Over the weekend, President Biden’s oldest granddaughter Naomi Biden got married at the White House. For those in the back, the Bidens paid for the wedding privately, meaning the family picked up the cost of the event planner, the flowers, the dress, the cake, the food and whatever needed to be rented from outside the White House. It’s clear that President Biden and Dr. Jill are hands-on grandparents with all of Hunter and Beau’s kids, and for Naomi in particular, I feel safe in saying that her grandpa was probably more of a father to her than her actual father, Hunter. In addition to the photos posted by the event planner, the Bidens also organized a gorgeous wedding shoot with Vogue. Vogue gave Naomi and Dr. Jill their first digital cover. There was a lovely write-up too – go here for the full piece. Some highlights:
Naomi & Peter just wanted to get married in someone’s backyard: At 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 19, the young couple, both lawyers—Naomi at the Washington, DC, firm Arnold & Porter, and Peter at the Georgetown Law Center on National Security—married on a crisp and cloudless day on the South Lawn in front of 250 family members and friends. “We’re so close to our families, so we always knew we’d get married in someone’s backyard,” explains Naomi. “I think if my pop weren’t president, it would probably be their house in Wilmington or Peter’s family’s backyard in Jackson [Wyoming].”
Bittersweet Symphony: In a high-neck, long-sleeved Chantilly lace Ralph Lauren dress and carrying a bouquet of sweet peas and lily of the valley, Naomi was accompanied down the aisle by her parents, Hunter Biden and Kathleen Buhle, to a string quartet playing Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony.” White scarves and hand warmers were placed on each seat to help guests combat 40-degree temperatures during the hour-long ceremony, which was overseen by a priest and a pastor from each of the families’ churches. Wearing a navy three-piece Ralph Lauren suit, Peter then escorted his wife up the stairs of the South Portico—swathed with ivy and white roses and hydrangea—for a luncheon in the State Dining Room.
An evening reception in the White House residence: In the evening, guests returned to the residence for a black-tie reception with dancing, cake cutting, and “all that fun stuff,” per Naomi, who wore a strapless ivory silk Mikado Reem Acra dress with her grandmother Roberta Buhle’s pearls sewn into the sweeping six-foot train. (For late-night dancing, Naomi switched to a beaded fringed Markarian mini-dress.) The bride and groom climbed a ladder to cut a seven-foot-tall, eight-tier lemon cake with buttercream frosting, while nearby, a dessert bar included everything from 20-inch apple pie (the groom’s cake) to the president’s favorite Graeter’s chocolate chip ice cream. “He used to be a Breyers guy all the way but we’ve gotten him to upgrade to Graeter’s,” Naomi says.
Why Naomi & Peter are living in the White House: When the couple’s lease ran out on their DC apartment, they asked Nana (Jill) and the president if they could move in for a few months while wedding planning, along with their mini Australian shepherd, Charlie, who can often be seen gamboling on the South Lawn with the Bidens’ German shepherd, Commander. “I try to remind myself it’s the White House, but it also gets normalized over time,” says Naomi.
She’s lived close to her grandparents for much of her life: Naomi has lived less than a mile away from her grandparents for most of her life. “The relationship hasn’t changed that much,” Naomi says. “When I was in middle school, we lived so close, and they were at every sports game and our school plays. We still do the same things. It’s always been this way.” Of course, prosaic family activities like movie nights are now held in a White House screening room with freshly made popcorn and Secret Service in the back.
Jill Biden enjoyed being involved in the wedding planning: “Naomi has a strong sense of herself and had a vision for her wedding,” says the first lady. “It was fun to see her finding so much joy in all the details.” These details were discussed in the evening over a glass of wine—Cabernet for Dr. Biden, Sancerre for Naomi—or when attending barre and SoulCycle classes together in Georgetown. “She slips right in; it’s pretty normal,” Naomi says. “I do know she lost sleep over the fact that I was planning to serve turkey sandwiches at the lunch,” Naomi adds. (They amended the menu to chicken pot pie, as a surprise for the father of the bride, as it is Hunter’s favorite and the dish Dr. Biden cooks for him every year on his birthday.)
Advice from Nana: But keeping perspective was the main thing: “She has really stressed to me that every time I get anxious about wedding stuff to take a breath and remember that it’s just a day about Peter and me and being around the people we love,” Naomi explains. “She’s taught me so much about being independent and self-sufficient. But that doesn’t mean you can’t also be a selfless and fiercely loyal partner.” (When asked about marriage advice, Dr. Biden says she told her granddaughter only to “maintain your independence.”)
I almost cried at the sweetness of the Biden family’s closeness, and how much the grandchildren adore Pop and Nana. Jill Biden was so happy to be included on so much of the wedding planning and helping to ensure that her beloved granddaughter have such a special day. I love that Naomi made sure to include Pop’s favorite ice cream at the dinner reception too!! I’m reminded of some lowkey Delaware gossip, which is that Joe and Jill Biden have always been social butterflies and they love hosting parties and events. It was hard for them to be hosts like that when Joe was VP, and it’s even harder now that he’s president. President Biden and the First Lady must have loved every second of this, that they got to give this to Naomi.
PS… Yes, I’ve seen the White House reporters freaking out about this and calling the Bidens “liars” and I think it’s all pretty pathetic.
Cover & IGs courtesy of Vogue. Additional photo courtesy of the White House and Cover Images.
They are such a close loving family. So different to the previous bunch.
It’s so genuine. I hope the love and family closeness has fully rid the white house of all that negative energy.
“Maintain your independence” Yes, ladies, yes!
Ooooh I adore her dress for the reception!
OMG I love the cover photo! So lovely!
A woman reporter from the Washington Post, call Biden a liar like Trump, they said they would be no press and invited Vogue magazine to attended the wedding, which turned out to be a lie. Vogue pictures were taken on Thursday instead of admitting she was wrong, she started doubling down.
The White House press secretary shut down a reporter looking for a sound bite, about the wedding, said the groom and bride didn’t want the press at their wedding.
That was Ashley Parker from the Washington Post. I’m pretty pissed at her. She has been a pretty good WH beat reporter, and had leveraged that to a contributor on MSNBC. The fact that she could remotely equate that as a lie similar to Covid was atrocious. They are totally in their feelings that this is a private family affair and not allowed.
Ashley Parker cut her teeth at outlets like The Daily Caller before being part of the Clinton hit team at the Boston Globe before going to the Post. Kaitlan Collins and Robert Costa did the same. The “mainstream” media is now littered with these right wing reporters who cut their teeth at media outlets like Breitbart and The Daily Caller whose reporting is far less credible and strenuous than say, mother Jones or The Nation, but you would never see the hiring in reverse.
This issue is infuriating! The Bidens paid for *everything* and they are allowed privacy. The quiet part that the press won’t say aloud is that they want pics and coverage on her dad, Hunter. Which would have stolen the focus off the bridal couple. Maggie Haberman got in a lick too, shouldn’t she be covering “the Donald” getting obliterated in court yesterday?
The Biden family is so sweet and close knit, it’s a joy to see. Everything/everybody looked lovely and…a 7 ft lemon cake!! P.S. Loved the interior shot where Naomi is at a large mirror, the White House portrait of Obama is in the reflection of the mirror. The composition of that pic is touching, just like everything else in the wedding.
I love Dr Jill’s dress and both of Naomi’s gowns are lovely. As a family, the Bidens have exquisite taste.
They really do! And the joy they clearly draw from being together only adds to this.
Well, I had to look up graeter’s ice cream and now I want some. And the political reporters are strait-up acting like they’re royal reporters with the right to know every detail about the wedding. Nope, they are not entitled to all those details.
💯, absolutely. I want a slice of the lemon cake AND some Graeter’s ice cream now.
I got a kick out of that part. We have lots of Graeter’s shops here in the Midwest.
That’s really nice. I’d do it too if I was Naomi.
You-know-who is seething somewhere bc Tiffany didn’t marry there and get Vogue coverage.
Please don’t compare one woman to another and make this another competition. Not fair to either bride.
Julia K, I believe she’s referring to Trump and not Tiffany.
I am forever thankful Tiffany was denied an opportunity to get married at the White House. I remember it was just a few days after the insurrection in 2021, Tiffany posted a photo that she was engaged to her fiance and it was a picture of the two of them on the White House grounds. Totally tone deaf and she got trashed for not reading the room that nobody gave a toss about her engagement at the moment and how incredibly idiotic to post a picture of it with her at the White House. She had to settle for Mar a Lago. I will say she looked beautiful in her dress but all of the family wedding pictures were sooo awkward given they all hate each other and I think most of the Trumps really hate Marla Maples.
Marla was the most beautiful woman at that wedding. I’m guessing Melania hates her for that alone.
Cheeto is also seething because Melania got only one Vogue cover and it was prior to their stay in the White House. This is Dr Jill Biden’s second Vogue cover as First Lady, and I imagine there will be more to come in the future.
Ironically Tiffany and Naomi were friends in college.
And Ivanka and Chelsea Clinton were friendly.
That second dress with the gloves..WOW!!!!
I love all the details about this. They really do seem like such a normal close loving family.
the white house press reporters are just looking for a scandal and making themselves look stupid in the meantime. I saw a tweet about how the WH reporters will never forgive Biden for taking trump away from them and it sort of made sense from that angle.
Sounds and it looked like a lovely wedding. Best of luck to the newlyweds. Also love how tight knit the Bidens are.
250 people is not really a small backyard wedding so that made me laugh a little.
She looks beautiful and it seems like a very nice wedding. Congrats to them.
I’m a poor, my wedding in 1991 cost 6000 , we had a outdoor reception at my in laws neighbors backyard.
I had almost 300 people but 3/4 of them were family the rest were friends.
It’s absolutely concidered a smallish wedding, at least in southern California.
Lovely family and wedding. I need Dr Jill’s dress for my daughter’s wedding.
From family and friends, it always feels like the Mother of the Bride dress is fraught. You don’t want to go with something from the bridal companies, but finding something unique that is appropriate can be so difficult. There’s an Adrianna Papell one in rose gold (Beaded Short Dress) that’s kind of cute at Nordstrom and Lord&Taylor. Lord & Taylor Aidan Mattox Beaded Flutter Sleeve Trapeze Dress. There’s a gorgeous Rudolf Pale Aqua Bead and Crystal Plunge-Back Blouson Cocktail Dress on 1stDibs but very expensive. I’m not that much help, because most of my clothes are from thrift stores and ETSY.
I have never seen such a tall wedding cake! I bet it tasted delicious. How do the cake makers prevent it from toppling over?
Dowels, inserted to help balance the weight.
But most likely the bottom tiers are fake, just decorated for the appearance & to make it structurally sound. The top are actually cake.
I dunno. I could get to 250 pretty quick with my friends from school and family (of choice and blood relatives).
Exactly. I’d even go so far to say whichever cake layer the couple cut into was the only real one on this gigantic tower, and that the real cakes to be served to guests were already cut and garnished in the kitchen, ready to go. The kitchen also probably had the “top tier” wrapped up to be put awThat said, this was the only detail I didn’t like about this otherwise beautiful wedding – I don’t understand the point, unless it was some kind of in-joke between the couple and or their families.
Fun fact…the author of the vogue article Chloe Malle is Candace Bergin’s daughter!
The WH reporters do not have any right to be at the president’s granddaughter’s wedding regardless of where it’s held. And the first family can give exclusive access to whomever they damn well please. I do not remember from my younger years that mainstream media reporters were always acting like entitled jerks. This is a modern invention.
I tear up whenever I read stories about Jill Biden as grandmother or mother to Joe’s sons. As a stepmother to a child whose mother died, I know how complicated that situation can be and it seems that Dr Biden has handled it all so beautifully.
Naomi is named after Joe Biden’s daughter, Naomi, who died in the same car accident that killed his first wife, Neillia.
Naomi’s dress is so beautiful, I’m such a sucker for tulle. And Dr. Jill looks lovely too. I’ve been avoiding the news now that the election is over so I have no knowledge about the press being in a snit but c’mon, a family wedding is not a state dinner. I’m old enough to remember when the Nixon daughter got married at the White House and there was a lot of hoopla in the press. But I don’t know if a granddaughter getting married there would warrant the same coverage.
Naomi’s exquisite wedding dress goes in the Wedding Dress Hall of Fame.
It reminds me a bit of the dress Lauren designed for his DIL Lauren (Bush) Lauren, but I prefer the tulle of this wedding skirt over the lace one on Bush’s dress.
I love her dress, and she looks incredible in it. My own wedding dress also took inspiration from Grace Kelly’s, but I didn’t go for such a full skirt since I’m short legged and was pretty sure too much skirt volume would be stumpifying on me.
This photo shoot is just lovely and Naomi Biden is a true beauty in all of them. The WH press getting so mad that they weren’t allowed to cover this private celebration is laughable. And for Maggie Haberman to even show any kind of attitude about not being included is galling. That woman kept information about Trumps behavior quite and to herself while the Capital was being attacked by insurrectionist and traitors. She kept quiet and to herself Trumps behavior so that she could put it in her book instead of telling the American people what was actually happening. She and the WH corp can take several seats.
I hadn’t seen anything about the “outrage” and looked it up – pretty telling that the articles that came up are on the DailyMail and Fox. What a ridiculous thing to get upset about. And how is this even news?
One hour outside when it’s 40 degrees F? I’m sorry, but that wedding should have been inside at that temperature. I don’t care how much I love you, I’m watching your wedding from a window while standing next to the radiator or heat vent.
Love both dresses.
The fact she calls him “pop” really made me tear up. I’m so jealous of people with close relationships to their grandparents! All mine died when I was super young. That cover shot is just beautiful
I’m so glad they revealed the menu! I love that they went with chicken pot pie. The dresses, the photos— all of it looked so beautiful.
My only nitpick is that I find giant wedding cakes extremely tacky. But there were 250 guests to feed or provide with leftovers, and I guess they’d be kind enough to send slices to in-duty WH staff, so it’s not entirely odd.
All the pictures are lovely but my favorite is the one where she’s being fussed over by the photographer assistants? Dress people?
She looks like I would feel. “Can we just get on with it?” 😎
What I like is they did it their way. As it should be
Firstly am loving these photos and secondly I adore that 2nd dress.
If Trump were still president when Tiffany got married the event would have been televised and Trump would have found a way for the US taxpayer to cover the cost.
Yup, while charging full rack rate at his hotel for all the extra secret service that would have to be close by for a multi day, well attended, event.
I follow Chloe Malle on IG and she essentially told the WH press corps to calm down, she wasn’t invited, didn’t attend, she just did the interview and wrote the story.
Oh, and Chloe is Candace Bergen and Louis Malle’s daughter. No doubt she also benefited from nepotism to get a Vogue internship and gig but nice to see she also got an education and has a talent for writing. And I’m very envious of their home in CT from the glimpses in her pics.
Man these pics are beautiful and the interviews are sweet but I haven’t seen a single photo where she looks happy/is actually smiling?? Oof.
She’s smiling in most of the photos shown here.
She seems to have more of a demure Mona Lisa closed mouth smile.
Not everyone has a toothy Cheshire Cat smile.
I love the cover! Got teary-eyed at how sweet it is.
Ha, I love that the press corp was excluded and petty about it over this write up. Naomi is a private citizen who is a member of a well-known and wealthy family, it’s hardly scandalous for them to provide a few photos and a quick interview centering around the wedding/fashion to a fashion magazine. I’m a hippie-dippie middle-class person through and through, so society weddings are far from my thing, but I enjoyed drooling over these gorgeous photos and the sweet soundbites they provided.
The funny thing is I don’t consider the Bidens to be a wealthy family, though obviously they are. This wedding feels very “attainable” – like I could have totally thrown this wedding for my daughter, if I happened to know Ralph Lauren personally and happened to have access to the White House.
Biden didn’t make a ton of money until the book deals with Beau when/after he became VP. He was the least wealthy member of the Senate for many years – there were years even Sanders was considered wealthier. He left the Senate worth like $700,000 which included the value of the house in Delaware which was like $400,000 and then Jill’s salary which was like $100,000. It was essentially the house they owned and their salaries. After him and sanders the next lesson was worth like, $5,000,000 and then by the time you’re at ten and up it’s shocking. And all the ones that go on tv and podunk it up like John Kennedy of LA are actually from like whole rich families and went to Oxford.
I think the Bidens only gained their wealth after 2016. For the longest time, he and Jill had the lowest net worth of all the US senators in DC unlike most every US senator who either already is a millionaire or they magically become one after being in DC for many years.
There’s the famous story of the Obamas providing funds for Beau’s treatment. Then VP Biden was going to mortgage his house, and then President Obama said no, they’d lend the money to them. So, the Bidens are not wealthy in the sense that the MAL Crime family are.
Does the press seriously think Hunter Biden’s daughter wants them at her wedding with the way they’ve trashed her father and been complicit in the right wing lies about him?
Does anyone think that if the press had been there, somebody wouldn’t have yelled a question or been otherwise inappropriate? You know there would be beaucoup dark money flowing to whoever did it.
Also, taking bridal pictures early is a norm. Having a photographer there when you do the dress and make up tests means less stress and hassle on the day. More money, of course. But hiring a boudoir photographer for the dress pictures and a local news photographer for the wedding can end up being cheaper than a fancy wedding photographer. You end up with much better pictures of everyone at the reception, which ends up being almost more important after many of them have passed.
I love that the Bidens are so close, yes Hunter Biden is super messy and the black sheep of the family and that’s probably why we don’t see him in any of the released photos (which a bit heartbreaking but I get they don’t want to give Republican media more fodder). I’m so happy to hear Joe is such an involved grandfather, Naomi surely needed that during her parents’ tumultuous divorce and all her father’s issues. I do wonder if Hallie Biden was there (Beau’s widow) given everything that happened there out of morbid curiosity.
The pictures are so lovely, Naomi looked beautiful, and Joe and Jill looked so happy. It really is heartwarming to have such a close knit family in the White House again.
Beautiful wedding. Beautiful family. I love them. They are so refreshing. They truly love each other.
Naomi has exquisite taste. All of her dresses were amazing. Loved each one of them. Dr. Jill looks great. Always has. Now we know why. She’s doing barre and SoulCycle. The little details make this a more wholesome story, which is why I’m glad the DC Press Corps were excluded. They are a cynical bunch and wouldn’t have included those tiny details like the chicken pot pie and her grandmother’s pearls. They would have mocked the Bidens’ closeness and made it weird. Glad they were on the outside looking in. And their petulant behavior over the last 24 hours has proven the Bidens right. They should have been excluded. I’m glad the internet is roasting and mocking them. Shame on them.
Oh my heart that Vogue photo made me burst into tears. That kid has had a tough go of it, with her father going off the rails like that and it’s so clear that she her Nana is her safe space. (BTW, in his interview with Marc Maron, Hunter said how sweet it is that the press always refers to Jill as his “stepmother” “but really, she’s the only Mom I’ve ever known.” )
I have a huge soft spot for Hunter — As an adult, I lost my brother with whom I survived the death of our youngest brother as children, and it is disorienting in ways you can’t ever anticipate. I’m the oldest, the “responsible” one, so I didn’t spin out like that, but I can completely understand losing your nut … glad he’s got his feet back under him. And that both her parents could be there for her on her wedding day.
Hunter is so, so messy and his decades long addiction is at the root of most of it. I think he also has a lot of survivor’s guilt. First he survives the accident that killed his mother and sister. Then Beau dies. And Beau was the Golden Child. Happily married. Very popular and successful AG here in Delaware. No doubt he was ultimately going to be our governor or senator. Instead he gets cancer, likely from the burn pits in Iraq. While Hunter had gotten kicked out of the military for drugs. The brothers were super close but I can believe Beau cast a LONG shadow. Then Hunter and Hallie becoming involved. And THAT relationship—yikes. Addiction, the infidelity, the tossed gun, the involvement of the kids….
Beautiful dress/wedding/etc. Yeah, yeah. But where are pictures of their mini Aussie?!! That’s what I want.
I really like the wedding dress, I’m a sucker for lace and a high neck. I can’t imagine having a wedding in 40 degree weather and having an hour long ceremony outside! But to each their own, not everyone is one of the lizard people like me.
I am still wondering though why they’re living in the WH? They say it was when their lease was up and to “plan the wedding” but it’s stressed (over and over) that the Biden’s paid for the wedding themselves. So it’s not like they moved in to save money for the wedding, are they saying that they couldn’t plan a wedding they weren’t paying for while also paying rent? And wouldn’t they know FAR ahead of time when their lease is up, it wasn’t a last minute kind of thing.
That just confounds me that they’re making it seem like they couldn’t “plan” a wedding (plan should be used loosely when you’re wealthy since you have so much help and you’re really just making the decisions) while living on their own. Though the taxpayers didn’t pay for the wedding, we’re paying for all the costs of two adults with very good jobs to live there rent and bill free, along with additional costs like security.
Undine Spragg, I believe they (or their grandparents) do pay rent to live there. Just as the President pays for his groceries, I have no doubt groceries for the couple were also covered by the Bidens. I think the wedding planning issue had more to do with the availability of Jill then it did with the bride and groom. I have a feeling Dr. Jill’s time is pretty well scheduled. Also, since I have no doubt that Naomi has secret service security, the taxpayers saved some money having them at the Whitehouse.
I don’t understand a reporter from the Washington Post going off the rails and calling Biden a liar because the press corp weren’t invited to the wedding, then Trump apologist Maggie Haberman getting in it. This is a person who never could say lie about Trump but now they’re getting in their feelings because they weren’t invited to a private wedding that was privately paid for? Then some other right wing loon was upset that Naomi is three years older than her husband, apparently it marks the end of the republic. It’s crazy and they were very deservedly dragged for their hypocrisy and faux controversy over this women’s wedding. Anyway, she’s a beautiful bride, lovely dress, FLOTUs looks beautiful and as a taxpayer I don’t mind that she got married at the White House, which had held about 19 weddings in the past.
These pictures! That dress! The veil. Omg I am eating it up. The second dress is also everything! This was perfectly executed. I can’t get enough of these pictures.
Wow! I loved the wedding dress, and that green dress Jill is wearing is beautiful. And such a stunning and loving photo of them together. What a great photo to have of your day. Just wow.
Yes, Naomi deserved the press-free wedding of her dreams. I I love all the. photos, especially the Vogue cover, where Jill looks young enough to be her mom.
I did wonder why we don’t see photos of Naomi’s actual parents (not grandparents). So I looked her up. Turns out she has younger two sisters, also not pictured. Her mom, lawyer Kathleen Buhle, was married to Hunter Biden for 24 years and has written a memoir “If We Break.” She looks a lot like Naomi.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/06/14/kathleen-buhle-memoir/
One really sweet fact. Naomi is named after Hunter’s baby sister, who died in a car crash in 1971, along with her mom, Joe’s first wife. The family decided to name the first grandchild Naomi.
I didn’t know Hunter’s ex wrote a memoir. I read the review you just posted. Man, Hunter is messy. And by her own admission, Kathleen sounds incredibly, willfully naive.
This all looks lovely. I’m sure the past few years have been tough on Naomi, it’s nice to see a beautiful event and their loving family.
Naomi and her husband deserve privacy for their wedding. This was a family event, they paid for every penny, the press corps is not entitled to their private family moments.
Just beautiful, elegant and joyful.