Today is the day we get to see Linda’s white velvet dress… it was 56 years ago so her wedding pictures were mostly in black and white. I have searched and searched in my pictures to show you how tall Linda is, so her dress must have looked like it was made for a model! The day I met her, she was as beautiful as could be! I know I told her that, but I’m telling her again! :o)
This is what Linda shared with me…
Jeanne, here is our wedding picture we have in our bedroom. My dress was white velvet and I had white mink around the sleeves! Remember, this is way back in 1966, so that would not fly today! I saw this dress on the cover of Bride magazine, and fell in love with it. Also Miss Alaska wore the dress, without the veil, of course, the next year in the Miss America pageant! It was a very simple A line, with an empire waistline, and had a detachable train at the waistline in back. I had a crystal and seed-pearl crown. Michael, of course was in the Army and we had a military wedding, since all the groomsmen were in the service at the time, which was at the height of the Viet Nam War. He left for Viet Nam three months later. This is the black and white picture. The poinsettias are in back of us. Iâll send another picture in color, but it isnât too great, since it is a snapshot.
Here is the other one, with color, so you can see the red poinsettias on the altar. Color photos donât age well, do they? There were lighted evergreens on the right side of the altar with the nativity set there, but I donât have a good picture of all that. I just wanted to show the banks of poinsettias, which were so pretty. My attendants wore gold velvet and satin dresses, not the usual red you normally see at Christmas weddings.
Love to you,
Linda
Thank you so much Linda, for sharing your special day with us! I bet it was much more beautiful than we can even imagine! :o)
Now, I have a surprise… from one of the ladies who bought my Nora (#55) American Girl doll.
The mom’s name is Christian and this is what she told me in an email….
Hello Jeanne, Number 55, or in this case Nora, has been my daughter’s favorite doll for a while, so this was just a perfect opportunity to get her for Christmas. My daughter is very gentle with her dolls so she is in good hands! Happy Holidays!
I thanked her and she wrote me back…
Here are some photos my daughter took of Nora! She decided to name her Eden, like the garden, and she plans to name another doll of hers Nora instead. Both are beautiful names! I hope your blog likes the photos! My daughter, Elise, decided to photograph her in multiple poses and with her two other sisters. Have a very Merry Christmas, she is extremely happy to have her doll!
I LOVE it when a doll you sell goes to a wonderful home… :o)
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thank you for sharing the pictures,Jeanne and Linda! Such a beautiful wedding dress and beautiful Church! Congratulations on your 56th wedding anniversary! May you always continue to grow in love for each other and in that way, for God!
It looks like Elise has been having a wonderful time with Eden! She is a lucky doll =)
Thank you, Karen! It was a beautiful day, with snow on the ground, and bright sunshine too! Nothing like we had last week, thankfully!
Well, Linda, I am sure you and I are close in age, and I, too, remember wedding gowns trimmed with fur! I thought they were so very elegant, but knew I would probably never be able to have one, since I was planning on making my gown (‘some day”), and didn’t know how to sew on fur! LOL Your gown is absolutely gorgeous; I can see why you fell in love with it. You were a beautiful bride, and congratulations on your 56th anniversary.
I’m sure the red poinsettias made a lovely and striking background for the gold bridesmaid dresses, I think maybe red gowns would have gotten “lost”, but I’m sure the gold really stood out!
Christian, thank you for sharing your photos, too. It looks like Nora/Eden is in the right place, with your daughter, and settling in nicely with her other AG sisters. What fun! Elise is becoming quite a good photographer, too–some of her poses/shots are just really wonderful, like Eden admiring the Christmas lights, and snuggling with her kitty.
Thanks, ladies!
Thank you, Charlotte! I believe I am a year or two older than you,(and a whole lot taller!) and I was just very lucky to get that gown, since we started planning on our December wedding the September before, due to Michael receiving orders for Viet Nam, and me in college with 3 weeks to go before graduating in January after we got married! What a whirlwind that was! Although I did sew most of my clothes, there was no time to even think of sewing a wedding dress!
Loved seeing Linda’s dress. Velvet with the fur was so perfect in 1966. Your picture should have made the cover of a magazine as well. Gorgeous dress. đ Good thing your husband’s buddies didn’t write anything on the bottom of his shoes. đ Other person was also in Vietnam, fortunately on a ship, at that time. I understand that you can have faded color photos redone so they look fresh once again. I should add that to my to do list as we have faded ones as well. đ Thanks Linda for sharing. I’m sure it was a lovely wedding and congrats.
Cute pics of Nora/Eden. Elise did a great job with the photography! đ
Thanks Jeanne for sharing some fun pics today.
Ha, Joy, didnât realize what you meant by writing something on the bottom of Michaelâs shoes, until I saw the photo of us kneeling at the alter! I really donât think it would have entered their minds, and thank heavens for that!
As for as âfixingâ the old, color snapshots, that would be nice to do,âŠ..if I can find them all! The photographerâs photos are still good , just not those amateur snapshots!
Thank you for the compliments!
I remember it used to be a thing for groomsmen to write something like Help Me! on the shoes. Most grooms became wise and checked their shoes. đ
What wonderful picâs today!
Linda I loved seeing your wedding pic so thank you for taking the time to root it out and sharing. Just your descriptions sound beautiful. It was a buzz of activity too! Happy blessed anniversary.
Those are exceptional photos of Nora/Eden. She looks so pretty I donât know how anyone could give her up! Talented photographer indeed. Liked all the outfits too, and seems sheâs fitting in nicely.
Thank you so much, Dorothy, for your compliments! The first picture is always out in our bedroom, so no trouble finding that one, but oh my gosh, the others are here and there all over the place! I still need to find the bulk of my wedding pictures, and for sure am going to put them all together in one place, whenever I do! We didn’t have the internet for putting pictures on, so we have the real deal, and a lot of those! I have boxes and boxes of pictures from family and the our own before the days of the computer.
Linda, you should have been on the cover of Bride magazine! You were a beautiful bride and I can tell your wedding was stunning! Thanks for sharing those pictures.
Happy ending for Nora! That was very nice of the buyer to share her photos of her daughter with her.
Looking forward to all of the creations you will have for us in the new year!
Thank you so much for the sweet words, Debbie! My wedding was very special to me, and it turned out beautifully in spite of the shortened time to plan for it. I had always wanted a Christmas wedding, and I got my wish!
Linda what a beautiful wedding photo. Your wedding gown looks gorgeous. Do you still have it? Velvet doesn’t usually hold up too well with time. I would have loved to see the gold dresses against the red poinsettias. You and Michael made a lovely couple. Congratulations on your 56th wedding anniversary. I can’t imagine having a Christmas wedding with an anniversary at Christmastime. Having a birthday the day after is enough for me.
How nice Christian sent you pictures of her daughter’s Eden. Elise (I love the name – need another doll) did a wonderful job on the pictures. Very clever with her posing. And you can see from the pictures she is a good mommy to her dollies.
Thanks so much Jeanne for giving Linda, Christian and Elise the opportunity to share their wonderful pictures with us.
First things first! Happy Belated Birthday to you, dear Barbara! We each claim December 26th as a special day!
No, I don’t have my dress anymore, sadly. Like you mentioned, velvet does not hold up well, and the white fur had yellowed with age, so it really didn’t look as pristine as it got older. I donated it about two years ago after having it hang in my closet for over 50 years! Imagine that!!
Thanks so much for the birthday wishes. My wedding gown has been hanging in a closet for 43 years but it’s lace and holding up well. I was hoping when my son got married about 12 years ago that Dionne would want to wear my gown but it was too traditional for her and all white. She wanted some color so she had a white gown with a red sash. Hers was beautiful also.
I just found a long article with pictures of designer wedding gowns. https://za.investing.com/magazine/most-expensive-wedding-gowns-of-all-time-2/article/82389
I’d take Linda’s instead, any day.
I’m sure current color photos might hold up better, but having a few in black and white as insurance makes sense.
Nora/Eden found a good home. And a good photographer.
Thank you, Marilyn! Oh my goodness how interesting and eye opening that article is with all the wedding dresses and prices!! I am not embarrased to say that my dress only cost $100 right off the rack and I never had to even have it fitted! It fit me like a glove, which was perfect since time was scarce! Some of those wedding dresses that cost thousands of dollars woud have had my parents and in-laws fainting with the lack of modesty!! I do think the style of my dress is timeless, which is what I was going for.
I find that brides even now, like to include at least one black and white or sepia toned picture. They show details so well. My grandparents wedding pictures still look clear and crisp, and of course were in black and white. They are timeless!
Thank you for sharing your photos, Linda. You were a beautiful bride and Michael looks so handsome in his uniform. White velvet was certainly lovely for a winter wedding. Your crown is very elegant. The red poinsettias would have been stunning.
How nice to share photos of Elise’s doll Eden, Christian. Love the one in her nightie holding the kitty. Too sweet.
Thank you, Laura! Yes, the poinsettias were the perfect touch for our wedding. The thing was, all the flowers and Christmas decorations were a part of our churchâs Christmas decorations, so we didnât have to buy a thing to decorate the church! Than you for the nice words and yes, Michael was my âPrince Charmingâ in his uniform!
Linda, you make a beautiful bride. The black and white picture is pretty clear. Thank you for sending both pictures. The poinsettias were perfect for the altar at that time.
I remember those years during the Vietnam War. My husband and I were married in 1972. His draft number was 11 but it was near the end of the war and his time was limited in the Air Force in Texas. Many brides said their goodbyes to their newly wed husbands after during that time.
Also, Jeanne, it was nice of Christian to send the pictures of her daughterâs new Christmas doll,Eden, and Edenâs friends.
Hope everyone is managing well despite this winter storm that has reeked havoc across the country. I saw pictures of our marina on Lake Erie. The water was literally swept east into Buffalo. The bottom of the lake was visible in many areas. My thoughts are with the people out East, especially Buffalo.
My father was in the Air Force in Texas during the Vietnam War, too. He also had to stay in Thailand. He was an airplane mechanic. My parents were married in 1979.
Thank you, Paula! Yes, those were scary times, when you never knew if your fiancĂ©, husband, or boyfriend would be drafted or not. Supposedly, if you were making passing grades in college, you were safe, but even though Michaelâs grades were fine, he was on the list to be drafted, so he enlisted to be able to be in the Finance Corps, and not have to go to .Viet Nam. Well, guess what happened? They sent the Finance Corps to Viet Nam! Two of my sorority sisters also got married over Christmas break since our new husbands were being sent to Viet Nam. You and your husband were very lucky! So, 50 years for you?
Yes, Linda, this year was our 50th.
And I agree, it certainly was an unsettling time. While other girls actually had their husbands go to Vietnam, as your husband did, my separation was more tolerable and I was grateful but yet felt bad for others.
Thank you for sharing your wedding pictures. It surely was beautiful with the accents and happiness of Christmas as well.
Congratulations, Paula, on your 50th wedding anniversary!
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Linda I LOVED seeing your pictures and story of the beautiful white velvet dress. Amazing that it fit so well especially since you are tall and it was long enoughđ. Your husband and buddies in their uniforms were fantastic. Luckily you had a hubby come home.56 years !
We were married that year too with similar details. The dress I loved was on the cover of a magazine too. My bridesmaid and I went to the big dept store here in Omaha( Brandeis) and they had one to try on. When the sales girl left the room we measured every part of that dress and train. I found the lace in an ad from NY in the back of Bride magazineand sent for it. The lace parts were used in both my daughters wedding dresses toođ
JeanneâŠSeeing the AG doll you sold in the arms of her new Momie must have made you smile. That is a lucky Dolly to have her very own clothes and sisters nowđ
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONEđđ„ł
Kathie, thank you, and oh my, what a similar experience we had getting our wedding dresses during those scary times when the Viet Nam War hung so heavily over us! Only those of us who went through those times understand how it was, and tried to make a joyous occasion out of it. I would love to see your dress, and how sweet that you were able to salvage parts of it for your daughters wedding dresses too!