Jenna Bush (now Jenna Hager) was always “the wild Bush twin.” Jenna got all of the attention, while her sister Barbara has kept it low-key for her entire life. I don’t even remember a whiff of scandal or controversy about Barbara Bush. To my knowledge, she’s never made any big political statement, nor has she ever been gossiped about for her personal life. I heard the rumor that Barbara was getting married this weekend, and I really thought “who is she even marrying,” because no one ever talks about it. Well, she married a Hollywood screenwriter named Craig Coyne, and then she gave the exclusive photos and an interview to People Mag.
Barbara Bush, daughter of former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, tied the knot with her fiancé, screenwriter Craig Coyne, on Sunday in an intimate secret wedding. Only 20 family members witnessed the simple yet romantic ceremony, which was held at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, in the backyard overlooking the ocean.
“A very short, sweet ceremony” is how Barbara, 36, described it to PEOPLE. After Barbara’s father walked her down the aisle, the bride and groom exchanged vows in front of their immediate family, including former President Bush, 72, Mrs. Bush, 71, and Barbara’s grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, 94. Barbara’s twin sister, Jenna Bush Hager, served as matron of honor, and her daughters, Margaret, 5, and Poppy, 3, were flower girls along with Coyne’s niece, Emma, 5. Poppy did double duty at the ceremony, also serving as the ring bearer. The bride’s aunt, Dorothy “Doro” Bush Koch, officiated.
Though Barbara’s grandmother, former First Lady Barbara Bush, died at age 92 in April, the bride accessorized her custom Vera Wang gown of ivory silk crepe with a sentimental reminder of her namesake.
“It’s really sweet. The ‘something borrowed’ that I’m wearing is this bracelet that my grandfather gave to my grandmother on their 70th anniversary,” Barbara told PEOPLE. Her “something blue” was a pair of earrings from Jenna.
The former first daughter also revealed that she and Coyne — who has acted in the 2005 hit Jarhead, as well as independent films such as Look at Me and The Snowtown Murders — tied the knot after a whirlwind, five-week engagement and in the same week when Coyne relocated from Los Angeles to make his new home with Barbara in Manhattan. The couple, who have kept their romance under wraps until now, were set up by friends on a blind date last November and committed as a couple by New Year’s Eve — despite living on opposite sides of the country, with Coyne in Los Angeles and Barbara in New York.
It was during a family gathering at Kennebunkport this summer, Barbara adds, that she and Coyne were walking along the oceanside rocks when he suddenly dropped to his knee in the same spot where Barbara’s grandparents got engaged almost exactly 75 years earlier, in August 1943. “It’s just been a very sweet romance,” Barbara says. “And we’ve been long-distance for most of it — he’s been in LA and I’ve been in New York — but we’ve gotten to spend a lot of time together.”
Does anyone else feel like… this is somewhat weird? She met the guy in November 2017, they were long-distance for all of their relationship, he proposed over the summer and now they’re married this quickly? Maybe it’s not weird, maybe it’s just her low-key style. She didn’t want a big, fussy wedding, so she did it her way. But still… I wonder if she basically just married Some Guy because she was like “meh, whatever, I guess I should get married.”
Also: don’t forget that the father of the bride spent the past few weeks calling senators to reassure them that Brett Kavanaugh is a “good guy.” Dubya was Brett’s character reference as a political operative for Republicans.
Photos courtesy of WENN, People’s Instagram.
When you know you know.
Yes, and they are older. I married my husband when I was 37. We dated for 18 months before tying the knot and didn’t combine households until after because of our work circumstances. But we knew we would be married after 9 months of dating – the rest was logistics.
And Barbara is different from the rest of the Bush’s, as I understand it. Politically independent. So while I hate that Dubya came back from the dead to put a sexual assaulter on the highest court in our land, that’s no reflection on Barbara. But honestly, Dubya should have stayed gone. I hope more stuff continues to come out and Kavanaugh is impeached. I’d love to see Thomas impeached as well, because then I could believe in justice.
If I had to take responsibility for my dad’s political opinions…ugh. We’re not all lucky enough to have liberal dads!
If I had to explain my father’s politics – ouch. He’s essentially the opposite of everything I believe. I couldn’t do it without blowing a few gaskets along the way.
And yeah. When you are older, sometimes you just know. I was 30 when I met the guy I ended up marrying. We moved in together after a year of dating and got married a year later. I had known within 6 months that he was “the one.” I knew what I was looking for by then. The rest was just timing and planning.
I agree. Guess I have to, since this is also what I did!
Yes. Married my hubby after 9 months of dating (long-distance relationship) and I was 40 already. This was years ago…. I thought all the prejudice against ‘quick weddings’ had fallen out of trend… plenty of failed marriages in the crowd ‘I dated for years before getting married’.
My parents only dated 6 weeks and married when they were 23. They’ve been married over 40 years now.
Indeed, its especially true when you get older with some life experience behind you. The dress is lovely.
yeah, I married my husband 20 years ago after I knew him for 4 months. I also imagine she wanted to make sure her Grandpa was there.
I knew my husband for less than 4 months when we got engaged, less than 10 months when we got married. I love him more than i did when we were married.
I doubt she thought, “well why not?” She waited for a long time, I am sure she wouldn’t care if she waited longer.
Also…piss off with what her Father did this weekend. This post is about Barbara. Congrats to her.
Well said. This post is about Barbara enormous coat
It could just as easily be that she met him, she knew he was the one (and he knew she was the one) and they married. I prefer to think so.
The timeline doesn’t bother me at all. If I had a family compound like theirs, I’d be itching to get married as soon as I was eligible. What a nice spot!
When you know you know. I know a lot of people shacked up and “engaged” for years. When they finally get married, it lasts about a nanosecond. I think an almost 40 yr old woman knows what is best for her.
So true I have a friend lived with someone for 3 years married in a black tie only wedding with 150 people lasted 15 months.
Pretty similar to Harry and Meghan’s relationship. When you’re ready…you’re ready!
I was thinking the same thing.
And really at 36 who cares.
She’s financially stable and found a good guy.
All the best to them.
Looks lovely. Good for her. She locked it down. All I can see now though is Sam Rothwell from the Vice trailer (can’t wait to see the film!).
Maybe a little bit of both, but best wishes to them.
I don’t think it sounds that rushed. She’s older, she probably knew what she wanted.
Jenna and Barbara seemed to grow up well and they were always kind to the Obamas, which goes a long way with me.
Yes, I feel that way, too.
Yes. They’re among the long line of presidential offspring who are kind and generous to their successors. Thanks Don Junior and sibs for throwing that tradition down the toilet. Grr.
She seems very decent and I wish them the best. And a wedding in a backyard in Maine, swoon.
It is the quality of the relationship that counts. I think it’s good that they got married after a short engagement. I think the fact that friends set them up means that people vetted both of them and knew why they would be a great couple. Also, I think that she might be like her mother in that she has a pragmatic and realistic approach towards relationships. Perhaps her husband is emotionally mature and if he was ready for marriage he would have made the effort to commit to the relationship in a meaningful way. If they are happy, I wish them both the best.
She started the Global Health Service Corps, a super impressive organization dedicated to training the next generation of global health leaders. I have a lot of respect for her and hope for good things.
It bums me out to hear W was calling Senators. I’m not really here for his better-in-comparison rehabilitation, but I would rather have lived in a world where he noped out on this.
Yeah, and I read an article where she and Cecile Richards were interviewed about women’s health issues. Barbara is a big supporter of Planned Parenthood.
Congrats to her and her new hubby!
She actively campaigned for marriage equality in New York.
I’m so NOT surprised to hear W was calling people to support Kavanaugh. I remember very clearly how loyal he was to people he should not have been loyal to during his administration (recall the “fine job Brownie” comment during Hurricane Katrina and don’t even get me started on W standing by Cheney ugh). I heard a conservative writer once compare W with Reagan on this dimension: Reagan had no problem firing people who were no longer an asset but W found this exceedingly difficult. This is yet another reason he was a poor POTUS.
As for Kavanaugh: Nicole Wallace & Benjamin Wittes have said things that make me think Kavanaugh was very careful about the face he showed colleagues Regardless of your beliefs about the sexual assault allegations (and I believe the women), I don’t see how anyone could support Kavanaugh after his theatrics last week. Unfit to the core.
His loyalty probably extends to Mrs. Kavanaugh too. She worked for W when he was still governor of Texas, was his private secretary when he was in the White House (where she met her husband), and went to work for his foundation after he left office. ETA – oops, I didn’t see Mary’s comment just below.
The one thing I learned was that not only did Kavanaugh work in the Bush White House, but his wife worked for Bush first in Texas, and then in the White House. She’s very close to the family.
We’ve gotten used to this whole “Maybe W isn’t so bad, especially compared to Trump” mindset over the last two years, we forget who he really is.
I wish the newlyweds the very best.
As for Dubya, he was a terrible president and hearing of his Kavanaugh support is no enhancement. Zero surprise that he’d be able to reconcile his love for his daughters while supporting a retrograde asshole for the Supreme Court. In my estimation, anyone who supports Kavanaugh is no supporter of women, our rights, and our advancement. It’s just bidness as usual for Dubya and the rest of the selfish, greedy GOP.
She looks beautiful. I thought she was already married for some reason.
I copy what everyone else says here. I’ve got no shade for people who marry quickly, even after long-distance relationships- I guess this doesn’t bother me bc they are older- you get the feeling that they want to get on with just being settled & together & not dinking around drawing things out with years of cohabitation and criss-crossing the country and stuff. I do think we know & understand a bit better what to expect & what we want in a partner when we’re in the later 30s… they’ve probably both figured out who they are for the most part. Just, I get a “stable, no-drama” vibe here, which is nice.
She was just as wild as Jenna, just quieter about it. She had three arrests for underage drinking , just like Jenna and was nasty to her Secret Service detail. But she matured considerably and has done some good things such as working on Global Health Services and campaigning for marriage equality in New York.
And at this point, I have to give credit to any child of a president who didn’t waste our tax dollars on him or herself by pretending that First Daughter is equivalent to royalty.
Also, she screwed Daddy over on choice of wedding location. He said repeatedly that he expected both daughters to get married on that God forsaken ranch. Jenna went along with it. Maine is far about as far away from that ranch as you can get without going to Alaska or Hawaii.
Their vacation home is in Kennebunkport and GHW Bush is not in good health, so I can see why they had it there.
Yes that’s absolutely why they had it there. After HW got sick shaking everyone’s hands at his wife’s funeral I’m sure his doctors have severely limited his available range.
Whirlwind romances happen and hopefully this one will work out fine. However, her dress was not a good fit. The DM had some pictures and it was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen.
At the price she probably paid for it, it should have fitted properly, in my humble opinion.
I think she looks beautiful, but I agree about the dress. I like it a lot but the top needs to be a better fit.
Yes, the fit was sad. She looked beautiful, but the fit was definitely a distraction.
She had some not-flattering side boobage in some pictures, which was really a shame. The straps were so flimsy they looked like they might give way, but they didn’t, so that’s good.
She also had a tulle cape/covering that looked pretty.
I love the Jenna/Barbara pictures, they look really close. My sister is my best friend too.
agreed, i think side boob is a bit tacky on a wedding gown.
The dress wasn’t fitted well.
Jenna’s little girls are adorable!
To me, that’s way too quick for such an important step, but everyone is different and has their own decisions to make, and I hope this goes right for them. I’m 40, have never been married, and hope she didn’t think because she was in her 30’s she felt she needed to hurry up and find a husband.
So it’s okay to rush to get married when you are in your late 30’s because……you’re in late 30’s?! No need to be discerning because you’ve just gotta grab what you can get at that late age?
Nah I find that quite insulting. I’m 38 and never married, in a wonderful 4 year relationship and Im still not ready for that step. I need to be sure.
That’s what I’m saying. People were saying (not just here) that because she was getting older, she must’ve known quickly that he was the one, and it was time to settle. It was love at first sight with the guy I’ve been dating for 2 years now, and I’m still in no rush no matter what my age, no matter what people say
Yeah, especially since it sounds like they haven’t spend a lot of time actually in the same room. It’s easy to make it feel right when it’s all holidays to visit each other and the thrill of getting together after being apart.
Congratulations.
I love intimate weddings.
Her dress is very Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.
It is a lot like the dress CBK wore at her wedding.
Yeah, that was my first reaction.
Her Dad is an a-hole.
#neverforget
I don’t think it’s weird, I think it’s nobody’s business. Glad she was able to keep it quiet.
Long “courtships” are very modern. Up until probably the 70’s it wasn’t uncommon for people to get married after just a few months of dating. You can date for six months or date for six years; divorce rates remain darn near 50%. I think it’s all about your mindset, making a commitment, and choosing that other person day in and day out.
So, I say props to them for making the choice to commit to each other and lock it down. If I recall correctly, George and Laura were engaged after six weeks and married by the three month mark.
Perhaps they went to Maine so that grandpa Bush could attend? He’s said to be in poor physical health & may not be able to travel to Texas. He may have some senility issues as well.
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2017/10/george_h_w_bush_groped_me_during_a_2014_photo_op.html
Eh, I know someone who spent a month at the hospital caring for her dad. The following month she got engaged to some doctor who wasn’t even her dad’s physician and got married few months later. It was weird but not uncommon.
Looked at the pics on People.com & it sure had a LOT of side boob! 😮 I can’t imagine “Big Bar” would have found it appropriate! But, her day, her way. Congratulations to the happy couple.
Not weird – that’s exactly how my husband and I ended up getting married. Met at a NYE party and then I left the next day to continue my full-time Master’s program in another state. Long distance for 9 months until I graduated, but we talked about getting married after 4 months and were officially engaged at 6 (while still long-distance). Married the next year. It’s five years later and we laugh at how crazy it all was but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
For some reason I always considered her to be the more liberal Bush twin. Pretty sure she was at a Clinton fundraiser in Paris. As far as her marriage goes, I have nothing to add or assume. Do like her dress, but um girl, what is going on with those shoes???
There, found it: https://www.thecut.com/2016/10/barbara-bush-was-at-a-hillary-clinton-fundraiser-in-paris.html
Hope she can talk some sense into her Dad 😕
I moved across country to be with Mr. Jaded after seeing each other long distance for less than a year. I’d had a relationship with him 40 years ago, he dumped me for someone else and regretted it until they split up 30 years later so I guess I knew him more than if we’d just met. But when he looked me up in 2015, said he’d made a huge mistake, apologized profusely and promised to win back my trust I melted.
I cannot stand these people. I know that none of them are the war criminal, election stealing trash that Bush Jr. & Sr. are, but i CANNOT with them. Okay…maybe Laura, yeah Laura seems quite lovely. And those shoes she’s wearing are not cute.
Pregnancy announcement in 3, 2…
The Bushes are still pretty traditional people.
Or they found each other and didn’t want to waste time.
As for the dress, I love the pictures from the back! But I think the problem is two fold: it didn’t quite fit right and she has a very bony chest area. She probably would have looked better with something that covered a little more of her chest area.
I’m more alarmed that she posed like she was a sex siren in her other wedding pics. Weird vibe for the big day!
Dubya’s stupidity came back out to show itself. Just when people actually were feeling a bit of nostalgia for him. Screw the whole horrid Bush family. Never forget the lie about weapons of mass destruction.