Redstate

By kowalski Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

[Update: I edited this post to reflect the fact that Jenna took Henry's last name, which I had not known for sure when I wrote the post. Obviously I wasn't on the invitation list. So much for the VRWC.]

This is a good time to say congratulations to Jenna Hager and her husband, Henry Hager, and to everyone in the Bush and Hager families for what looks to have been a beautiful and tastefully private wedding yesterday in Texas.

I think this is the way all Presidential family weddings should be done. Nobody in this country finds it remarkable any more (particularly not after the Kennedy administration) that we treat our first family as royalty entirely too much for their (and our) own good. I remarked to my father that if JFK had had a daughter get married during his Presidency, it probably would have been declared a national holiday.

The Bushes and the Hagers did it right -- they kept the press at arm's length, only let in a few close friends from the media, and generally kept the event out of the national spotlight. I thought it was particularly appropriate and considerate of them to let the rest of the country celebrate Mother's Day without overshadowing the celebrations with yet another media spectacle.

[Update II: The MSM will not go along quietly and without protest! The Washington Post is running the story front page on their website under the headline: "Jenna Bush's Covert Wedding." I waited all morning long to see whether it would be the WaPo or the NYT who would try to tie the wedding into the Evil Secrets meme. In the end, the WaPo succumbed first. Congratulations! to the Washington Post for playing perfectly true to type and coming through for the whole country. Woodward, did you write that headline? Or is the Washington Post just channeling Geraldo Rivera?]

Millie Martin Bratten, editor-in-chief of BRIDES magazine, said the wedding was a letdown for some who craved a Princess Diana-style event. But she said Jenna's wedding - her classy Oscar de la Renta gown and all - might even set a trend for future presidential weddings. Bratten foresees future first family weddings that mix protocol and formality with creative individual touches from the bride.

Let's hope so. I'm glad to see the President bucking the modern trend to turn his Presidency and everything associated with it (organically or not) into a celebrity party and an excuse to mobilize 1,000 reporters+dogs. All in all, a class act and I wish the new couple the best of luck and all the happiness they can have with each other.