Barbara Bush is officially a married woman!
The 36-year-old former first daughter wed screenwriter Craig Coyne in an intimate ceremony on Sunday. The duo tied the knot outside in Kennebunkport, Maine, at the family's Walker Point compound. Jenna Bush Hager, the bride's twin sister and a contributor on Today, told the morning show that the location was important to the couple, who wanted to wed there so Barbara's elderly grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, 94, could attend.
Barbara was glowing for her big day, opting for a custom Vera Wang gown. The light ivory silk crepe gown had spaghetti strap detail and a cowl draped neckline and was accented by an Italian tulle floor length cape and a floor length Italian tulle veil. According to Jenna, the bride's something borrowed was a bracelet that her grandfather gave her late grandmother and namesake, Barbara Bush, for their 70th wedding anniversary. The groom, 36, left the tie at home and sported a gray suit, white shirt and brown shoes for the ceremony.
The Bush family expressed their excitement about the nuptials in Instagram posts following the ceremony. Sharing a shot of the whole family -- including Barbara's father, former President George Bush, and Jenna, along with her husband and children -- Laura Bush, the mother of the bride, called the day "wonderful," before welcoming Coyne, 36, to the family.
The 72-year-old former president got in on the love too! He called his daughter "unique and strong."
"Barbara is named for a unique and strong woman -- and rightly so, because she is unique and strong," he captioned a pic of him walking his daughter down the aisle. "@laurawbush and I are so proud of our compassionate, daring, fierce, kind, intelligent, loving daughter. And we’re thrilled to welcome Craig Coyne to our family."
Jenna, 36, said her "heart exploded" during the ceremony and revealed that she was "so proud" of her sister.
Jenna further gushed about the wedding during a live phone call on Monday's episode of Today.
“I’m crying 24 hours later…there were so many happy tears," she said of the big day. "They wanted to get married here [Maine] because my grandfather’s here so it was a very secret wedding, a little bit like my elusive sister. But also just family in a place that means family love and it was beautiful.”
A family affair it was, with Barbara's aunt, Dorothy Bush Koch, officiating the ceremony, Jenna serving as the matron of honor, and Jenna's daughters -- Margaret, 5, and Poppy, 3 -- participating too.
"Poppy was the ring bearer... [she] realized that the box was empty and so she ran to the front and kept holding it open, like, this is fake," Jenna recalled on Today. "... At one point we were all praying and Poppy ran and almost tackled Barbara and gave her a huge hug. Pops stole the show."
The twins are incredibly close, with Jenna giving an emotional toast following the ceremony.
"It's hard to articulate how much I love her because it's 37 years of love, but I just told her and everybody how much she means to me," Jenna said of her toast. "But I ended [the toast] actually with a letter that my grandfather wrote to my grandmother, because I searched all the romantics and Shakespeare just wasn't doing it. He was sitting right next to me as I read it."
Watch the video below for more on the bride's late namesake:
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