On this day, forty-two years ago, I readied myself to meet my groom at the church.
The wedding preparations, while limited in size and cost as they are for nuptials these days, had been made. . .
1. the proposal and the rings. . .
he asked me to marry him in a very round about way. It wasn't "will you marry me?", but rather something like "what do you think about getting married?". My Casanova was smitten with me as much as I was with him .
Scary now that I look back on it. I had just turned 20 and he was 22. We had only dated a few months! I would not have been supportive of that idea for my kids, BUT our parents didn't interfere. He asked my dad's permission to marry me. . . of course, I had already confided in mom what was gonna happen.
So we went to a jewelry store in downtown Kansas City, called "Krigel's Diamond Shops", and selected our rings.
These are the boxes that contained our rings.
I KNOW some of you are thinking "why does she have those ring boxes after 42 years?"
I can hear YOU!! However, I am sentimental. . . and hold on, cuz it gets worse.
2. date set. . .
I had always dreamed of being a June bride. I don't know why. . . I think I had only attended one wedding prior to being in my own, but June always sounded perfect in my mind. So, we picked June.
3. church reserved. . .
BUT before a date was cast in stone there was a tiny issue. I was a Protestant and he was a Catholic, so I had to "visit" with the Monsignor (not many of them left anymore) several times. It was a requirement for those non-Catholic spouses for that particular priest. . . maybe for all of them back then, but he insisted and I obeyed!!! :)
4. cake ordered. . .
I selected the mother of a high school friend of mine who was a baker . . . Mrs. Ditto. . . to make our cake. And even though she lived over an hour away. . . she gladly made our cake and drove the many miles to set it up and serve it for us.
I told you I was sentimental. . . and so was she. This whisk was given to us from her. . . it was the one she used to make our cake. I used it for many years. . . until I was afraid I might be creating a health risk with the rust from the whisk! I still cherish it, but I don't use it! :)
5. flowers ordered. . .
my husband and I drove down to Rosie's Florals, also in Kansas City, and selected a bridal bouquet for me that I thought was glorious. . . yellow roses and daisies and of course a touch of Stephanotis. My bridesmaids had little nosegays with similar flowers. The boutonnieres were clusters of Stephanotis. Our moms' corsages co-ordinated with their dresses. I don't remember if we ordered alter flowers. Probably not, we were paying for everything ourselves and arrangements of that size were no doubt out of our price range.
I do still have my "going away" corsage, proudly modeled by THE STONE RABBIT! Yellow roses and white pipe cleaner leaves. Hmmmmm. . . that must've been a cost cutting measure! :)
6. bridesmaid dresses. . .
yellow was, and still is, one of my favorite colors, so my sister and my best friend got to wear long yellow dresses!
I picked out the patterns and the fabric and selected daisy trim to go down the front of each dress. . . my mom made them. I created the perky bows, from the dress fabric, each gal was forced to wear! :) Gads, I'll bet they hated me now that I look at that photo.
7. my dress. . .
I knew that there was not enough money to buy a "ready made" dress, so I set about shopping for a pattern and the fabric and, even though I was a fairly decent seamstress, I enlisted my mom to do the actual sewing. . . because she was an even better seamstress.
I recall placing the yards of fabric down on our apartment living room floor, then pinning the patten to it and cutting away with the only pair of scissors I owned at the time which weren't terribly sharp and had blades of about three inches.
I made my veil. I had no idea what I was doing, but it turned out fine and I was very proud of it.
8. My Showers. . . .In the "olden days" folks gave theme showers.
My husband's relatives gave me a "lingerie shower". I recall receiving several flimsy nighties. . . and being embarrassed about opening all of those things up in front of my mom and my future mother-in-law. I'm certain my face was beet red for most of the event.
Here is THE STONE RABBIT showing off the centerpiece from that shower.
Later, some of my friends gave us a "household shower" and my mom presented me with a quilt she had made out of scraps of old fabrics used to create clothes for our family and some of our cast off clothes. We used that quilt until it started to fall apart. I have it in my cedar chest, but I should get it out and try to repair it and put it to use in some way.
9. the reception. . .the original plan was only a cake and punch reception at the church because we couldn't afford anything else. Then, as the days drew closer to the wedding, someone came up with a clubhouse for free and we scraped up enough money to buy some beer and several sacks of potato chips!! That was it- - - last minute, no stressing, and cheap. It turned out to be quite the party. In fact, folks still talk about that night. . . but that's a story for another time! :)
10. the day. . .
SOOOOO, everything was planned and on the morning of June 8, 1968, I waited in my un-airconditioned apartment for my parents to pick me up and take me, and my dress, to the church. . . in their un-airconditioned car. . . and travel across town to meet up with my groom for what would become the rest of my life. . . and his. A life that we created together and have shared for these many years.
It all started out so long ago. . . when we were so young.
Every day is still quite the adventure with my groom. . . and I'm guessing that's what has made it work so long. Well, that and those talks with the Monsignor! :)
He is always full of surprises! Look what he just sent me. . . HE has learned to send text messages and I haven't!!!
Ooops, he needs to have a little spell check on that phone! :)
HOWEVER, I have a blog and he doesn't. . . so I am going to tell everyone how much I love him and how I pray we have many, many more years and adventures together!!!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to you, too!!
Love, DANA
