June & Terry: 1979

Oh you guys! It’s so exciting to open my email and find these great weddings from years gone by, it melts my heart. This wedding is from Hannah (a reader who is not getting married but just likes to hang out around these parts with smart savvy women). The wedding is her parents, and it is going to make you breathe a deep sigh of relief, knowing how a simple wedding can result in much joy and a very long life together. Cheers, cheers, cheers!

My parents got married in 1979 when they were both twenty-three. They had met when my American dad was doing his junior year abroad at the University of Edinburgh where my Scottish mother was a student. Apparently Metaphysical Philosophy One was very romantic. My mother (who was the daughter of an ex-pat American mother living in Edinburgh) moved back to the US with my dad after they both graduated. They were married right before they moved back to London, so my dad is kind of a Green Card husband (or whatever the British equivalent is).They were married in Cambridge, MA and had the reception at their apartment a couple of blocks away from the church. My dad was a college-educated waiter at the time and his restaurant gave him a case of champagne and he hired a bartender and bought enough alcohol for a full bar. A friend of theirs made them a cake of lady fingers and my grandparents and uncle flew over from Scotland bringing the favourite niece as a surprise. Mummy and Dad bought and made all the food except the cake and my mother wore the dress both her grandmother and mother wore with no alterations and her two best friends acted as bridesmaids, fling over from Scotland and wearing dresses they already owned.My father’s brother took all the photos. Unfortunately the camera opened, the film was exposed and ruined so only a few candid snapshots survive but really who needs photos? They had each other. Toasts were made, lady fingers eaten and Mum walked down the isle to Handel’s Water Music with their friends and family around them. Half way through the reception she changed into a white skirt and sweater so she’d be more comfortable. They spent one night at the Ritz in Boston before going back to work on Monday. My grandmothers (both Vassar girls) made things official by making sure announcements made it to the New York Times and Edinburgh Scotsman but Mum and Dad just weren’t bothered. They’ve been married for 30 years this December.
P.S.
My mom asked me to tell you that she didn’t clean the apartment till the morning before the wedding and made everyone who was staying at the flat help.

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