John F. Kennedy & Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Marry in Newport RI on September 12, 1953

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On September 12, 1953, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier and US Senator John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts were married at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Newport, RI. More than eight hundred guests attended the wedding. The bride's stepfather, Hugh D. Auchincloss, walked her up the aisle.

The ceremony was performed by Boston's Archbishop Richard Cushing, a friend of the Kennedy family, and he was assisted by four other priests, including the former president of Notre Dame and the head of the Christopher Society. Before the mass, a special blessing from Pope Pius XII was read, according to the John F. Kennedy Library archives.

Tenor soloist Luigi Vena from Boston sang Gounod’s Ave Maria.


The reception was held on the terrace of the 300 acre Auchincloss oceanfront estate, Hammersmith Farm, for more than 1,200 guests. The wedding cake, four feet tall, was ordered by Joseph P. Kennedy. 

Meyer Davis and his orchestra played at the reception under a huge canopy. 

St. Mary’s Church is Rhode Island's first Roman Catholic Parish, established April 8, 1828. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on March 6, 2008.

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