President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are celebrating a milestone anniversary on Jan. 22, 2025. The day marks the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary.
In 2005, well before real-estate developer Trump became the 45th and now the 47th president of the United States, he married his fiancé, model Melania Knauss, at a 350-guest wedding ceremony at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-By-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida. The couple met in 1998 at a party in New York City.
Their wedding was followed by a star-studded reception at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
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The luxurious wedding was described at the time as fit for royalty — from the spectacular gown Melania Trump wore to the immaculately decorated reception at Trump’s private club.
The future first lady wore a $100,000 Christian Dior wedding gown. It consisted of a 13-foot train and a 16-foot-long veil covered in beading that reportedly took over 500 hours of hand sewing to create, according to published accounts of the event in The Palm Beach Post and The Palm Beach Daily News at the time.
The couple is shown celebrating with friends on New Year’s Eve before they were married on Jan. 22, 2005. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
The Donald J. Trump ballroom at Mar-a-Lago was reportedly adorned with 10,000 flowers for the occasion.
Chefs served caviar and Cristal champagne was available for 500 guests.
In an account in Jan. 2005, The Palm Beach Daily News said the dinner included “beggar’s purses filled with caviar, tenderloin done to a turn, miniature wedding cakes and the finest Cristal poured into one of those magical glasses that is never, ever empty.”
On Jan. 21, 2005, in West Palm Beach, Melania Knauss is seen leaving the Episcopal Church of Bethesda by-the-Sea after her wedding rehearsal with Donald Trump on Friday afternoon. The two were married at the church on Saturday night (Greg Lovett/West Palm Beach-USA TODAY NETWORK). (Greg Lovett/USA Today/Imagn)
On Jan. 22, 2005, a worker can be seen placing flowers around the entrance of the Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church where Trump married Melania Knauss in Palm Beach, Florida. (Steve Mitchell/USA Today/Imagn)
The interior of the church at Bethesda-by-the-Sea in West Palm Beach is shown on Jan. 18, 2005. The Trump nuptials took place on Jan. 22, 2005. (Jeffrey Langlois/USA Today/Imagn)
The report went on, “Long tables for 20 filled the ballroom, with its gleaming chandeliers and extensive gold leaf. Designer Preston Bailey set the tables in cream and gold, from linens and china to flatware.
“Enormous candelabrae were wrapped top to bottom in white orchids and roses,” the account continued. “A stage at the east end of the room held the Michael Rose Orchestra.
“This was not your typical wedding reception,” the society column in 2005 continued.
Melania Trump waves after marrying Donald Trump at The Episcopal Church of Bethesda by-the-Sea in West Palm Beach, on Jan. 22, 2005. (Jeffrey Langlois/Palm Beach Daily News/Imagn)
Writing in her recent bestselling memoir, “Melania,” the first lady said of her wedding day, “Although my wedding was grand in scale … what I felt in my heart was what every other bride feels on her special day. The pressure to ensure everything went smoothly was certainly real, but ultimately, my primary focus was celebrating Donald and my love and commitment, surrounded by my loved ones.”
In attendance at the ceremony were members of the media, Hollywood stars and many others.
Group portrait of, from left, the Trumps and TV hosts Joy and Regis Philbin as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 2005. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
Also present for the grand occasion were award-winning musicians Paul Anka, Billy Joel and Donna Summer — plus major political figures such as Bill and Hillary Clinton.
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The Trumps, of course, would go on to have their son, Barron William Trump — President Trump’s fifth and youngest child — who was born on March 20, 2006, in New York City.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are shown on the president’s first inauguration day walking the parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue ahead of his first term as chief executive. Son Barron Trump is at left. (Evan Vucci/USA Today Network)
The Trumps at their first inauguration festivities. Melania Trump presented the Hervé Pierre-designed gown she wore during President Trump’s first inauguration in Jan. 2017 to the Smithsonian. The vanilla silk crepe off-the-shoulder gown with a slit skirt and ruffled accent trim from neckline to hem is now displayed prominently in the First Ladies exhibition. (Reuters)
Barron Trump is 18 years old today. He is a college student this year at New York University, at its NYU Stern School of Business.
He played a key role in his father’s winning a second White House term, according to many.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump place their hands on their chests during a “Salute to America” event on the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, July 4, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Melania Trump looks at son Barron Trump after President Trump delivered his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House on Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan said on Fox News in Nov. 2024 that Barron Trump’s insistence that his dad go on “The Joe Rogan Experience” and other popular podcasts was critical to beating Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
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“It turns out that Barron Trump, who looks like a runway model, was telling his father, ‘You need to go on podcasts, you need to go on Joe Rogan,'” he said.
Barron Trump arrives at the inauguration of his father in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Donald Trump took office as 47th president of the United States for his second term. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Getty Images)
Barron Trump gestures as he is recognized during an indoor inauguration parade at Capital One Arena on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
After a packed day of inauguration events on Monday, President Trump arrived that evening at the Commander-in-Chief Ball shortly after 10 p.m. ET.
He shared his first dance with his first lady – his first of three ball appearances that night.
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Shortly after the band played “Americans, We,” Trump was introduced by an emcee at the Walter Washington Convention Center in Mount Vernon Square.
The Trumps dazzled guests at the inaugural balls on Monday evening. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The presidential couple on the dance floor on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
President Trump and Melania Trump attend the Commander-In-Chief inaugural ball at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The balls follow a fully packed day of events that included President Trump’s formal swearing-in ceremony, an inaugural parade at Capital One Arena, an Oval Office signing ceremony and much more.
Jeffrey Clark, Charles Creitz and Alec Schemmel, all of Fox News Digital, contributed reporting.
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