a White House wedding, citing privacy concerns. Others embraced the idea, conjuring all the magic they could out of the storybook setting and the devoted teams of chefs, florists, calligraphers and butlers that come with it.

What makes a White House wedding so special? “Exclusivity,” says Gary Walters, who served as the White House chief usher from 1986 to 2007. “It doesn’t happen that often.”

There have been only 18 documented weddings and four receptions (with vows held elsewhere) celebrated here, according to the White House Historical Association. These brides are part of a bipartisan sorority: Tricia Nixon Cox invited former White House brides Alice Roosevelt Longworth and Johnson sisters Luci and Lynda to her own nuptials.

Many wedding guests have never been to the White House. “There is nothing like the feeling of coming inside those doors,” says Ann Stock, White House social secretary during the Clinton years. “Every president lived there except George Washington,” she says. “Some people get tears in their eyes when they walk in.”

The home’s iconic rooms also provide plenty of photo ops. Luci Baines Johnson married Pat Nugent at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in 1966 and their reception was held at the White House. She and her 10 bridesmaids had the run of the private quarters while they had their hair done. Her wedding veil was splayed carefully across the famous Lincoln bed for safekeeping during the preparations.

“A White House wedding takes precedence over everything,” says Bill Yosses, the White House pastry chef from 2007 to 2014, who made a four-tier wedding cake slathered with whipped cream for the 2008 Washington celebration of Jenna Bush Hager’s marriage (the actual wedding was held in Crawford, Tex.). It was an adaptation of a tres leches cake, as requested by Hager. “A state dinner is important, but a wedding is private, and the first family has a personal emotional investment in that moment,” he says. “We all want to…