First Lady’s Brother, Boxer’s Daughter Wed at White House

President Clinton’s brother-in-law and the daughter of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) were married Saturday in the first White House wedding in 23 years.

The Rose Garden was brimming with pink and white geraniums and roses as the Clintons played host for the marriage of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s younger brother, Tony Rodham, to Nicole Boxer.

About 250 guests attended the 40-minute ceremony, which included poetry, Scripture and lilting violin music. Judge Peter Capua, a family friend from Miami, performed the wedding under a white canopy after remarks from a Methodist minister and a Jewish lay representative.

“Everyone was extremely happy,” said Neel Lattimore, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton. “There was applause at the end of the wedding and a lot of laughter.”

Chelsea Clinton, in a teal gown, performed her duties as a bridesmaid with aplomb, Lattimore said. And he described the President as “gleeful.”

After the ceremony, guests retired to the First Lady’s garden and the state rooms for a buffet dinner and reception.

Boxer is a 26-year-old film company executive from Marin, Calif. Rodham, 39, works for the Democratic National Committee. The groom’s brother, U.S. Senate hopeful Hugh Rodham of Florida, was best man.

The families said they--not taxpayers--were paying for the wedding, which was private.

The last White House wedding was in 1971, when Tricia Nixon married Ed Cox.