Barbara Bush Didn’t Think She’d Hear From Husband After Their Comical First Date

Barbara Bush and now-husband Craig Coyne’s first date almost didn’t lead to their whirlwind romance that ended with a secret wedding on Sunday.

Speaking to PEOPLE following the intimate ceremony this past weekend, Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, opened up about the beginnings of her and Coyne’s romance, dishing details about their first date that went “hilariously” awry.

The couple, who were set up by friends, embarked on their first date while Bush and her sister, Jenna Bush Hager, were promoting their book, Sisters First, though things got off to a rough start when Bush was unsure what her blind date looked like, leading her to approach two different men in the lobby to ask if they were Coyne.

“Luckily, a really handsome guy walked in, and I thought, ‘Please, maybe this one will be him.’ And it was him,” Bush said. “And so that was our first date, and he rolled with it.”

Following their initial introduction, their date extended to an invitation from Hager to come to their book event.

“This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I said to Jenna, under no circumstances invite him to our book event,” Bush recalled. “And of course, knowing my sister, we’re wrapping up and we’re heading to our book event, and she says, ‘Craig, why don’t you come to our book event?’ And I elbowed her basically, and so he came with us.”

Once there, however, Hager and event moderator Emily Giffin announced to the crowd that Bush was on a blind date, something that Bush feared would scare Coyne away.

“Luckily, no one in the audience saw Craig, but that was that. And so we left and I gave him a hug and said it was great to meet him, and we flew off,” she said. “I thought it was hilarious, but I said to Jenna in the car, I was like, ‘I’m never going to hear from him again, but regardless, that’s a fun story to tell.’”

Bush and Coyne went on a second date a few weeks later, and in August, Coyne dropped to one knee in Maine, proposing in the exact spot where Bush’s grandparents had become engaged nearly 75 years earlier. Five weeks later, they were walking down the aisle in Kennebunkport, Maine, surrounded by 20 family members.

While Hager may have almost embarrassed her sister and Coyne too much on their initial date, she had a special title on their big day: maid of honor. She even gave a touching toast at the wedding reception, which included reading a love letter that former President George H.W. Bush had written his wife, former First Lady Laura Bush.