President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are celebrating a milestone anniversary on January 22, 2025. The day marks the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary.
In 2005, long before real estate developer Trump became the 45th and now 47th president of the United States, he married his fiancee, model Melania Knauss, in a wedding ceremony with 350 guests at Bethesda-By-the-More Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, Florida. The couple met in 1998 at a party in New York.
Their wedding was followed by a star-studded reception at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
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The luxury wedding was described at the time as fit for royalty – from the spectacular gown worn by Melania Trump to the impeccably decorated reception at Trump’s private club.
The future first lady carried $100,000 Christian Dior wedding dress. It consisted of a 13-foot train and a 16-foot-long beaded veil that reportedly took more than 500 hours of hand sewing to create, according to accounts of the event published in The Palm Beach Post and The Palm Beach Daily News at the time.
The couple were pictured celebrating with friends on New Year’s Eve before tying the knot on January 22, 2005. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
The Donald J. Trump Ballroom at Mar-a-Lago was reportedly decorated with 10,000 flowers for the occasion.
Chefs served caviar and Cristal sparkling wine was available for 500 guests.
In a January 2005 report, The Palm Beach Daily News said the dinner included “beggar’s purses full of caviar, sirloin steak, miniature wedding cakes and the best Cristal poured into one of those magical glasses that are never, ever empty.”
On January 21, 2005, in West Palm Beach, Melania Knauss was seen leaving Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church 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 January 22, 2005, a worker can be seen placing flowers around the entrance to 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 in Bethesda-by-the-Sea in West Palm Beach is shown on January 18, 2005. Trump’s wedding took place on January 22, 2005. (Jeffrey Langlois/USA Today/Imagn)
The report continued: “Long tables for 20 filled the ballroom, with its sparkling chandeliers and large gold leaf. Designer Preston Bailey set the tables in cream and gold, from the linens and china to the flatware.
“The huge candlesticks were wrapped from top to bottom with white orchids and roses,” the report continued. “The stage at east end of the room held by the Michael Rose Orchestra.
“This was not a typical wedding,” the society column continued in 2005.
Melania Trump waves after marrying Donald Trump at Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach, January 22, 2005. (Jeffrey Langlois/Palm Beach Daily News/Imagn)
Writing in her recent bestselling memoir, “Melania,” the first lady said of her wedding day: “Even though my wedding was on a grand scale … what I felt in my heart was what every other bride feels on her special day. .The pressure to make sure everything went smoothly was certainly real, but ultimately, my primary focus was celebrating Donald and my love and devotion, surrounded by her loved ones.”
The ceremony was attended by media representatives, Hollywood stars and many others.
Group portrait, from left, of the Trumps and TV hosts Joy and Regis Philbin as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, in 2005. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
The big occasion was also attended by award-winning musicians Paul Anka, Billy Joel and Donna Summer — plus big political figures like Bill and Hillary Clinton.
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The Trumps, of course, will have a son, Barron William Trump — President Trump’s fifth and youngest child — who was born on March 20, 2006, in New York.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are pictured on the day of the president’s first inauguration, walking in a parade on Pennsylvania Avenue ahead of his first term as chief executive. Son Barron Trump is on the left. (Evan Vucci/USA Today Network)
The Trumps at their first inauguration ceremonies. Melania Trump unveiled at the Smithsonian the Hervé Pierre-designed dress she wore during President Trump’s first inauguration in January 2017. The off-the-shoulder, vanilla-colored silk crepe dress with a slit skirt and ruched neckline to hem is now featured in the exhibition First Ladies. (Reuters)
Barron Trump is 18 years old today. He is a student this year at New York University, at its NYU Stern School of Business.
He played a key role in winning his father’s second term in the White House, according to many.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump cross their arms during the “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 delivers his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House on August 27, 2020 in Washington, DC (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan said on Fox News in November 2024 that Barron Trump’s insistence that his dad go on “The Joe Rogan Experience” and other popular podcasts was key to his victory over 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 have to go to podcastsyou have to go on Joe Rogan,’ he said.
Barron Trump arrives at his father’s inauguration in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC Donald Trump took office as the 47th President of the United States for his second term. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Getty Images)
Barron Trump gestures as he is recognized during the indoor inaugural parade at Capital One Arena on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
After a packed day of inauguration events on Monday, President Trump arrived at the Commander-in-Chief’s Ball shortly after 10:00 PM ET that evening.
He shared his first dance with his first lady – his first of three appearances at the ball 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 on Mount Vernon Square.
The Trumps dazzled guests at Monday night’s inaugural balls. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The presidential couple on the dance floor on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
President Trump and Melania Trump attend the Commander-in-Chief’s Inaugural Ball at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The balls follow an eventful day that included President Trump’s formal swearing-in ceremony, the inaugural parade at Capital One Arena, a signing ceremony in the Oval Office and more.
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Jeffrey Clark, Charles Creitz and Alec Schemmel, all of Fox News Digital, contributed reporting.
