weddings

Here Comes the Bride

~ MaryG ~ 24 Comments

These California wildfires (and the mass evacuations) have really got me thinking about what I would grab if I were forced to leave my home with very little notice. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the photos and the mementos that you just can’t get back.

Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a giant basement closet (plus a bin in the attic) full of old photo albums. I’m talking 30+ photo albums plus shoe boxes of old photos. There’s no way I’d be able to grab all of them in an emergency situation.

So, I think what I’m going to do is start selectively scanning them. I’m using the PhotoScan by Google app on my phone.

As a result of my first scanning session, I’ve discovered the root of my fascination with brides.

I always loved brides, bride dolls, veils, bouquets, etc. I remember sitting in my driveway as a kid watching in awe as my former babysitter emerged from her home across the street in her wedding gown. To this day, I will drop everything if I see a bride in the wild to gawk and take a photo.

Apparently it all started with my mother’s brother’s wedding. My Uncle Pete married Aunt Betsy around 1968 and I was the adorable toddler in attendance. My baby sister was too young to go (haha). They clearly made a big deal out of me.

Helping Uncle Pete with his bow tie
My nana lifting me up to see beautiful Aunt Betsy in her spectacular veil
Planting a kiss on some little thumb-sucker at the wedding (I think a photographer set this up—I was not that assertive!)
Having some ice cream with my stylish Nana, who was probably about the same age that I am now

There are so many photos of me “playing bride” after that wedding. I could turn anything into a veil, including mosquito netting. And later, I had a bride doll with a tulle dress and veil that became a favorite toy.

It was an inauspicious start for a feminist-in-the making, but I chalk it up to the tulle. I loved spinning around in fluffy white tulle. And when it came time for my own wedding, you guessed it—tulle.

Lots of tulle
And I finally got my dream veil

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Your tone

~ MaryG ~ 19 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Do you remember life before the internet?
View all responses

As one of the oldest GenXers, I’ve had the internet for just about half of my life, so I remember pre-internet life quite well.

The turning point was around the time I got married—in 1993. I planned the entire wedding and honeymoon without the internet. Imagine that. I had books, a work friend who loved weddings, Bride magazine, a landline, and my mother as my main resources.

As a courtesy to my mother, I called my childhood Catholic church to inquire about getting married there. At that time, my future husband and I were already living together, which is considered to be “the sin of adultery” in the Catholic Church. The fact that we were cohabitating was clear from the greeting on our answering machine.

Well, the very sound of the priest’s condescending voice on my answering machine when he returned my call sent me straight to the Unitarian church down the street. And that’s where we ended up getting married.

Before the internet, the human voice and all its various inflections, mattered more than they do now. There were no emojis, only “your tone” — and I did not like Father Sheehan’s tone.

Image from Pexels

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