Most of the couple’s friends, sensitive to their lives in the public eye, also declined to respond to Post inquiries about the marriage, or even their basic dating history. That leaves it up to journalists and the curious public to piece together the details of information posted on social media by the couple and their friends. Here’s what we know about the couple and their big day.
Who is the happy couple and how did they meet?
Naomi, 28, and Peter, 25, were set up by a mutual friend and met on a date in New York in 2018, while Naomi was in law school at Columbia University . “These two fell in love after two days,” her friend Asha-Kai Grant wrote in the caption of a photo of the couple she posted on Instagram last year.
Now they live together on the third floor of the White House. Naomi is an international arbitration attorney in the DC office of the law firm Arnold & Porter, and Peter became a partner at the Georgetown Law Center on National Security after graduating from the University’s law school in May. of Pennsylvania. She went to Penn for undergrad and he attended George Washington University.
Their life in DC isn’t too different from that of many other young professionals, save for their home address of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. They traveled — Austria, Italy, Wyoming, Delaware — and partied at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend. They share a fluffy brown dog named Charlie and have bonded with first lady Jill Biden’s cat, Willow. Naomi calls the President “Pop” and the First Lady “Nana”.
Naomi is the eldest daughter of the president’s younger son, Hunter, and his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle. His parents met while working for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Portland, Oregon. Naomi was named after the president’s eldest daughter, who died aged one in a car crash with his first wife, Neilia, in 1972. Both Hunter and older brother Beau were in the car and were hospitalized for months.
Hunter’s three daughters, Naomi, Finnegan and Maisy, went to Sidwell Friends, an elite private school in Washington, while their father ran his own lobbying firm and later became a consultant during Biden’s years as a Vice President under Barack Obama. Hunter and Kathleen divorced in 2017, during a tumultuous time in Hunter’s life during which he was a heavy drug user, as he recounted in his recent memoir, “Beautiful Things.”
The bride was active in her grandfather’s career. She called a family reunion in 2019, where she, her two younger sisters and their cousins urged him to run for president against Donald Trump.
She is also friends with Tiffany Trump, whose own wedding took place last week. They were in the same class at the University of Pennsylvania, and his grandparents attended the same 2016 graduation ceremony as Trump. Tiffany posted a selfie of herself and Naomi in the Hamptons in 2018, decorated with two intertwined hearts.
Wait, tell me more about the groom!
Peter grew up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and is the son of two doctors: William Neal and Mary C. Neal. He has a sister, Betsy, and two brothers, Eliot and Willie. Like the Bidens, the Neals have experienced drama within their family. Willie died in 2009 when he was hit by a car in Maine while roller-skating. His mother also had a near-death experience – on a kayaking expedition in Chile in 1999, she was trapped underwater by a waterfall for almost 30 minutes. Her near-death experience (she says she was technically dead for several minutes) is the subject of her two books, “To Heaven and Back” and “7 Lessons from Heaven”.
Peter studied political communications at university. He then interned at the White House while Obama was in office and his fiancée’s grandfather was vice president. Since then, he has worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, had a stint with the Atlantic Council and an internship at the Department of Justice before landing in his current position in Georgetown.
There will be a ceremony on the South Lawn at 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by a 7:30 p.m. reception with “cake and dancing,” according to invitations. Some guests were only invited to the dessert portion of the evening. According to one guest, cellphones will be banned at the event – so don’t expect anyone to Instagram from the dance floor.
On Thursday morning, Peter posted a photo of the couple at the DC Marriage Bureau, posing under a white tulle arch. Her caption said they were there to collect their marriage license, proving that even White House weddings aren’t free of bureaucracy.
Who organizes the wedding?
Bryan Rafanelli, who is considered one of the top wedding planners in the country and has hosted numerous White House events, is nuptials for the Bidens, according to Politico. Expect an explosion: Dramatic lighting, lavish floral backdrops, and romantic candlelit table settings make up its magical look. Fireworks are a possibility. Rafanelli is no stranger to White House grounds or protocol, having hosted more than a dozen events there for the Obamas, including state dinners and holiday decorations. Her Boston firm Rafanelli Events planned Chelsea Clinton’s posh wedding for 450 guests in Rhinebeck, NY and she wrote the introduction to her book “A Great Party: Designing the Perfect Celebration.” Rafanelli, who requires confidentiality agreements from his salespeople, would not comment on this story.
What do we know about the dress?
Well, we don’t know who designed it, but several designers seem to be in the running. Ralph Lauren is a classic American brand that the President wore during his inauguration. The bride has worn the designer often and attended the brand’s Fall/Winter 2022 fashion show in New York with her sister Finnegan in March. Ralph Lauren declined to say if she was involved – which could very well mean the company was involved and thrilled with the speculation.
The bride was once an intern for Tom Ford in the public relations department and carried Valentino to her grandfather’s investiture. Valentino is known for its bridal collections. She also likes Christian Siriano and Veronica Beard. The first lady is close with Reem Acra, another well-known dress designer.
Gabriella Rello Duffy, editorial director of Brides, says people care about all the details of Biden’s wedding. “I really anticipate this setting trends and everything Naomi does will influence weddings for the next few years,” Duffy added. Jill Biden’s dress will be copied by mothers of the bride and grandmothers of the bride, she says.
“We think it’s going to be another milestone in marriage history. Like Chelsea Clinton’s wedding or the memories of Grace Kelly and Tricia Nixon,” Duffy says. “It’s going to be really, really special.”
Peter proposed Naomi an emerald cut diamond ring created by Shah & Shah Distinctive Jewelers at DC Jeweler Colin Shah says the gem is around two carats.
When Peter was preparing to propose, “He brought his two sisters down from college, they came and watched everything,” Shah told the Post. “He was really nice throughout. He wanted to make sure he got a nice high quality stone. He wanted to make sure it was something she liked. He was excited.”
Peter also brought his grandmother’s gold wedding ring, which was melted down and incorporated into Naomi’s wedding ring, Shah says. “He wanted part of his family transferred to their family.”
Peter proposed in Wyoming in September 2021, and both families were there to celebrate.
Look for the Bidens’ close friends and, of course, the whole family. Jill Biden’s special adviser, Anthony Bernal, played a key role in the planning, alongside the first lady’s communications director, Elizabeth Alexander.
Naomi’s friend Grant — a likely bridesmaid, if their social media proximity is any indication — is a producer for “Saturday Night Live.” Grant and Naomi attended Sidwell Friends School together, and she traveled to Jackson Hole with the couple, according to photos tagged on Instagram. On Wednesday, Grant posted an Instagram Story of her and her Biden friend, Mia Seder, at a nail salon, and tagged Naomi with the phrase, “Let the festivities begin.”
