I have, stored away in a chest, my grandmother's wedding dress. One of her wedding slippers is on display in a cabinet of family treasures.
Of course there's a picture of the groom . . .
And the First Baptist Church of Troy, decked out for the occasion . . .
And the bungalow that was their first home . . .
And a charming write-up of the proceedings . . .
But my favorites are the pages with descriptions of her trousseau -- complete with swatches!
Gowns for every occasion . . .
In later years, my grandfather spoke feelingly of the huge trunk (yes, I have that too) that accompanied them on their wedding journey, necessitating hiring porters to move it at each change of trains or hotels.
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35 comments:
oh wow... i had goosebumps reading this... All the beauty of life seems to have been forgotten in the mad world today. those sepia pictures wanted me to wish that i was born 1 years back...
beautiful write up Vicki :)
How lucky you are for having kept such treasures !
Thanks for your nice translation!
What a lovely post, Vicki! It reads like a short story! Your maternal grandparents must have been well-to-do people. How fantastic that you kept all these beautiful reminders. My parents were married by proxy. My father was in Indonesia and my mum in Rotterdam. My grandfather was my father's representative or stand-in.
how cool is that...wow. its like a treasure trove of memory...those pics too...so nice.
This is wonderful! I especially love the bungalow. But when is eight rooms a small house?? Traveling with a trunk - that was great too! A whole different world...
Thank you, Chhaya -- I found myself wishing the same thing!
Thank you, Miss Yves -- I'll post some haiku's soon so you can return the favor!
Well-to-do in a relative sense, Reader Wil. They lived in a small Southern town and my grandfather had been working for several years as a bookkeeper at the bank. My grandmother's parents were middle-class -- her father had, I believe, been the station master for the railroad and was retired on a pension while his late wife had always worked as a milliner.
The wedding journey with that big trunk was only to Chattanooga, Tennessee -- not abroad.
And Wil, I'm fascinated to hear that your parents had a proxy marriage. I remember a book (The Nutmeg Tree?) about one such called a glove marriage where a young woman in Holland married the (idiot) son of a wealthy planter in the Dutch East Indies.
Thank you, Brian!
And thank you, Jean -- yes, eight rooms doesn't sound all that small.
WOW! What wonderful treasures Vicki! 8 rooms is small? Must have been small rooms? :)
I've been thinking about those eight rooms, Carol. I'm guessing Living room, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, a study or everyday sitting room (saving the living room for company)and a bath.
And the book I was mentioning in the comment to Reader Wil was THE SCENT OF CLOVES by Nora Lofts --
so Much Care & Effort has been taken by generations of your family ! A Wonderful Record>
thank you for sharing here.
regards
tony.
How wonderful to have those precious links with your family. Sadly our family seems to have very few such treasures and stories. I am trying to think of how to preserve what memories we have.
Just came back from a trip to Tennessee this week so I am late in commenting. These treasures of yours are so special and romantic. Thanks for sharing them. When I was in France I never thought of asking my grandparents or even my parents for their keepsakes or memories and now it is too late. That is why in a way my daughter asked me to have a blog, so I could post my memories. She is looking into the best way (or printing company) to have my blog made into a book once a year, so that in case something happens with Google (I heard of people losing their blogs) there will be a hard copy. We drove back from Tennessee through Alabama and saw some gorgeous green hills like you have in your area.
Wonderful, Vicki! I've yet to scan or photograph my Mom's wedding album...winter project #134, heh...
And happy week-end :)
I've ended up with so much family stuff -- mine and my husband's. Hoping someday to get it all scanned and then into books, as Vagabonde suggests.
What a treasure trove of memorabilia! It's simply wonderful. I wish people now would take the time to lovingly keep and save these little bits of their lives that contain the essence of who they are. It's a continuity and presence I believe we desperately need these days; the respect for belonging and connection.
So neat that you have all the things from them-so very cool to read about their history and love : )
How interesting to have such a rich collection of memorabilia from your grandmother's wedding!
I am fortunate that there is some pack rat DNA in my gene pool . . .
Vicki,
Enjoyed the post. I was startled by how elaborate the decorations were at the church. They rival about any of the ones I've seen lately (I work at a church...). Very pretty. My Dad's side of the family (my late Grandma in particular) saved many family treasures. She also made sure they were labeled in some way so we would all know. (I can remember as a child peering into her china cabinet and seeing these tiny slips of papers in bowls--they carried the info. of where/what/when). On my Mom's side of the family, they were more down to earth and just scraping to get by, so our family keepsakes from them are fewer.
Tammy
What an absolutely beautiful thing to have. Turning those pages must be a little like holding your grandmother's hand through time.
What does it for me, is the fact that you actually have the wedding slipper, as worn on the day, as seen in the photograph. Priceless.
Lovely photos Vicki. I noticed how wonderfully original the bouquet is. I love the ribbons hanging from it. You must be very proud of your keepsakes. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Blessings, Star
Tammy, I suspect that their were lots of friends who helped with the decorations -- probably one lady who was especially gifted,
What's neat is that in 1950, or thereabouts, I was flower girl in the wedding of my grandmother's older sister's daughter -- and the church was decorated just like that with the two arches.
Martin -- yes, the slipper is a real talisman. I gave the other to one of my brother's daughters who looks very much like my grandmother.
wow...this is such a treasure! I've never seen a bride's book. Love it! The church was decorated so beautifully...love that huge pipe organ, too!
Looking at these pictures and other artifacts made me feel really happy that it is you who inherited and cherishes this treasure.
What an awesome record of their relationship. I don't even have wedding photos of any of my grandparents. Your grandmother was beautiful.
I love the gorgeous wedding slipper. You so resemble your beautiful grandmother, Vicki!
October 20 is a special day in our family, as well. It's my great grandmother Ida Belle's birthday, as well as mine!
Well we also call a proxy marriage a glove marriage. My parents met when my father was on
leave in the Netherlands for a year. He was an engineer on board of a
merchant ship.
Every sixth year in Indonesia ( then Dutch East Indies), he and other
sailors had to go back to the Netherlands in order to study for a new
certificate. There was no time to marry in Holland so they decided to marry
by proxy, after the wedding ceremony my mum was to travel to Java by ship, while my father was
back at work on one of the Dutch ships of his company. My mother didn't wear
a weddingdress, but she had a nice dress in a "red cabbage" colour. At least
that's what she told. Her father-in-law ran up the flight of steps of the
townhall and she ran after him. By-standers were shocked to see a young
woman getting married to an old man, like my grandfather. They didn't know
about the proxy arrangement of course. My mum thought it funny, but my
granddad did not like it at all. Anyway my father got a telegram saying that
he was married! At that moment he was working in the engine room in his
boilersuit. I bet he was happy to miss a weddingceremony with many relatives and
friends shaking hands and smiling all the time. He didn't like to stand on
ceremony! The voyage from the Netherlands to Indonesia took one month. So my
parents had been married over a month before they saw each other. Mum was 21
and dad was 24 years old. They got their first child (me) six years later,
when my father had been in Holland on leave again. He went to Indonesia
ahead and my mum waited until I was born a month later. She waited till I
was a few months old before returning to Indonesia. See my entry of 15
December 2008.
I don't know the book you mentioned, but I'll keep it in mind.
Did I mention that my grandmother and I share a birthday? We really were very close and dear to each other.
And thanks you, Wil, for the great story. (I love the exuberant color of red/purple cabbage and think it sound just right for a wedding!)
You are so lucky to have such treasures to look at! Your post is a gem, and I envy the details and snippets of the past your grandparents saved to pass on. I love the shoes and fabric swatches best. I often look at old photos and wonder about the color of the garments. There is a benefit to the pack rat DNA, but compiling the memories into the bride book was genius. Thanks for sharing.
What a beautiful post and how lucky you are to have so much memorabilia from your grandparents!
These are such treasures--& they appear to be in excellent condition! Thanks so much for sharing them--they really paint a picture of happiness.
What a thrilling and amazing post! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
What a splendid post. I sometimes wonder whether we are leaving treasures such as that bridal book to future generations, but, in many ways, I suppose our blogs are just that. Perhaps we have a duty to ensure that such stories are never lost.
What an amazing book to have in your possession. I am very jealous.
It really qualifies for the over used term "family treasure"
Lovely keepsakes, how lucky you are to have them. I have never heard of a Bride's Book before and with such detail. Hiring a porter must have been costly too at the time, so they must have been on the affluent side of things. October 20th is our anniversary too!
Oh Vicki, that was the best ! So interesting and such wonderful treasures. What's the background on your Grandma's wedding picture? It sort of looks like it's been taken off of something else. I have a picture of my mother as a flower girl in a church decorated similarly. You made me go on a major hunt for an apron and dress of my grandmother's that I can't remember where I stored. I hope I stored it carefully.
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