real life: a 1939 wedding

This special couple has a sacred place in my heart - they are my maternal grandparents, Arnold and Marcella.  We spent all of my childhood summers living at my Grammy's pretty house in South Dakota...she would hide treats for us in the kitchen drawers, read us books, take us to the farmer's market to buy us kolaches, and garden in her glorious backyard as we ran barefoot in the grass.  Best childhood summers ever.

My Grammy Marcie had an interesting wall in her bedroom - she had a wall full of framed family portraits and wedding pictures of EVERYONE in the family.  I would stare at that wall...and look for the pictures of my mom when she was a kid...and gaze at all the wedding pictures.  It was a rad wall.

I remember when I was little I didn't understand why their oun wedding portrait didn't look like a wedding picture. Where was her white dress? Veil? Flowers? Now, of course, I understand the situation...but as a little kid, it I never liked the answer I received. Let me explain...

My grandfather was not a Roman Catholic like my grandmother, so they were not allowed to have a marriage ceremony at the alter. Instead they had to marry in a little room in the back of the church, with no photos, no flowers, and no family and friends surrounding them. But I love that my grandmother didn't need those things to marry the man she loved.

The church had a dress code: dark colored dress with no lace or embroidery. She choose a fantastic shade of luscious burgundy, and her cameo necklace was divine. They look exquisite and oh-so-in-love.