TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Jenna Bush Weds Boyfriend

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: May 11, 2008

CRAWFORD, Texas - Jenna Bush couldn't see herself getting married at the White House surrounded by antique furniture and oil portraits of presidents. She and Henry Hager said "I do" Saturday at President Bush's ranch in Crawford, where the corn is thigh-high, roads are named Cattle Drive and the Texas flag is painted on the rooftops of barns.

The president and the bride picked "You Are So Beautiful" for their father-daughter dance, according to band leader Tyrone Smith of Nashville, Tenn.

Smith and his 10-piece party band, The Tyrone Smith Revue, was asked to do "Lovin' in My Baby's Eyes" by Taj Mahal for the newlyweds' first dance.

Even without the prying eyes of strangers, Jenna's marriage to longtime boyfriend Hager made presidential history. It will be remembered as an upbeat moment of Bush's two-term presidency, beset by terrorism, war and the nation's current limp economy.

Jenna, 26, is the 22nd child of a president to get married while their father was in the Oval Office.

"All of them are different. This one really reflects the personality of both Jenna and the George W. Bush family," said Doug Wead, a former aide to President George H.W. Bush and author of a book on presidents' kin.

"If they'd have gone on TV," Wead said, "the wedding would have been shown all over the world, and Jenna Bush would have been an international celebrity - and she would have been a target. They're preparing the transition to private life, and they're not particularly interested in seeing Jenna Bush become a huge celebrity."

The media was not invited, but Jenna's wedding will be closely scrutinized - down to the matte beading and embroidery on her white Oscar de la Renta gown.

Jenna's twin sister, Barbara, was maid of honor, and 14 other women were in her "house party." Grandmother Barbara Bush wore a long, moonstone blue dress with a low-cut back. The women in the "house party" were clad in seven different styles of knee-length dresses in seven different colors that match the palette of Texas wildflowers - blues, greens, lavenders and pinky reds. The best man was the groom's brother, John "Jack" Hager.

The ceremony began about a half hour before sunset. The couple stood at a cross, made of beige-colored Texas limestone, that was erected near the ranch's man-made lake. The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston officiated.

After the wedding, the couple is rumored to be honeymooning in Europe, although the White House would not comment. After that, they plan to live in a two-bedroom, two-bath town house on the south side of Baltimore. Jenna plans to return to teaching and Hager will work for Constellation Energy, a power supplier based in Maryland.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT