Wedding bells for Bush's daughter Jenna draw near

By Jeremy Pelofsky

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush has been trying to cajole North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and tamp down violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, but lately all that seems to be on his mind are wedding bells.

Bush has sprinkled references to his twin daughter Jenna's wedding into most public appearances for the last few months, even seeking advice from a recent groom.

"I had to face some very difficult spending decisions and I've had to conduct sensitive diplomacy," Bush told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in March. "That's called planning for a wedding."

Eschewing the glamour and media glare of a White House wedding, Jenna Bush will marry the son of a Virginia politician, Henry Hager, at a private ceremony with family and friends at the president's Texas ranch on Saturday evening.

"I've never really lived in the White House," the 26-year-old bride and school teacher said in an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live" last month. "And I've lived in Texas my whole life and so really what feels like home is Texas."

The last White House wedding was in 1971 when President Richard Nixon's daughter, Tricia, was married in the Rose Garden to Edward Cox.

Walking to board Air Force One to fly to the ranch on Thursday, Bush stuck out his right arm as if practicing walking his daughter down the aisle. Few details about the wedding have emerged, and the family has refused media access.

But the family has revealed one detail: Bush had a limestone altar built at his 1,600 acre ranch for the ceremony, which will be held just before sundown when the notorious Texas heat subsides.