Written By: Ben Cosgrove
Long before the heady, rock star-like run for the White House, before “Ich bin ein Berliner,” before the Cuban Missile Crisis, the pillbox hats, Marilyn’s “Happy birthday, Mr. President,” Camelot and the limo drive through Dallas, John and Jackie Kennedy were a young newlywed couple much like any other newlywed couple with one notable difference: by the time of their wedding they were, in a sense, already superstars.
The pair had appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine two months before their wedding, in July 1953, perched on the sloping deck of a sailboat off of Cape Cod, both of them smiling, windblown, emphatically New England-y, beside the cheeky headline, “Senator Kennedy Goes a-Courting.” They were both from prominent, monied, influential families, and they were frequently featured, together and apart, in the society pages of major newspapers.
Their marriage in Rhode Island on September 12, 1953, was national news. LIFE magazine sent photographer Lisa Larsen, then in her late 20s, to cover the highly publicized event. Her photos from the occasion offer not only a before-and-after record of the nuptials, but a surprisingly intimate chronicle of one of the most high-profile American weddings of the 20th century.
For its part, LIFE magazine reported on the scene in an article in a Sept. 1963, issue:
The marriage of Washington’s best-looking young senator to Washington’s prettiest inquiring photographer took place in Newport R.I. this month and their wedding turned out to be the most impressive the old society stronghold had seen in 30 years. As John F. Kennedy took Jacqueline Bouvier as his bride, 600 diplomats, senators, social figures crowded into St. Mary’s Church to hear the Archbishop of Boston perform the rites and read a special blessing from the pope. Outside, 2,000 society fans, some who had come to Newport by chartered bus, cheered the guests and the newlyweds as they left the church. There were 900 guests at the reception and it took Senator and Mrs. Kennedy two hours to shake their hands. The whole affair, said one enthusiastic guest, was “just like a coronation.”
—Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.
The bride and bridegroom finally sat down to lunch after the long, wearying ordeal of the receiving line. Jacqueline, whose wedding dress contained 50 yards of material, got settled in while her husband started right in on the fruit cup.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier’s wedding, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier’s wedding, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jacqueline Bouvier and her husband Sen. John Kennedy stood in front of the church after their wedding ceremony.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
The line of guests waiting patiently to congratulate the couple extended to the front lawn of the bride’s mother’s 300-acre Hammersmith Farm at Newport.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John and Jackie Kennedy on their wedding day, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jackie Kennedy on her wedding day, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier at their wedding, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John and Jackie Kennedy with ushers, bridesmaids and flower girls.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John and Jackie Kennedy with groomsmen and other guests on their wedding day, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Joe Martin. U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives, congratulated the bride and bridegroom.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Flower girl Janet Auchincloss, half sister of the bride, talked to Kennedy while the bride looked out the window at guests waiting to go through the receiving line.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John and Jackie Kennedy on their wedding day, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Guests, including Robert Kennedy, watched as newly married John and Jackie Kennedy cut their wedding cake, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jacqueline Kennedy on her wedding day, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A slice of wedding cake was offered to the bridegroom by flower girl Janet at the luncheon. Kennedy had already had some cake so did not want any more.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
John and Jackie Kennedy on their wedding day, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jacqueline Kennedy on her wedding day.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Guests at the wedding reception for John and Jackie Kennedy, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jacqueline Kennedy danced with her husband, John F. Kennedy, at their wedding reception, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jacqueline Kennedy danced with her new father-in-law, Joseph P. Kennedy.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jacqueline Kennedy danced at her wedding reception.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A girl with a flower at John and Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding reception, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Jacqueline Kennedy on her wedding day, Newport, R.I., Sept. 12, 1953.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Off for their honeymoon in Acapulco, Mexico, the bride and bridegroom left the wedding reception amid a shower of rose-petal confetti and rice.
Lisa Larsen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
