Nearly two years after assuming office, President Joe Biden’s first state dinner, honoring France, took place Thursday at the White House, giving first lady Jill Biden a chance to show off her hostess skills for America’s oldest ally.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his first lady, Brigitte Macron, joined the Bidens, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff and more than 300 guests in a pavilion on the South Lawn for a dinner that Jill Biden described as “an expression of welcome and friendship.”
“It’s a way to connect through a language that transcends words,” she said at a media preview of the dinner details on Wednesday.
Here’s what to know as Biden hosts Macron Thursday for the president’s first state dinner:
The Bidens greeted the Macrons at the North Portico; Jill Biden wore a black sparkling Oscar da la Renta dress, co-designers Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim confirmed to the Washington Post. Brigitte Macron dazzled in a high-necked ivory dress by Louis Vuitton.
Among the celebrities on the guest list were actors Jennifer Garner, Ariana DeBose and Julia Lous Dreyfus. Others guests included French fashion designer Christian Louboutin, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Apple CEO Tim Cook, “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert and singer John Legend.
Grammy-wining musician Jon Batiste shared his excitement to perform at the black-tie dinner, telling reporters, “It’s going to be fire.”
State dinners at the White House are typically elaborate set pieces (although they don’t compare with those at Buckingham Palace), beginning with a formal arrival ceremony, a press conference between the two leaders, a joint engagement for the spouses and the evening arrival of powerful and/or famous guests dressed to the glittery nines. But no tiaras.
Even though these affairs usually follow firm protocol, the Bidens were keen to ensure that everyone had a good time, said White House Social Secretary Carlos Elizondo.
“This state dinner will not only reflect the shared colors, history and values of the United States and France; it also shows the warmth and heart of our first lady and this White House,” he said during a media preview with the first lady.
Biden said she learned her hostess philosophy from her mother, who “made every dinner a special occasion,” even if they were only eating fish sticks from the freezer.
“She would bring out the china, put fresh flowers on the table and light candles,” she said. “And I learned that setting a table can be an act of love. And once I had my own family, I did my best to keep that tradition alive.”
Biden and her East Wing team of party planers, including Elizondo, Executive Chef Cris Comerford, Executive Pastry Chef Susie Morrison and New York event planning firm Fête, appeared to have gone out of their way to make it a dinner to remember.
“The design of this dinner was inspired by the shared colors of our flags – red, white and blue – and our common values: liberty and democracy, equality and fellowship,” Biden told reporters at the preview. “These form the bedrock upon which our enduring friendship was built.”
The pavilion was fully enclosed, all glass and vinyl and with a floor. Guests were taken from an opening reception in the house to the pavilion in heated trollies. “We’re not gonna have people walk down in their stilettos,” Elizondo said.
Everything about the design of the dinner, from the images on the pavilion walls to the chandeliers above and the dishes and displays on the tables, are “symbols and celebrations of the many ties that bind our nations together,” Biden said.
“Our hope is that the end result will be a night that balances the beauty of our friendship with the seriousness of our purpose. And we hope that French citizens everywhere feel the warmth of our welcome.”
She said Batiste was chosen as the entertainer for the evening for reasons including that he grew up in New Orleans, a city shaped by both French and American culture.
He was slated to perform a variety of musical selections accompanied by his father, Michael Batiste, and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, and the Army and Air Force Strolling Strings.
The menu, as usual, was American and, as usual, sounds mouthwatering, including butter-poached Maine lobster with American caviar, calotte of beef, and sunchoke and creamed watercress.
Biden said she was especially pleased about featuring American cheeses for the cheese course (the French being famous as masters of cheese), including Rogue River Blue, the champion of the 2019 World Cheese Awards. In fact, Comerford said her French counterparts tipped her about Rogue River Blue during a trip to France a few years back.
Dessert was an orange chiffon cake with roasted pears with citrus sauce and crème fraiche ice cream. The sparkling wines were American but served in French-made glasses.
The table flowers featured roses, the official flower of the American national capital, and irises, the official flower of France.
The deep pink roses are American Beauties, bred in France and brought to the U.S. almost two centuries ago.
The china used was white with gold designs and it’s rented because, Elizondo says, the White House curators are leery of taking Presidential White House China outside of the house for fear of breakage.
The Statue of Liberty, a colossal gift from France in the 19th century, was the backdrop for the president’s toast.
The oak tree, the countries’ shared national tree, was included in the décor via elements of wood and oak tones in the chairs and wall paneling.
And naturally there were fleur-de-lis, woven into graphical elements in the room, mixed in with French, Art-Nouveau stained glass.
The dessert for the White House state dinner for France on Dec. 1, 2022, was orange chiffon cake with roasted pears with citrus sauce and crème fraiche ice cream.
Biden said she and the president are well acquainted with the Macrons, who were last fêted at a White House state dinner in 2018 by former President Donald Trump.
When she went to Japan to support Team USA at the Olympics last summer, she cheered alongside President Macron during the three-on-three women’s basketball match, even though they were rooting for different teams.
“There was a camaraderie in the shared love we had for our teams,” she said. “And I got to know Mrs. Macron in Rome (in 2021), where we instantly clicked as educators.”
“And now, we are so glad to welcome them to the White House as the first couple of our oldest ally: France,” she said.
Earlier on Thursday, the first ladies visited Planet Word, a new interactive museum in Washington focused on words and language and how they connect people.
Both women are teachers – Biden’s other job is teaching literature at a local community college – so they were joined by local public school students enrolled in a French immersion program. They also participated in a bilingual poetry reading.
