This morning I watched the Today show. A couple that had been chosen by the viewers got married on the plaza during the show. The plaza had been transformed into a vineyard setting. The bride was radiant. She looked like a princess wearing a wedding gown with a full tulle skirt- the kind of dress that every little girl dreams of. A string quartet played as she was walked down the aisle by her father. Her prospective husband looked natty in a summery seersucker suit. He smiled broadly as she approached. They exchanged matching weddings bands. Hers was encrusted with diamonds. When it was over they were toasted with champagne and then told where they would honeymoon-Australia. Their reception was at the Plaza hotel. A 9-piece band played. It looked glorious. Best of all, the Today show footed the bill. How great is that? It reminds me of the wedding of another young couple held 27 years ago tomorrow.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, Doug and I were that couple. I was the blushing bride. Our ceremony was held in the chambers of a Justice of the Peace at the county courts building in downtown Houston. It was a gorgeous ceremony. The chairs were vinyl covered accented with duct tape. They were shabby chic- only 20 years too early. Never mind, they were just shabby. There was a faint aroma of stale cigarettes lingering in the air. I wore a deep raspberry leotard by Gilda Marx. Over it I wore a short cotton pleated skirt by Pier 1. Pappagallo sandals finished my ensemble. Doug was decked out in pressed Wrangler jeans and a starched button-down shirt. Doug had a full head of black curly hair and a flat stomach. I had only one chin and taut triceps. We looked good!
The JP was a paragon of sartorial splendor in his knit leisure suit of powder blue. It was accented with white topstitching. A scratchy rendition of Here Comes the Bride played in the background on the hi-fi. Doug and I actually laughed through the vows. The judge looked at us as if we were insane. There were no rings exchanged that day or til now, for that matter. (I guess people just think we’ve been living in sin lo these many years.)
When it was over Doug went back to work and I went home. That night we went to dinner to celebrate. I practiced writing my new name. Strangely, I have never gotten very good at it. (I’m glad that most bills can be paid online now-very few checks to write). We never had a honeymoon. I had gone off the pill about a week before the wedding and got pregnant 10 days later. I guess a honeymoon just wasn’t to be for us.
The day we got married we still had a semi-large church wedding planned for the fall. By that time I was three months pregnant. I had picked out a stylish size 8 wedding gown at Sakowitz on Post Oak. Suzy Creamcheese in the Galleria was making a wedding hat for me. ( Very fashion forward I thought.) The church was set and I’d spoken to friends about being bridesmaids. Sometimes when I see beautiful weddings like I saw today I reminisce about how our wedding might have been. However, when I think about my life I realize something. Of all the couples that I’ve met over almost 30 years, there is only 1 other couple where at least one of the two people hasn’t been divorced. So, I guess we did something right.
Got YOU beat. We had…. oh, probably close to 20 people at our wedding if you count the bride and groom, the two people who stood up with us, and the preacher. It was in a church my mother-in-law belonged to that I’d never been in, and I laughed through our vows, too. Jim didn’t. He was very pale and sweaty through the whole thing.
I was hoping I could quit grinning and giggling long enough to throw myself to the floor and break his fall should he actually faint. He didn’t, thank God. My dress cost a whopping $59 and was quite amazingly ugly for a supposed wedding dress. I couldn’t have cared less. Our big reception was cake and coffee at my parents house.
We didn’t go on a honeymoon either, and we’re still married after 29 years, too! I do have a nice ring, though. I’m so sorry.
Nah, that’s OK. I tend to fiddle with rings anyway, and probably would’ve lost it anyway. I have thought about tattooing one on Doug. He gets hit on ALL the time.