Bush daughter Jenna weds at Texas ranch

Jenna Bush could not see herself getting married at the White House surrounded by antique furniture and oil portraits of presidents. She and Henry Hager said "I do" on Saturday at President George W. 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, Tennessee. 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. Smith, who promised the couple a "get down" party, said earlier in the week on condition that the information not be released before the wedding.

Smith, who witnessed the wedding ceremony, said afterward the groom was dressed in a dark blue suit with powder-blue tie and the bride wore a "very simple and elegant" white dress, but did not wear a veil.

Smith said Jenna Bush's paternal grandparents, President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, spoke during the wedding, though he could not hear their comments.

Away from the glare of television cameras that have beamed other first family weddings into American living rooms, Jenna's outdoor wedding at the ranch reflected her family's penchant for privacy and her preference for the casual over grandiose.

Even without the prying eyes of strangers, 26-year-old Jenna's marriage to her longtime boyfriend Henry 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.

"This is a joyous occasion for our family, as we celebrate the happy life ahead of her and her husband, Henry," Bush said in his Saturday radio address. "It's also a special time for Laura who this Mother's Day weekend will watch a young woman we raised together walk down the aisle."

Jenna's twin sister, Barbara, was maid of honor and 14 other women were in her "house party." 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. Also part of the "house party" were 14 ushers, who walked with the 14 women down the aisle to their seats, but did not participate in the ceremony.

More than 200 family and friends converged here for the nuptials on the 648-hectare ranch where a tent was erected for the post-ceremony dinner and dancing.

Agencies

(China Daily 05/12/2008 page6)