Our oldest got married last year. We celebrated with some wonderful family traditions.
They got married in the morning at the Mount Timpanogos LDS Temple on a bitter cold January day. They were married by her grandpa, who is a sealer at the temple, which was a real treat.
Then we had a family luncheon, and later in the day, a beautiful reception with a wedding cake...
...and dancing with her daddy.
We had great photography, and friends and cousins made beautiful music to entertain us.
We sent them off with confetti - and their friends of course decorated their car.
It was a completely lovely and wonderful day! Doesn't she make a beautiful bride?!
But wedding traditions weren't always the same in our family.
On another cold January day - this one in 1889 - Virie Mendenhall and Nephi Perkins took a bobsleigh - and two of their school friends to act as witnesses - and rode up Dayton Canyon in Idaho. They arrived at the home of the Justice of the Peace and were married. Just like that.
At the Mendenhall ranch, everybody was waiting for them. There they had a wedding dinner, and rolled back the rugs for dancing. Several guests gave recitations and Nephi and his cousin, Dave Evans, sang duets. (I wish I knew what songs they sang!) So far, it seems a lot the same, doesn't it?
This is where the traditions get really different...
It was a custom at the time to "put the bride and groom to bed."
Friends would put the bride in the groom's nightshirt and the groom in her nightgown - usually over their regular clothing. Then they were tucked into bed together. (I'm sure it was way more fun for the friends than for the bride and groom...)
During the evening, Virie knew what was coming. She quietly tucked a key in the top of her high-buttoned shoe. When the festivities came to an end, it was time for the great joke. But the couple was missing.
No one had seen them slip away. Soon everyone was laughing and calling through the locked door of the little upstairs bedroom. Someone asked George, her father, for the extra key - but all the keys were gone.
There was not going to be any "putting to bed" on this night!
Celia, Nephi's older sister, pounded on the door with both hands and shouted, "You just wait until the next time you two get married!"
What are your family wedding traditions - and how do they compare to the traditions of your ancestors? I hope you'll leave me a comment and tell me about it!
Post Script:
I'm so excited and honored that Uphill Both Ways is featured this week on Genea-Musing's "Best of the Genea-Bloggers" list!
Every week, Randy Seaver selects from hundreds of blog articles written by genealogy bloggers, and posts his "Best Of" list on the blog "Genea-Musings." THANKS SO MUCH Randy for including me in your list for March 1-7! And thanks Becky for nominating me! The article he selected from Uphill Both Ways is "Two Wrongs Never Made One Right." There are so many wonderful blogs and great writers. I'm really flattered to be included with them.
And can you believe the time it must take every week for Randy to read all of our articles and publish this list for of us?! You can read his list at Genea-Musings - be sure to take a look at all of these blogs. There's lots of good things happening in the Genea-blogging world!
