Weddings

Weddings
The first wedding that I can recall attending was the wedding of my Cousin Alan Bottomly and his wife Gloria. The reason that it was so memorable was I was best man. It was at this wedding ceremony that I first met my future wife Cynthia Morrison. She was an attendant and usherette. In my own joking nature I teased her annd many of the guests thought that Cindy and I were already dating. It wasn’t so. We just met each other for the ceremony.
The next wedding I’ll mention is my own with Cindy Morrison Beck. After several years of dating the inevital happened. We married. The ceremony took place in the same church where we met and the reception was at the Old Millhouse at Camp Christian. Cindy’s dad was groundkeeper there. Because we were both college students, the costs for the wedding were kept to a minimum. Cindy’s mom sewed all of the gowns for the bridesmaids and Cindy’s wedding gown. The colors were a pale yellow and mint green. I bought a new suit for the wedding and the men wore trhe suits that they had.
About a month later, her best friend and the reason Cindy and I dated, Deborah Firestone married William Detar. Debbie’s wedding was more extravagant with the female bridal party wearing blue gowns, wide brimmed hats, and carrying parasols. Attached to each umbrella was a carnation of different colors and the men in their tuxedos wore cumberbunds of colors that matched their escorts’ flowers. The ceremony was lengthy because Debbie incorporated many ideas for other weddings into hers.
One of my friends is an older lady who didn’t like to drive in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her grandson was getting married at a church with the reception across town, so she asked me to be her chauffer. I accepted and had a great time. This lady bought new shoes for the wedding. They were too large and she had to shuffle her feet to keep from stepping out of them, I teased her about being Cinderella. The one thing I can remamber is the food at the reception was excellent and in a great quantity.
Several years later the same woman again asked me to be a chauffer when another grandson got married. I accepted, but this wedding wasn’’t like the other. The church was on a hillside with limited parking and my friend was older who walked with some difficulty. Finding no other place to park close, I parked in the priest’s driveway. Well, he wasn’t going anywhere until after the ceremony. The bride wore white, but the attendants wore black Later at the reception, guests were asked to wear masks like it was a masquerade ball. It was altogether too strange.