Barbara Bush has tied the knot during an intimate, secret wedding with Craig Louis Coyne, a comedy writer, having kept her new beau hidden from the public eye since they first met in November last year.
The former first daughter, 36, wowed the public when she announced that she had tied the knot with 37-year-old Craig on Sunday at her family home in Kennebunkport, Maine, having kept her relatively-short engagement a closely-guarded secret.
So just who is the man who won Barbara’s hand in marriage?
Although he has been living in Los Angeles for the past few years, Craig is originally from Georgia, where he was raised by Family Nurse Practitioner Darlene Coyne, 63, and Edward James Coyne Jr., 65, along with his two siblings, Edward James III, 38, and Kathleen, 32.
He went on to study at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennnessee – his mother’s alma mater – before moving to California; he is now set to live with Barbara in New York, after wooing his new wife from afar for much of their relationship.
Interestingly, Craig has come close to the White House; one of his earliest jobs saw him work as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives, a role that is typically occupied by those in their junior year of high school, meaning Barbara’s husband would have likely served from 1997 to 1998.
The president at the time was Bill Clinton; Craig’s new father-in-law George W. didn’t enter the White House until January 2001, while his grandfather-in-law George H.W. finished his presidency several years before, in 1993.
Craig, who is described as ‘a small-town Southerner’ on his agency’s website, received his first acting credit in 2005, when director Sam Mendes cast him in his biographical war drama Jarhead.
The movie is based on the memoir of US Marine Anthony Swofford, with Jake Gyllenhaal as the lead. Craig plays a young Swofford in the movie.
Craig’s acting credits also include the web series Lonelygirl15, which aired between 2006 and 2008, as well as Unlovable, an upcoming dramedy about a woman struggling with sex addiction.
Back in 2009, Craig starred as a man named Logan in the comedy I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, which focuses on a botched bachelor party and its consequences. While Craig’s scenes as Logan were cut according to his IMDB page, a clip of Craig in the movie is still available online.
His character can be seen being mocked by two other men while out at a bar on a date. The sequence sees the two men making fun of Logan’s presumed fitness routine as well as his status as a ‘frat rat’.
Craig also starred in several short movies, including Adrift in 2010.
In 2012, he appeared in Look At Me, a romantic dramedy that tells the story of seven twenty-somethings and the difficulties they face while dating — and trying to live their lives — in New York City.
As a writer, Craig developed a live-action show for Comedy Central. He also wrote and created a TV series called Ask Play starring Parks and Recreation star Jim O’Heir, which is now said to be in post-production.
Craig regularly creates web content and works on original series with producers located both in Los Angeles and in the UK.
He was also written a play called Delusions of Grammar, which earned him a spot in the selection of the 2016 William Inge Theatre Festival in Kansas according to the website of his agency, Independent Talent.
The Vanderbilt University alumni considers himself the ‘world’s biggest Chick-Fil-A fan’ according to a website for one of his films.
Craig first met Barbara after the pair were set up on a blind date in November last year by a friend. They officially became an item by New Year’s Eve and got engaged over the summer — in the same place that Barbara’s grandfather popped the question.
During the ceremony, Craig’s brother Edward, an attorney in Wilmington, North Carolina, served as the groom’s best man.
Reports that Barbara might be getting ready to tie the knot first surfaced last week – despite the family’s best efforts to keep the ceremony a secret.
On Wednesday, Page Six reported that close friends and family of the bride and groom had been sent an invitation via Paperless Post to ‘toast Barbara and Craig’ at a Tribeca loft this coming Friday, just five days after the wedding took pace.
The gathering is reportedly being hosted by Jenna and her husband Henry, and guests were told of the dress code: ‘Sequins highly encouraged to get your groove on.’
A friend of the couple said another party for ‘only about 20 people’ will then be held for just the close family and friends of Barbara and Craig on Saturday, however it is not known whether the source was in fact referring to Barbara’s intimate wedding celebration.
Barbara and Craig tied the knot in Maine because that is where the bride’s grandfather George H. W. Bush, 94, lives, Barbara’s twin sister Jenna told Today.
Jenna served as Barbara’s matron of honor while her daughter Mila, five, and Poppy, three, served as flower girls, with Poppy taking on the additional duty of ring bearer.
During the ceremony, the bride paid tribute to her late grandmother, former First Lady Barbara Bush, who died in April aged 92, by wearing a bracelet George H. W. gave his wife on their 70th wedding anniversary.