Jacqueline Lee Bouvier and John F. Kennedy were married on the morning of September 12, 1953, in the picturesque St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Newport, Rhode Island.
On the morning of September 12, 1953, more than 750 guests filled St. Mary’s Church to watch as John Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier exchanged wedding vows in a ceremony presided over by Archbishop Richard Cushing. For the occasion, the church had been decorated with pink gladioli and white chrysanthemums. Boston tenor Luigi Vena sang “Ave Maria.”
Following the 40-minute ceremony at which a papal blessing was read, the new couple emerged into a throng of 3,000 well-wishers as they made their way by motorcycle escort to Hammersmith Farm, the Auchincloss estate overlooking Naragansett Bay.
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.”
The couple cut a five-tier wedding cake, and then a luncheon of fruit cup, creamed chicken, and ice cream sculpted to resemble roses was served.