Donald Trump Jr. marries Bettina Anderson in private Bahamas wedding
In a tiny chapel on a peaceful island, an elegant bride married the son of a US president away from prying eyes. As the groom kissed the hand of his new wife, who was wearing a minimalist slip dress, the scene called to mind the wedding of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, who evaded the press in 1996 to tie the knot in secret in a church on a remote island in front of around 40 guests.
As reported by Hello Magazine, this wedding belonged to a member of another American dynasty, Donald Trump Jr., and Bettina Trump (née Anderson). Despite the obvious parallels, however, there was no attempt to emulate anyone, and the newlyweds have now shared photos of their joyful celebrations.
At one point, it had been reported that President Donald Trump’s eldest child would marry at the White House in Washington, D.C. In the end, it turned out to be a much more intimate affair, with the couple celebrating with family members on a private island in the Bahamas.
From the dress to the stone chapel, the wedding ceremony in the Caribbean in May was "completely Bettina," according to the event planner Lewis Miller.
The founder of Lewis Miller Design told HELLO! that the day was "so much more her than any big grand production at the White House would have ever been."
The private island, Little Pipe Cay, holds special significance to the bride; she is friends with the family who owns it and has memories of visiting as a child. "It felt very intimate to her," Lewis said. "It was lovely because it was so personal."
The wedding celebrations came less than six months after Don, 48, and Bettina, 39, got engaged at Camp David, the President’s country residence, in December.
Guests of honour
On Friday, 22 May, the couple, who live in Florida, exchanged vows on Little Pipe Cay in a ceremony officiated by Brad McPherson, the husband of Bettina’s twin sister, Kristina.
Fewer than 20 people filled the little chapel’s wooden benches, which were delicately decorated with baby’s breath and greenery for the occasion. They included three of Don’s groom’s siblings, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump, and their spouses, Jared Kushner, Lara Trump and Michael Boulos, and four of Bettina’s siblings, Bebe McCranels, Kristina McPherson, Harry Loy Anderson III and Kent Anderson.
Also in attendance were two of Don’s five children from his first marriage – Kai Trump and Donald Trump III, known as Donnie, who sat in the front row on the groom’s side – and the bride’s mother, Inger Anderson.
President Trump had announced beforehand that he would remain in D.C. owing to "circumstances pertaining to government," but he extended his congratulations to his son and new daughter-in-law. Don’s youngest brother, Barron Trump, also missed the ceremony.
Although there was no formal wedding party, Donnie served as his father’s best man, and Kristina served as matron of honour.
Before the service, all of the men got ready together with Don, who wore a custom Mark Russell suit, and were given personalised leather toiletry bags from Leatherology. Meanwhile, the women got ready with Bettina and received monogrammed pouches from OTG247 and personalised blue robes from Petite Plume.
The bride’s stunning wedding dress
The wedding dress was by Safiyaa, a luxury womenswear label that has been worn by the Princess of Wales.
Safiyaa’s creative director, Daniela Karnuts, told HELLO! that Bettina was drawn to "clean, sculptural lines and understated elegance," and envisioned a bridal look that felt "timeless, refined and effortless."
Daniela added: "She wanted it to express confidence, elegance and authenticity. Nothing louder than that. The dress wasn’t intended to make a statement. It was simply meant to feel completely true to who she is."
She said that Bettina was involved throughout the design process, which began months before the wedding, and that when it came to the design they both found themselves returning to the "understated elegance of the Nineties and a period when beautiful tailoring and exceptional fabrics spoke louder than embellishment."
The Caribbean destination also had an influence, with the Bahamas calling for "something that felt light, relaxed and effortless while still carrying a sense of occasion."
Had the wedding taken place at the White House or somewhere more formal, the dress "might have taken on a more architectural quality, while remaining true to its essential simplicity," Daniela added.
The final gown ended up staying "remarkably close" to the earliest sketches, with the sleek slip dress evoking comparisons to the minimalist dress worn by JFK Jr’s bride.
"Carolyn Bessette remains an enduring benchmark for modern bridal elegance, and it’s difficult not to acknowledge her influence on minimalist bridal fashion," Daniela said. "Bettina possesses a similar ease and quiet confidence, which makes those comparisons understandable."
However, the Safiyaa designer insisted that the focus was always on "creating a gown that felt completely authentic to Bettina – one that reflected her personality with honesty, grace and effortless sophistication."
The inspiration for Bettina’s dress was "the belief that restraint can be incredibly powerful… when every proportion and every detail has been carefully considered, simplicity has a presence all of its own."
Rather than a traditional veil, the bride wore a birdcage headpiece. "That was Bettina’s idea," Daniela said. "It felt completely authentic to her style. She has always preferred a more modern interpretation of elegance, and the birdcage headpiece provided the perfect finishing touch."
Details from the intimate ceremony
Bettina also included a deeply meaningful touch. Discreetly hidden inside her gown was a hand-embroidered message that read: "I have found the one whom my soul loves – Song of Solomon 3:4."
The bride also carried a sentimental tribute to her late father, banker Harry Loy Anderson Jr, to keep him close on her big day. Incorporated into her bouquet was a locket he had given her containing two photos of himself, and she held this as she walked up the aisle alone.
There was a lot of laughter as the bride and groom exchanged vows in front of their families.
"It was simple, sacred, beautiful and more joyful than anything I could have ever dreamed," Bettina later wrote of the ceremony on Instagram.
Following the service, dinner was held at the island’s Refectory, overlooking the ocean. There, at a long table dressed with white peonies, ranunculus and candles in cylinder vases, guests enjoyed a multi-course meal that began with a choice of island-style tuna crudo or heirloom tomato burrata, followed by tagliolini and then a choice of butter-poached lobster or truffle-roasted chicken and finally a main course of herb-crusted filet of beef.
The wedding cake, by Sweet Stacy’s Palm Beach, was decorated with palm trees sculpted from frosting and had a story to tell of its own journey to the Bahamas. The vanilla cake, along with a funfetti cake served later that weekend, travelled by van, jet, chopper, golf cart and boat, and arrived safe and sound – though not without causing a little anxiety for Lewis.
Reflecting on the first night, the wedding planner said: "It was really just so lovely to see a group of people and family members that all genuinely love each other, so just the energy of the dynamics between everybody was so wonderful, and everybody was in great spirits.
"The weather was beautiful, they were just so happy to be there, and it was like you were in this tiny little pocket and the rest of the world didn’t exist for this evening. It was just about Bettina and Don, and the love that these kinds of friends and family have for each other."
The festivities continue
The night ended with a bonfire but the celebrations didn’t stop there. The following day, Saturday, more guests arrived in the Bahamas for a colourful Caribbean-themed party.
The lively festivities featured Bahamian-style fare, including a roasted pig, in addition to a Junkanoo band, rum bar and dancing on the beach.
The new Mrs. Trump leaned into the island setting, wearing a one-shouldered Missoni dress and Juju Vera earrings, while her husband got into the street-festival spirit with a Junkanoo headpiece.
Sunday started with a fishing trip for the men and a pool party for the women, and wrapped up with a nautical-themed bash on the nearby island Over Yonder Cay. The bride and groom gathered their guests for a party complete with a seafood boat, DJ, props for guests (namely, sailor caps and disco heads), dancers, an illusionist and fireworks.
Then the bride and groom shared their first official dance as a married couple to Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love. Guests joined them under disco balls suspended from palm trees and posed for photos with life rings and an LED sign reading "Sea la Vie."
Bettina rewore her slip wedding dress from the chapel ceremony before changing into a custom Safiyaa couture two-piece set.
The couple cut into their second wedding cake of the weekend. The five-tier funfetti creation featured a tackle box detail and a topper of a bride holding a fishing rod, reeling in her groom.
Later, as fireworks illuminated the sky, Don and Bettina kissed on the beach.
’Every party had its own flavour’
The couple had wanted their wedding to be about family, and the love between relatives was evident in the speeches over the weekend. Lewis said: "There was no cynicism. There was no sarcasm. It was just a mutual respect and an admiration and a joy that they all had."
Lewis, who worked with Bettina on her bridal shower, had less than two months to plan the wedding in the Bahamas, but it helped to have a bride with a distinct vision.
"She wanted a progression. The ceremony was very serene and pretty and soft, and the dinner was very elegant, and then the next night was much more colorful, and then the last night was more kind of cool and fun tropical vibes," he said.
"Every party had its own flavour. It never felt disjointed because they were all in different areas, and so it just felt kind of like everything just naturally rolled into a progression of things, with plenty of time to decompress and enjoy the island and go shelling, swimming, boating, fishing or swim with the pigs in between."
Ensuring that the wedding didn’t feel like a big production was a top priority, he added. "It needed to just feel intimate."
The bride and groom dreamt of a chic and simple wedding but also one that was fun and energetic. "The overall connecting theme was we want everybody to just have fun, we want them to forget the world we live in for a few moments," Lewis said. "It’s all about the love. It’s all about the family."
And that’s exactly what the bride and groom got. "They had such a great time. Everything really went off without a hitch, so they were thrilled, and I think it’s really everything they wanted it to be."
At the heart of it all was, as Don and Bettina hoped, a celebration of love and family, proving that, in the end, love does in fact trump all.
Technology & Business Editor
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