Private wedding for Bush daughter

Jenna Bush is to continue her career as a teacher

The daughter of US President George W Bush has been married in a private ceremony attended by 200 family and close friends at his Texas ranch.

Jenna Bush wed Henry Hager, a business student who worked as an aide to Mr Bush's former adviser Karl Rove.

"This is a joyous occasion for our family," said Mr Bush in his weekly radio address.

Correspondents say the wedding has been kept out of the public eye, with airspace cleared above the ranch.

Jenna's twin sister Barbara was her maid of honour, and 14 female attendants and 14 male ushers were at the ceremony.

Local people offered their best wishes to the couple

The couple exchanged vows before a stone cross erected on the ranch for the occasion.

"We celebrate the happy life ahead of her and her husband, Henry," President Bush earlier in the day.

"It's also a special time for Laura who this Mother's Day weekend will watch a young woman we raised together walk down the aisle."

First dance

The White House media department has given few wedding details, but released some information.

Wedding fever hits Crawford

Jenna, 26, was reported to be wearing an Oscar de la Renta gown with matte beading and embroidery. The ring is a Hager family heirloom reset with sapphires.

Band leader Tyrone Smith, who is playing at the reception, said that the president and his daughter picked You Are So Beautiful for their dance.

The bride and groom chose Lovin' In My Baby's Eyes for their first dance together as husband and wife.

Few residents of Crawford are among those invited, but the couple's photo has been plastered across mugs and other souvenirs for sale in shops in the small town.

All traffic into the Bush ranch was closely monitored

The couple will live in Baltimore, a 45-minute drive from Washington DC.

Henry Hager, 30, is a few weeks away from receiving a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Virginia.

They met in 2004 during Mr Bush's re-election campaign. He worked as an aide to "Bush's brain" Karl Rove and was later an economic policy aide to Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez.

The White House has not confirmed rumours that the couple will honeymoon in Europe.