How Often Does the White House Host Weddings?

On November 19, President Joe Biden’s granddaughter Naomi married Peter Neal at the White House. The event was memorable for many reasons, including a few historical firsts. Naomi Biden became the first presidential grandchild to be married at the White House, in the first wedding ceremony to take place on the South Lawn.

This was the 19th wedding celebrated at the presidential residence, dating back to the administration of James Madison in the early 19th century. The White House has most commonly been used for the ceremonies of presidential children, although sometimes other family members have been invited to have their weddings there, such as Woodrow Wilson’s niece Alice Wilson in 1918 and First Lady Hillary Clinton’s brother Anthony Rodham in 1994.

White House weddings have been making headlines for nearly two centuries. The weddings of Ulysses S. Grant’s daughter Nellie in 1874, Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter Alice in 1906, and Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia in 1971 were particularly notable for the national interest they garnered. Tricia Nixon’s wedding to Edward F. Cox was the most recent White House wedding of a presidential child, though George W. Bush’s daughter Jenna enjoyed a White House reception in 2008.