Soon, Donald and Melania Trump will celebrate a milestone wedding anniversary. On Jan. 25, 2025, the former first couple will toast 20 years of marriage.
That’s five days after the couple is sworn in as the president of the United States and first lady − for the second time.
Twenty years ago, Donald Trump and then-fiancé Melania Knauss, her professional modeling name, were busy planning their lavish nuptials in Palm Beach, Florida − the wedding at Bethesda-By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, followed by a wedding reception in the new Donald J. Trump Ballroom at his private club.
Much has happened since the Trumps tied the knot; his third trip down the aisle and her first:
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Donald Trump became the 45th president of the U.S. after the 2016 presidential election.
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Melania Trump was the first lady from 2017 to 2021.
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During their time in the White House, the Trump family dubbed Donald Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, the Southern White House.
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Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden.
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Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election against Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Melania Trump will again be the first lady from 2025 to 2029.
A lot has happened to the wedding venue Mar-a-Lago since 2005: Several Trump family members were married or hosted wedding receptions there. Ahead of the milestone wedding anniversary of Donald and Melania Trump, here’s a look at who (and who didn’t) include Trump’s private club Mar-a-Lago in their wedding nuptials.
What was Melania Trump’s maiden name?
Melania Trump was born Melanija Knavs April 26, 1970, in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, according to her bio on the White House Historical Association’s website. As Melania Knauss, she began her modeling career at age 16 and moved to New York in 1996. Donald Trump met the model in 1998 at a New York fashion party, became engaged in 2004 and married in 2005.
Twenty years ago, Melania Knauss was just a bride-to-be, squeezing in wedding dress fittings, finalizing celebrity invites and reception dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Melania Knauss became Mrs. Donald Trump on a Saturday evening in January 2005.
Photos looking back at the wedding of Donald and Melania Trump
The photo gallery below is a look back at wedding preparations for Donald and Melania Trump and what we know about their Jan. 25, 2005, wedding, from archived photos and coverage of the Palm Beach Post and the Palm Beach Daily News.
Where did Donald Trump Jr. get married?
On Nov. 12, 2005, Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of Donald Trump and first wife Ivana Trump, married former model Vanessa Kay Trump, formerly Vanessa Kay Pergolizzi. Donald Trump introduced Donald Trump Jr. to Vanessa at a fashion show in 2003. The couple married at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach in front of about 370 guests, reports show, with the service officiated by Donald Trump’s sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry. Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump were 27 years old when they wed, weeks before they both turned 28 in December 2005.
Donald Trump Jr.’s siblings were in the wedding party: Ivanka Trump was a bridesmaid, and Eric Trump was a groomsman.
Vanessa and Donald Trump Jr. had five children together − Kai Trump, Donald Trump III, Tristan Trump, Spencer Trump and Chloe Trump − before they eventually divorced, after 12 years of marriage, in 2018.
In 2018, Donald Trump Jr. began dating former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, ex-wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The couple eventually became engaged and bought a home together in Admirals Cove, an exclusive neighborhood in Jupiter, Florida. Guilfoyle was a key member of Donald Trump’s re-election campaigns in 2020 and 2024.
Donald Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle broke up. Photos surfaced in December 2024 of Donald Trump Jr. and Palm Beach, Florida, socialite Bettina Anderson holding hands and kissing. Days later, Donald Trump appointed Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece. Since then, news reports show Donald Trump Jr. and Anderson vacationing together abroad, and the former president’s eldest son brought the model as his date to the family’s 2024 New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago.
According to a Jan. 9, 2025, record search, Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle’s home in Jupiter is off the market and both names appear on property records.
Where did Ivanka Trump marry Jared Kushner?
On Oct. 25, 2009, Ivanka Trump, eldest daughter of Donald and Ivana Trump, married Jared Kushner, who previously owned the New York Observer. The 27-year-old bride and 28-year-old groom tied the knot at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, in front of about 500 guests.
News reports show the guest list included celebrities such as Russell Crowe, Regis Philbin, Natalie Portman, Barbara Walters, Rudy Giuliani, Andrew Cuomo, country singer Jamey Johnson, Emmy Rossum and then-boyfriend Adam Duritz of the band Counting Crows.
Ivanka Trump wore a Vera Wang gown reminiscent of Princess Grace Kelly’s wedding dress. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are parents to three children, Arabella Rose Kushner, Joseph Frederick Kushner and Theodore James Kushner.
On Nov. 8, 2014, after a six-year relationship, Lara Yunaska married Eric Trump in a ceremony at Mar-a-Lago. Eric Trump, then 30 and son of Donald Trump and his first wife, Ivana Trump, married the TV producer in a ceremony that included 450 guests and was held on the lawn of the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, USA TODAY reports in a November 2014 story.
Wedding guests included Eric Trump’s mom Ivana Trump, radio personality Elvis Duran and former “Real Housewives of New York” star Jill Zarin, according to People magazine.
The family of Eric Trump’s sister, Ivanka Trump, had roles in the wedding: Ivanka Trump’s daughter was a flower girl and Ivanka Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner, officiated at the wedding, according to the Daily News. The Daily Mail reports that Lara Trump’s dog, Charlie, was the ring bearer. The couple are parents to Luke and Carolina, and they have two dogs, Charlie and Ben, pictures of which prominently fill their social feeds.
Two weeks before her wedding to Eric Trump, the bride, Lara Yunaska, broke both of her wrists in a horse riding accident. She chose to wear Vera Wang — one gown for the ceremony and another for the reception.
On Nov. 12, 2022, Tiffany Trump and Michael Boulos were married at Donald Trump’s private club Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. More than 500 guests attended the wedding of the former president’s youngest daughter, then 29, to the 25-year-old Lebanese-American billionaire. Tiffany Trump is the younger daughter of the former president and his second wife Marla Maples.
The couple, who got engaged after two years of dating, met in 2018, when Boulos was studying project management at City University of London and Tiffany Trump was a law student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Both were vacationing in Santorini and met in Mykonos at Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club, according to People magazine.
Tiffany Trump announced her engagement to Boulos on her father’s last day in office; her fiance proposed in the White House Rose Garden. In an homage to her husband’s Lebanese heritage, the bride chose Lebanese designer Elie Saab to design her dress, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.
Three days before the wedding, Florida was in the path of Hurricane Nicole. The wedding occurred without issue from the storm.
As of January 2025, Tiffany Trump and Michael Boulos are expecting their first child together. After the Dec. 31, 2024, Trump New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, Tiffany Trump posted a photo to her social networks with her left hand resting on her “baby bump.”
They do! Tiffany Trump weds her billionaire boo at a glam shindig at Mar-a-Lago
Contributing: Shannon Donnelly, Palm Beach Daily News, and Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Donald and Melania Trump wedding reception at Mar-a-Lago: A look back
