Chapter 24 of Tales That I Can Remember by Elsie Swagerty Burton
The wedding was held in the sanctuary of the First Episcopal Methodist Church of San Jose on June 6, 1937. Rev. Fred Farr officiated. He was the same minister who had married my mother and father and Aunt Lulu and Uncle Wilbur. I thought he had done such a good job on those marriages I wanted it for me, too.
The sanctuary was decorated with a flower bedecked arch at floor level, with a candelabra on either side. Queen Anne’s Lace was attached to wire at the back of the pulpit wall. It was a lovely setting.
The reception was held in the yard at the Standish residence. Aunt Lucy and Mom baked the wedding cake with a friend, Mrs. Melba Winn frosted it. It was lovely. Mother and I had wrapped small packages of Bride’s cake for favors. Everything was adequately done.
I don’t know if young brides are ever completely happy with their wedding arrangements. One has to make so many compromises along the way. First of all the invitations were not worded the way I had instructed for them to be. But being the kind of pushover that I was, I accepted them anyway. I have always felt embarrassed about them.
Then there was the matter of choosing my attendants. I had wanted Merle Irons in the wedding party but because she was having a difficult emotional period, her friends had been asked by her family not to add any more strains. I always believed I should have let her make the decision of whether to or not.
Then there was the reception. The locale was fine but no chairs had been provided and I was very uncomfortable about that. Then there was the matter of photographs. A member of the church who knew our family well and who also knew Father Burton, volunteered to take our pictures. On the appointed day he as called to do a professional job and we were left with no pictures.
It was depression time; the man could just not afford to be there for us. I understood, but have always been very disappointed. If he had not volunteered, we would have made other arrangements to have pictures taken.
Oh, but it was really a lovely wedding. I was my parents’ only daughter and they did all they could to make it as nice as was at all possible, and all in all it was very, very nice.
After spending our wedding night in our apartment at 48 S. 2nd St., we took off for our wedding trip. It consisted of one day at Monterey and Carmel. Who could afford more? Neither Harry or I had ever been to that region. We were enthralled. We still love to go there. It is forever colored romantic for us.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 