I’m very pleased to be able to cover this wedding, as I wasn’t sure I’d be able to — the coverage was exclusive to Vogue, who did eventually distribute these. (We also eventually got some GREAT Instagram shots!) The piece about the wedding, by Chloe Malle, is lovely and chockablock with the kind of logistical details we all enjoy, like the following:
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.
I ALWAYS want to know what people are eating at these things, and there’s actually a lot of food talk in the profile. But I know we’re all here to discuss the gown. It’s Ralph Lauren — very appropriately an iconic American designer, and I can’t imagine Naomi ever considered wearing something that wasn’t from an American — and I think it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Naomi says in the Vogue piece that it was inspired by Grace Kelly’s wedding gown and I can certainly see that; an excellent wedding gown by which to be inspired, certainly. (I think the dress is also a wee bit Middletonian, which makes sense because I think Kate’s dress was also somewhat inspired by Grace Kelly.)
I would like to talk more about that rug, as well, as I think it’s very pretty. Definitely click through to the Vogue piece and see other snaps from inside the residence — it’s certainly a stunning location at which to take some bridal shots.
Vogue’s Instagram made it possible for us to also see Naomi’s slinkier reception gown, which is Reem Acra (who dresses Dr Jill Biden a lot, and whose dress she’s wearing on the cover and at the wedding), and which is also quite dreamy:
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Definitely click through the carousels on all these Instagram dispatches to see everything, too, because they’ve all got multiple shots of various things you might want to eyeball.
Speaking of dreamy, here’s the back of the ceremony gown:
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We got a ton of other looks at the wedding courtesy of wedding photographer Corbin Gurkin’s Instagram:
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That veil is a complete swoon.
And this is a truly beautiful shot:
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I think that’s President Obama’s new official portrait reflected in the mirror behind her; I love that he got a little cameo here. (I am sure that was intentional.)
Finally, this selection of shots gives you a look at Dr. Jill (and Joe), as well as other shots of the ceremony, including the kiss — and an excellent look at Naomi’s bouquet, which I think is exactly the right size. (Regular readers of our celebrity wedding coverage know that I have a lot of THOUGHTS! about the size of people’s bouquets.)
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If you enjoy a White House wedding, I wrote a long and gossipy piece about the 18 previous White House weddings back in 2020 that might be fun to revisit (or visit for the first time). In the Vogue profile, Naomi mentions buying some old Life magazines covering those previous White House weddings, and I’ve actually linked to those issues in that post — they’re all online, and kind of a hoot! (And if you like weddings held not at the White House, but involving a famous presidential couple, I also covered JFK and Jackie’s wedding here!)
