John F. Kennedy, Jr., and Carolyn Bessette were married on September 21, 1996, at the First African Baptist Church on Georgia’s Cumberland Island. The couple chose the remote location, in part, to avoid media attention. The island had no airport and no bridge connecting it to the mainland. About 40 people attended the ceremony. Anthony Radziwill, Kennedy’s cousin, served as best man, and Caroline Kennedy was matron of honor. The small wooden church, which lacked electricity, had particular significance for the Kennedy family. After Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, locals held a memorial service there. Bessette arrived late to the ceremony because of difficulties with her dress. The reception was held at Greyfield Inn, a hotel that had originally been a retreat for the Carnegie family. The couple’s first dance was reportedly to Prince’s “Forever in My Life.”
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