Naomi Biden, the granddaughter of US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, was married on Saturday in what was the 19th time in history the White House has been used for a wedding.
The bride, 28, is a lawyer who has been living at the White House with the groom, Peter Neal, 25, a recent law school graduate who hails from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He is currently working at the Georgetown University Law Center on National Security. They met in 2018.
The ceremony, with no press access allowed, took place on the South Lawn of the White House on a chilly day. About 250 guests attended.
“It has been a joy to watch Naomi grow, discover who she is, and carve out such an incredible life for herself,” the president and first lady said in a joint statement issued after the event.
“Now, we are filled with pride to see her choose Peter as her husband and we’re honored to welcome him to our family. We wish them days full of laugh-ter and a love that grows deeper with every passing year,” they said.
A luncheon for family members and the wedding party followed the ceremony in the White House State Dining Room. An evening reception featuring dessert and dancing was planned.
It is the first part of a festive weekend for Biden, who will mark his 80th birthday on Sunday sur-rounded by family.
Since former President John Adams moved into the freshly built White House in 1800, the 18 wed-dings there have typically featured family members of the president and first lady. According to the White House Historical Asso-ciation, the tradition began in 1812 when Lucy Payne Washington, the sister of first lady Dolley Madison, married Supreme Court Associate Justice Thomas Todd.
Grover Cleveland has been the only president to marry in the White House. He exchanged vows with Frances Folsom in 1886 in the Blue Room.—Reuters
