Bush Family Gathers for Wedding in Maine

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine - Three generations of Bushes, including a president and a former president, converged in a small stone church by the sea Saturday to celebrate George Prescott Bush's wedding.

AP Photo

The wedding of President Bush (news - web sites)'s nephew to Amanda Williams took place under a sunny late-afternoon sky and a heavy security presence. The president made the one-minute drive from his family's home at Walker's Point to St. Ann's Episcopal Church in an armored SUV, part of an unusually long motorcade that also ferried the first President Bush, his wife, their children and other relatives.

The indoor ceremony at the church overlooking the ocean lasted less than an hour, and most of the family walked down the road to the reception. President Bush skipped it, returning instead to Walker's Point after the wedding.

His father and brother Jeb, the Florida governor, waved to a crowd of supporters across the street, delighting onlookers and prompting cries of "four more years!" George P. Bush is Jeb's son.

Secret Service agents were posted around St. Ann's, perched right on the rocky Maine coast, and outside the reception hall.

Earlier Saturday, several family members climbed onto the family speed boat for a fishing expedition. One of President Bush's twin daughters reeled in a 38-inch striped bass, the president proudly announced.

"Jenna caught it. Jenna caught the fish!" Bush shouted to journalists from his father's boat. Photographers said the monster was thrown back into the Atlantic.

Rods and reels in hand, the family set out together in the morning on the Fidelity III, the new powerboat. Three 275-horsepower engines rumbled beneath the boat, which can reach speeds of up to 75 mph.

But the family mostly trolled the calm waters along the Maine cliffs, just up the coast from the Bushes' Walker's Point home. They were shadowed by Coast Guard patrol boats.

On board were the first President Bush; the current President Bush and both his daughters; and Noelle Bush, the daughter of Jeb Bush and sister of the bridegroom.

George P. Bush met his bride while attending law school at the University of Texas at Austin. They began dating after Bush asked her if she wanted to join him in a round of golf.

The bride works for the Jackson Walker law firm in Fort Worth, Texas, specializing in commercial and labor litigation.

This fall, George P. Bush will leave his position as an assistant to a federal judge in Dallas to join the Dallas office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where he will work in corporate law. The firm is one of the world's largest and earns millions lobbying in Washington.

"I am very happy for my son. He is marrying a wonderful young woman. Life can't get any better," Gov. Bush told The Associated Press in an e-mail Thursday from Maine