One of the most iconic weddings belongs to President and Mrs. Kennedy. Long thought of as American royalty in June 1953, upon her return from Europe where she covered the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth for the Washington Times Herald, Jacqueline Bouvier accepted John Kennedy’s proposal of marriage.The engagement ring consisted of one 2.88 carat diamond mounted next to a 2.84 carat emerald cut emerald with tapered baguettes. In 1962, the ring was reset to include round diamonds totaling .66 carats and marquise diamonds totaling 1.46 carats.
The rehearsal dinner on September 11, 1953, the eve of the wedding, a bridal dinner was held at Newport’s Seaside Clambake Club. Senator Kennedy presented each of his ushers with a Brooks Brothers umbrella engraved with initials and the wedding date.
The bride wore an ivory silk wedding gown that required 50 yards of ivory silk taffeta and took more than two months to make. It featured a portrait neckline and bouffant skirt decorated with interwoven bands of tucking and tiny wax flowers. She also designed the pink faille silk gowns and matching Tudor caps worn by the bridal attendants.The bride wore her grandmother’s heirloom rosepoint lace veil, attached to her hair with a small tiara of lace and traditional orange blossoms. She also wore a single strand of family pearls, a diamond leaf pin, which was a wedding present from Ambassador and Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy, and a diamond bracelet the groom had presented to her the evening before the wedding.
She carried a bouquet of white and pink spray orchids and gardenias. The ceremony took place at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island. For the occasion, the church had been decorated with pink gladioli and white chrysanthemums.
After two hours of greeting family and friends in a receiving line, the bridal couple joined the 1,200 invited guests for champagne and dancing to the music of Meyer Davis and his orchestra.
For the first dance, the Kennedy's chose "I Married an Angel."
At the wedding luncheon they served a fruit cup, creamed chicken, and ice cream sculpted to resemble roses was served and the couple cut a five-tier wedding cake.
Senator and Mrs. Kennedy departed Hammersmith Farm amid a shower of paper-rose petals. They traveled to New York to spend the night at the Waldorf Astoria before continuing on to Acapulco, Mexico for a two-week honeymoon.
This wedding was classic and timeless and and inspriation for today's brides. Please see my follow up post showing how to get this elegant look today.
She is so beautiful and nice couple . thanks for sharing this blog , this is so beautiful ring .
ReplyDeleteEternity wedding band
The wedding cake design was entitled 'SEA OF LOVE. It had been designed and baked by a constituient of JFK's back in Mass.
ReplyDeleteThe bride's headwear was heirloom (Something OLD)
The wedding gown had to be remade in record-breaking time PRIOR to the event as the first was damaged.
The bride's Step-Father was a sub for her own Father at the last minute to walk her down the aisle.
A couple of the bride's maids reported later that following the wedding they never spoke to jackie again - and had been surprised to ahve been invited to be part of the wedding party in the first place!