Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty
On Saturday the White House will host its first wedding in nine years, asNaomi Bidenand her fiancé,Peter Neal, exchange vows on the South Lawn.
Naomi, the eldest grandchild of PresidentJoe Bidenand first ladyJill Biden, announced herengagementto Neal in September of 2021, later sharing further details of the ceremony on Twitter.
“Sooo not sure how best to update but was supposed to do so weeks ago…but we have finally figured out where the ceremony will be…and much to the relief of secret service and with the dogs' endorsement…we’ll be getting married on the South Lawn!” Naomi, whose parents areHunter Bidenand his ex-wifeKathleen Buhle, wrote. “Couldn’t be more excited.”
The White House told PEOPLE in April that Neal proposed near his childhood home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with a ring that includes the band of his grandmother’s engagement ring. Members of their families were there to surprise them after the proposal.
Naomi Biden Instagram
According to two sources, Naomi and Neal currently live on the third floor of the White House residence — one flight up from the First Family’s main living quarters — and the same placeMichelle Obama’s mother Marian Robinson called home for the eight years of her son-in-law’s administration.
“The President and First Lady will host the wedding reception for their granddaughter Naomi Biden and her fiancé Peter Neal at the White House on November 19, 2022,” Elizabeth Alexander, the communications director for Dr.Jill Biden, told PEOPLE in a statement in April. “The First Family, the couple, and their parents are still in the planning stages of all of the wedding festivities and look forward to announcing further details in the coming months.”
For more on Naomi Biden’s wedding, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
Michael LaRosa, press secretary for Dr. Biden at the time, told theAssociated Pressthat the family will pay for the wedding-related events at the White House, as is customary.
Peter Neal Instagram
Saturday’s event will be the first wedding hosted at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. since 2013, when former White House photographerPete Souzagot married to Patti Lease in the Rose Garden during the Obama administration. It will also be the first time a sitting president’s grandchild will wed at the White House.
In its history, only one president has ever been married at the White House, withthe wedding of President Grover Clevelandand Frances Folsom taking place on June 2, 1886, in the Blue Room.
But the White House has served as a venue for dozens of relatives' weddings and receptions including, in its more recent history, that of Hillary Clinton’s brother Tony Rodham and Nicole Boxer in May 1999, andJenna Bush Hager, who held a White House reception shortly after her 2008 Texas wedding.
source: people.com
