The Most Lavish Kennedy Weddings That Had The World Buzzing

Long before social media influencers and reality television stars dominated the zeitgeist, the Kennedy family captured the attention of the general public. Whether you happen to be enrapt by the political influence the family has had for nearly a century, morbidly intrigued by the tragedies surrounding the Kennedy women, or more recently curious about the Kennedy family members who just don't get along with RFK Jr., there's a lot about this family to dig into.

Another fascinating facet of the Kennedy family's lives is their marriages. To this day, members of the Kennedy family are getting married and carrying on the Kennedy name, giving the rest of us nosy Americans something new to talk about. But before their marriages often come lavish weddings. The Kennedys do have access to significant means, making their weddings affairs worthy of being written about in Vogue or The New York Times. Old or new, enormous or intimate, there have been plenty of interesting Kennedy weddings over the past 100 years. These are the most lavish Kennedy weddings that had the world buzzing.

The United States has never had the excitement of a royal wedding, but it has had some nuptials come close. One such wedding was that between John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Though they were still years away from the White House, the New England natives were famed socialites, and their wedding was worthy of national news. It wasn't televised, but JFK and Jackie's wedding was documented by and written about in multiple national publications. The couple exchanged vows on September 12, 1953, at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island. The ceremony featured a rendition of "Ave Maria" by a tenor named Luigi Vena(Vena also sang at JFK's funeral a decade later) and a reading of a personal blessing sent to the couple from Pope Pius XII. Over 600 people were in attendance for the ceremony, and over 300 more arrived for the reception. An estimated 2,000 onlookers gathered outside the church to catch a glimpse of JFK and Jackie, and it took hours for the newlyweds to greet every last one of their guests.

JFK and Jackie celebrated with their guests with an outdoor meal, a five-tier cake, and dancing. Jackie wore a custom gown made by Ann Lowe (though Jackie Kennedy never actually wore her original wedding dress) and wore a tiara, pearls, and diamonds to complete the look. While she was still living, Jackie didn't speak much about her wedding to her first husband, but she did offer a now-iconic quote about having multiple marriages: "The first time you marry for love, the second for money, and the third for companionship" (via Forbes).

While John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy are often thought of as the royal couple of the Kennedy family, one member of the brood actually did marry royalty. Kathleen Cavendish, one of JFK's sisters, tied the knot with Billy Hartington, the future Duke of Devonshire, in 1944. The two wed in a civil ceremony as the marriage was not blessed by the Kennedys. Cavendish's mother, Rose Kennedy, was particularly rattled by this union as Billy was not Catholic; only one Kennedy family member, Joseph Kennedy Jr., went to the wedding. Despite the lack of blood relatives in attendance, a look through Cavendish's wedding album shows that it was still a lavish affair, with both the bride and the groom dressed to the nines and transported in a swanky car.

Unfortunately, Cavendish's marriage to Billy didn't last long. Just over a month after their wedding, Billy, a soldier in the British military, returned to France to fight in World War II. He died in combat about four months after exchanging vows.

One way to gauge the interest of a wedding to the general public is by which publications write about it. Thanks to Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's maiden name, her wedding to David Lee Townsend was written about in The New York Times. And the November 1973 nuptials were certainly a family affair. Kathleen and David, who got married in Washington, D.C., were surrounded by Kennedys. Kathleen's uncle Senator Ted Kennedy walked her down the aisle (her father, Robert F. Kennedy, had been assassinated just five years prior); Caroline Kennedy, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, and Jean Kennedy Smith were among Kathleen's bridesmaids; Ethel Kennedy was there to celebrate; and six of the ushers also bore the famous last name. One of the most famous members of the family at the time, Jackie Kennedy, did not attend.

Kathleen and David's guest list also included some famous faces who aren't part of the Kennedy family. Astronaut John Glenn, Senator George McGovern and his wife, and writer Art Buchwald were all present and accounted for, and famed musician Andy Williams sang "Ave Maria" and "Pants Angelicus" at the ceremony. To end the ceremony, the priest who married the couple introduced them by saying, "It is my great happiness to announce that we have a new Mr. and Mrs. David Townsend, and to share in their great happiness by singing, 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.'"

In October 2020, Eunice Kennedy Shriver married Michael Serafin Garcia in Miami, Florida. The duo, who wed in front of their families, initially intended to have a much larger wedding, but ultimately decided to cut the guest list way down due to the ongoing pandemic regulations. Though it was a more intimate affair than they'd originally imagined, it certainly wasn't plain or boring. The ceremony took place at the Catholic church Shriver attended throughout childhood, and the reception was held at the Four Seasons Surf Club. The groom wore Brioni and Tom Ford, and the bridesmaids sported Jay Godfrey dresses.

The wedding also included some thoughtful and lavish personal touches. Shriver was escorted throughout the day in a baby blue 1965 Lincoln Continental that belonged to her grandmother (also Eunice Kennedy Shriver). "I think my grandmother wanted to make sure I got to ride in her convertible," Shriver told Vogue upon getting married on a sunny day after days of rain leading up to the ceremony. Perhaps even more special, Shriver got married in the Dior gown that her grandmother wore to her own wedding 67 years proper. "The dress has aged into a French vanilla ivory, and there are a few holes in it, but I didn't care," Shriver said of the vintage garment. "The dress was as delicate as tissue paper. So we had to handle it with great care. I was afraid to even sit!" 

Though she doesn't bear the name, Maria Shriver is indeed Kennedy progeny. Maria is the daughter of the aforementioned Eunice Kennedy Shriver, one of John F. Kennedy's sisters, and it was at a Kennedy event in the late 1970s that Maria met her future husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger. At the time, Maria was working as a journalist, and Schwarzenegger was in the early days of his storied movie career, emerging as one of the preeminent action stars of the era. After eight years of dating, Maria and Schwarzenegger got engaged, and months later they were married.

Maria and Schwarzenegger got married at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, a longtime hub for the Kennedy family. And as Brian Delaney told The Washington Post, "The first priority of Maria and the Shriver family is they want it to be a traditional, private religious ceremony." As many pointed out, though, the wedding was far from private. Though described as intimate, Maria and Schwarzenegger's wedding had over 450 people in attendance. When asked about the guest list, one of the priests who married the couple said, "When the guest list is finally announced, you'll see they're all nationally ... and internationally known names." And he was right. The guest list included public figures like Barbara Walters, Tom Brokaw, Art Buchwald, and Andy Williams. 

As star-studded as the event was, the couple didn't have a happy Hollywood ending. Tragically for Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger had an affair with their nanny and the fallout sparked their divorce.

Katherine Schwarzenegger, who is the daughter of journalist Maria Shriver and action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, tied the knot with movie star Chris Pratt in 2019. Though it would be fair to think a member of the Kennedy family and an A-list celebrity would want to have a giant wedding — look no further than Katherine's own parents — Eunice Kennedy Shriver's granddaughter's wedding was a fairly small affair. However, fans were able to get a peek at the stunning event thanks to the paparazzi photos that went live after the event.

The wedding was held at the San Ysidro Ranch, a lush and vast property located in Montecito, California. Attendees enjoyed locally sourced food and a performance by a string quartet. The relatively small guest list included family members and Hollywood stars like Rob Lowe and James Gunn.  The bride and the groom wore custom Armani, and Giorgio Armani even sent the duo a message on their wedding day. "Katherine and Chris are truly the ultimate beautiful bride and handsome groom. I am proud to have played a role in this couple's wedding. For them and for the bridal party, I designed elegant and sophisticated outfits that would highlight their radiant personalities," he said, per People. The bride accessorized her Armani gown with a pair of earrings from her grandmother and, in a touching tribute to her mom, Katherine's wedding look included Shriver's own veil.

Some Kennedy weddings had the world waiting with anticipation, but others caught public attention after they happened. The latter was the case for Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr., who got married in secret in September 1996. The wedding wasn't a secret to everyone, though — plenty of family members were in attendance, including Senator Ted Kennedy, Lee Radziwill Ross, Caroline Kennedy, and Jack Schlossberg, who served as ring bearer. The two wed at the First African Baptist Church on Cumberland Island, Georgia, and guests stayed at The Greyfield Inn, a mansion that also served as the site of the rehearsal dinner and the reception.

The wedding may have been a secret, but that didn't make it any less fabulous. Carolyn wore a custom-made wedding gown by her friend and designer Narcisco Rodriguez, the designer of the White House Rose Garden helped choose the flowers, gospel singer David R. Davis sang "Amazing Grace," and the reception featured a three-tier wedding cake. But how exactly did two of the most famous people in the country at the time keep their wedding a secret from the public? Well, they hardly told anyone about the event, even keeping their guests in the dark until a few days prior. "We knew we were going to a wedding but we didn't know where," JFK Jr.'s friend Billy Noonan said in the documentary "JFK Jr and Carolyn's Wedding: The Lost Tapes," adding that guests were first under the impression that they were going to Florida. "But John said, 'We're not really going to Florida,' so we had no idea where we were (ultimately) headed." The guests landed in Jacksonville, Florida, and were transported to Georgia from there.

When Mariah Kennedy Cuomo married Tellef Lundevall in 2024, they had the support of everyone in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Mariah had a unique story to begin with, as she's the daughter of Kerry Kennedy, one of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy's children, and Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York. After spending plenty of summers at Hyannis Port (a true Kennedy tradition), including some with Lundevall, the two knew they wanted to get married there. And given Mariah's family history, the town was eager to celebrate with her and her betrothed. The weekend of Mariah and Lundevall's wedding, the two arrived to see 100 white flags with pink hearts flying on flagpoles around the town. "It was so touching and wonderful to behold ... a beautiful testament to the unique community here," Mariah told Vogue of the gesture.

Simply getting married in Hyannis Port wasn't the only Kennedy touch of Mariah and Lundevall's wedding. They held their reception at the former JFK House, and the wedding cake was made using inspiration from Eunice Kennedy Shriver's cake. Plenty of Kennedy family members were in the bridal party and came as guests, too. "Walking down the aisle on my father's arm, Tellef and I locked eyes as he saw me in my dress for the first time. And in that moment, the world stopped spinning, time stood still, and I could feel the next chapter of our lives beginning," Mariah said of her wedding day.

Years before John F. Kennedy Jr. had a secret wedding, his sister, Caroline Kennedy, did the same thing. The daughter of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, Caroline kept many details about her wedding day private, but since she's a Kennedy, it was impossible for everything to remain entirely under wraps. Caroline got married to Edwin A. Schlossberg in July 1986 at Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church in Centerville on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Wearing a dress by Carolina Herrera, Caroline walked down the aisle on the arm of her uncle Senator Ted Kennedy. A number of other Kennedys were there, including Jackie, JFK Jr., and Maria Shriver. Cousins Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver have long had a close relationship; they acted as each other's maids of honor at their respective weddings.

Although Caroline and her family wanted privacy, similarly to her parents' wedding, about 2,000 people gathered outside the church. And as is custom at a Kennedy wedding, plenty of famous people outside of the family were guests, including Dave Powers, Art Buchwald, and Carly Simon. Reporters were not invited to the wedding, but the family did release six pages of details about the event for the public to chew on afterward. Neither Caroline nor her husband gave an interview or released a statement about their wedding day, but in photos the two looked quite happy.

While John F. Kennedy is the most famous member of the dynasty, the Kennedys were a prominent political family way before he became president. As such, the weddings of many of his siblings were of public fascination in the mid-century. When one of his siblings, Jean Kennedy Smith, got married in 1956, her wedding was written about in The New York Times, showing just how interested the American people were in the Kennedy family. While other Kennedy weddings are noted for being classic New England affairs, often held in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, Jean's wedding to Stephen Edward Smith was quintessentially New York, taking place at two of the most iconic locations in the city. The ceremony was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Gothic-style church located on Fifth Avenue, and the reception was held at The Plaza Hotel.

Not much else about Jean and Stephen's wedding was reported on, but it is known that the bride wore a champagne colored satin dress, and that her sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver served as her matron of honor. Other Kennedys were in attendance, including JFK, Robert F. Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy, and Jean and Stephen went to Europe for their honeymoon.