The Hubs and I tied the knot on June 6, 1981, after a four-year courtship. He was twenty-two, and I was eighteen. My business course in Saskatoon was completed, and I had started working at the school office in Leask in May. My new bosses were gracious enough to allow me to take a week off to get married.
We had a traditional small-town wedding with several hundred guests in attendance. The ceremony was held at the old St. Henry’s Church in Leask, which has since been demolished and replaced. Construction on the new hall had been completed in the spring of that year.
I purchased my dress at a bridal shop in Midtown Plaza in Saskatoon. I was shopping and saw the dress and liked it, so I called my roommate, my maid of honour, and asked her to come and see it. She came and helped me decide and then the two of us and the dress went home.
Our parents had a meeting to discuss the arrangements, and my mom sent out the invitations I had chosen. There were no online wedding sites back then. Invitations were mailed out, and replies were returned by mail.
I had made decorations, including a huge double heart that hung on the wall behind the head table and the standard kleenex flowers.
Mom made fruitcake for the traditional wedding favours, and we wrapped tiny pieces in plastic wrap and then in a white paper doily and tied it with a ribbon. The wedding cake for the hall was artificial, as was my bouquet. My sister, Delores, was home from British Columbia, and she helped me “gather” some lilacs from around the village to use as centrepieces on the guest tables.
We had four bridesmaids and groomsmen. The girls wore long blue dresses made by my mother-in-law and carried parasols. The Hubs wore a black rented suit, and the groomsmen wore grey suits.
My dad never got flustered or nervous. When it was time for him to drive us to the church, we all piled into the decorated wedding car. The vehicle wouldn’t start, but no one suspected he was the problem. Dad finally realized he was trying to start the vehicle with the wrong set of keys. His cool cover had slipped for just a few moments. We were fashionably late, but it all worked out.
Following the ceremony, the wedding party made the two-hour roundtrip to Prince Albert to have our photos taken at McMasters Photography. We then returned to the village for supper. Family and friends had lovingly prepared a delicious meal. My mother-in-law had a cabbage roll bee going for days before the wedding.
With my siblings and parents
The sixth day of the sixth month of 1981 was sunny and warm, but extremely windy. I had a ten-foot long veil and it was blowing straight up in the air in some of the pictures. By nightfall, a massive thunderstorm rolled in. The conditions in the area that spring were very dry and many of the farmers in attendance had been praying for rain. As the rain poured down some of the guests danced outside.
We went and changed into our going away outfits and after bidding our guests farewell we made our departure. It was raining so hard that the windshield wipers couldn't keep up. We stared into the darkness, silent and exhausted trying to see the road.
The next day dawned sunny and warm and we hosted a gift opening on the tiny deck of our house.
On the Monday after the wedding, we left for a weeks holiday in British Columbia.
Every year we wait for my grandma's lilac tree in our yard to bloom for our anniversary and it has almost always come through on time. Last fall we cut it right down to the ground as it was not blooming much anymore. I don’t know what I was thinking, now for our 40th we have no lilacs. We have come full circle, I will have to go and steal some from the neighbours yards, I may need my sister for backup.
Every year we wait for my grandma's lilac tree in our yard to bloom for our anniversary and it has almost always come through on time. Last fall we cut it right down to the ground as it was not blooming much anymore. I don’t know what I was thinking, now for our 40th we have no lilacs. We have come full circle, I will have to go and steal some from the neighbours yards, I may need my sister for backup.
Looking back, it is hard to fathom how quickly forty years can slip by. A lot of water under the bridge for sure. As my dad would say, “it has been a good run”. Cheers to 40 years!
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