While a White House wedding was not in the cards for Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson, the couple on Saturday celebrated their nuptials in the Bahamas. The 39-year-old Anderson revealed the couple’s wedding bands in an Instagram post Saturday. They reportedly were joined by about 40 family members in Exuma. President Donald Trump indicated Friday that he would be skipping the reception for his eldest son’s second marriage, due to “this important period of time.” First Lady Melania Trump also did not attend. However, the First Son’s siblings Eric, Ivanka and Tiffany were reportedly present, as well as Donald Trump Jr.’s five children. The First Son and Anderson officially tied the knot on May 21 in West Palm Beach, Fla., where attorney Brad McPherson officiated. His wife Kristina, a real estate agent, is Anderson’s twin sister.
The possibility of staging a White House wedding for Anderson and the First Son, who got engaged in December, did not pan out. Their Bahamian celebration was reportedly orchestrated by the event designer Lewis Miller. A representative for Miller acknowledged a media request, but did not reply. Their union is a somewhat historic one. Summer Anne Lee, author of “Presidential Fashion: An Illustrated History,” said, “The last — and, to my knowledge, only — First Son to marry while his father was in office was John Adams II, the son of President John Quincy Adams.” That private White House ceremony in 1828 was one of the 19 documented White House weddings, according to the White House Historical Association. Trump Jr.’s second wedding is “historically unusual, since presidential family weddings have far more often centered on daughters, granddaughters, and other relatives,” Lee said. When Joe Biden’s eldest grandchild Naomi wed Peter Neal, during a White House South Lawn ceremony in 2022, social media lit up with comments about her Ralph Lauren wedding gown, as well as memes of its 40-foot train. Later in the festivities she changed into an ivory strapless Mikado dress by the designer Reem Acra. Acra is very familiar with Anderson, too, having known the 39-year-old Palm Beach socialite for a decade. Acra said, “Bettina has a very classic style, and she always has had that even when she was younger. She also has a very joyful personality. There is always something that is kind of fun with her. She is always happy and kind of supportive of the people who she is around.” Anderson, who studied art history at Columbia University, has also worn Reem Acra dresses in the past. Having sold wedding gowns to more than 20,000 brides through the years, Acra said of Anderson’s choice of a smaller Bahamas wedding, “Look, everyone makes their own decisions. There are no rules about what’s right and what’s wrong. Every bride should really attend to what is best for her and her groom.”Acra added, “Everybody is free to do what they want. I’m sure their choice is perfect for them.”Presidential family weddings are known to send the media and the public into overdrive, due to their mash-up of American politics, celebrity, and style.
