If the United States had a royal family, it would be the Kennedys. And though the Kennedy weddings over the years have not quite reached the level of pomp and circumstance that accompanies the nuptials of a prince or princess, these occasions are historically still quite stylish and culturally significant affairs.
For over a century, various members of the prominent family have dominated headlines—sometimes capturing the hearts of the nation, other times embroiled in scandal and tragedy. And throughout the decades since the first noteworthy Kennedys tied the knot in 1914, the family legacy has continued to grow through prominent weddings—the most recent being just last month. On July 20, Mariah Kennedy-Cuomo, the granddaughter of Ethel Kennedy and the great niece of JFK, got married at the family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. The nuptials were a quintessential Kennedy affair, with family traditions dating back to 1953. Read on as we share an inside look at some of the most iconic Kennedy weddings in the political dynasty’s history.
Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald, 1914
It was when Rose Fitzgerald, the daughter of a congressman turned mayor of Boston, married Joseph P. Kennedy, an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and politician, that the Kennedy legacy really began. The future couple first met at Old Orchard Beach in Maine, where they vacationed as children. Joseph and Rose wed in a chapel in Boston on October 7, 1914, and later had nine children: Joseph Patrick Jr, John “Jack” Fitzgerald, Rosemary, Kathleen or “Kick,” Eunice, Patricia, Robert or “Bobby,” Jean Ann, and Edward Moore.
Kathleen Agnes Kennedy and William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, 1944
