Tony and I will be having shrimp and a garden salad on Sunday as we have every Feb 5th for the last 50 years beginning on our wedding day in 1962. We wanted to share the memory with you all. I will take it down to save space later. Maggie


Our wedding was not what most little girls dream of, but since my dreams had never included a wedding, I was not disappointed. I wore a kaki colored dress. I did not own a winter white dress and buying a new one was not possible with my budget and was of little concern to me. It was the promise to love, honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, that was important, not the dress. Tony called the Episcopal Church to arrange a wedding and learned that they had a “cooling off” period. Our objective was to be married during the week before finals when Tony did not have classes and the wait required by the church would have put the wedding into finals week.

Since neither of us had a phone, Tony went to a nearby payphone and made several calls through the operator to try to arrange a ceremony. Finally, the operator interrupted him and asked, “Son, are you trying to get married?” Tony confirmed it and she gave him the name and number of a Justice of the Peace, a man named Bayles. Tony called and arranged a time with him for the wedding. Tony borrowed a car from his roommate and we drove over to the Bayles house. It sat on a corner lot and was a big old Victorian with carpenter gothic ornamentation. We parked on the side street. An older man in dirty overalls was tilling a garden behind the house with a push plow. He nodded to us and we nodded back to him. We crossed the porch and knocked on the door. Mrs. Bayles answered our knock and invited us in. She was a large hefty woman and a little brash. She pointed to the couch and said, “Have a seat. I will get Mr. Bayles.”

The room was old and dusty with an odor of antiquity. The furniture seemed to be remnants from the previous generation, but seemed to belong in an old Victorian house. A garish Victorian light fixture made of pot metal and painted with faded colors of gold, olive green and orange hung from the center of the room. Five bare light bulbs hung down from the bottom of the fixture and were hardly enough to light the room with its heavy drapes drawn tightly over the windows. Years later, I found that fixture in an antique shop, confirmed that it had come from the Bayles house and proudly hung it in our house to admire its ugly, brassy glory.

Mrs. Bayles left us, crossed the kitchen, opened the back door and bellowed at the man in the garden, “Come on in now. Them kids is here.”
Mr. Bayles dusted his overalls as he came through the back door and wiped his hands slowly down the sides of his overalls, ran his fingers through his hair to smooth it and with that, he was dressed for the ceremony. He shook our hands and picked up a small book.

We stood under the light fixture, and he started to read the familiar words that make a wedding, but seemed disoriented. Perhaps it was the fatigue from plowing, perhaps his age, or maybe just a general disinterest, but he could not read the words and several times stopped and started at the beginning again. He forgot that we were exchanging rings and we stopped him. When he read the end of the little book that should have been, “you may kiss the bride”, he said, “You may back-up and sit on the couch.” Tony and I looked at each other and laughed, but did as we were told. We sat on the couch. And with that unorthodox ceremony, we became husband and wife.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2012 10:27AM by Maggie.

Maggie

It was so good to hear from you and I am so happy for you and Tony. Congratulations and many more. Such a wonderful memory for your family.

I really enjoyed reading the story of your wedding, You tell a tale soooo well. How amazing that you were able to find the exact light fixture you were married under.. what a treasure~! Thanks for sharing! Pat

Happy Anniversary!!!! And thank you for sharing your wedding story!!

Congratulations. That was a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it.

Loved reading this story. You could be an author! Happy Anniversary!

Send that into Readers Digest, what a beautiful story!

Maggie, i Love your memories and how you share them, and wish you beautiful memories tomorrow on your 50th

Congratulations! You and Tony are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your story.

Maggie,
Thank you! What a true love story. I am smiling ear to ear right now!

Carla

Beautiful, Maggie!!! Congratulations.
Tommie and I will do our 50th on March 18.
Bob

Congratulations on your 50th Maggie and Tony. It always puts a smile on my face to read your posts, a women after my heart being loving and supportive to her man through thick and thin. Although we've never met and I only know you from seeing your posts I get the sense that you two are very special. Love to both of you on Valentines Day.

Margaret