Book Entry 76: 1968 Our Wedding Day

After 3 ½ years of dating and exactly 864 dates we got married on the hottest night of the year!  It was June 22, 1968 if you want to check the weather record.  And yes, I’m very sure of the number of dates we had.  I kept a running total on my calendar.  I did count riding together to JC and going to church.  Some Sundays Larry would go home to work between attending my church in the morning and his at night so those days counted twice.

  The church had a new air conditioner but the “person in charge” decided not to pre-cool the church and once people started coming in the heat inside soon matched the heat outside.  It seems back then weddings were scheduled a lot latter in the day.  Our wedding started at 8:00 in the evening. 

When I arrived with gown in hand I felt like a princess.  In fact, since the night before at our rehearsal I felt like the whole world was watching me and I must have been the most important girl in the entire world.  I know that seems silly but that’s how I felt.  I hope when our daughters got married they felt the same way.  I remember walking up the stairs to go into the sanctuary. 
The sanctuary was full, the balcony was full, the isles had folding chairs in them and there were rows of extra folding chairs at the back of the church.  People were standing inside and all up the stairway into the church.  They had to stand aside and make room for me.  One of my slippers came off.  When I stopped to put it back on someone said, “Just like Cinderella and the glass slipper.”  I never forgot that.  That was exactly how I felt.  I was Cinderella and Larry, waiting inside, was my prince.

                                   

 When I reached the top of the stairs dad was waiting for me.  He took my hand, just like in the movies, wrapped it around his own and led me down the isle.  I remember when I looked at the photographer my heart jumped with panic.  I can see the panic on my face in this photo of me and dad.  
When I saw Larry he was smiling from ear to ear.  Once our eyes met I don’t think I saw anyone else till we were pronounced man and wife and turned toward the audience.  Dad handed my hand to Larry, kissed me, and sat down with mom.

Larry led me up the steps and the wedding began.  The candles were lit and beautiful.  Three of them did have an odd bend that hadn’t been there before.  I realized later they were so hot they were bending.  As the ceremony proceeded I kept looking at Larry.  His whole head was perspiring.  Not only were we in front of over three hundred people but Larry and the other guys had on Tuxedos and I had on a long sleeved, multi-layered dress with a bunch of petticoats underneath.  During one of the prayers I looked at Larry.  He had his head bowed.  There was perspiration dripping off his chin and running down the sides of his face.  

                        

 

Pastor Brown was the pastor of Hughson First Baptist Church where I went.  Pastor Hersh was the pastor of the Turlock First Baptist Church where Larry attended and where we attended after we were married.  They both participated in our service.
             

                         

  Larry asked Larry Date to be one of his groomsmen.  They’d grown up together and had always been best friends.  Larry Date is Japanese as were most of the kids Larry spent his childhood with in school.  When my uncle Thomas heard we were having a Japanese boy in our wedding he made a fuss and said he wouldn’t come.  He and his brothers had fought in the war and he couldn’t get past it.  I think when he told me he wouldn’t come to the wedding if we had Larry in it he was surprised when I calmly told him I’d sure miss seeing him there on such an important night in my life. 

 When Larry and I were walking down the isle of the church Uncle Thomas waved real big to me as we passed his row.  Of course I don’t know what all he went through in the war but I was really happy he’d realized Larry Date wasn't part of it.  I was glad Thomas came to my wedding.

                                      

    I felt all eyes were on us and nothing but good lay ahead.

                Larry had threatened this…but I didn’t think he’d do it!

 

                                        So…naturally….

   

Our car was painted with the usual wedding graffiti.  Everywhere we went people honked and pointed at us.  The kids who had tied the strings of tin cans to drag behind the car had done a good job.  When we pulled into the hotel on our first night we were still dragging those noisy cans.  Windows and doors opened as folks staying the night looked to see what the noise was coming from.  I was really embarrassed at the smiles and silly grins we received.

                           
            Our friends handiwork...I was so embarrassed but I loved it! 

We spent one day of our honeymoon in San Francisco.  Larry bought me a rose from a lady selling them in the street.  The next morning, when we went to breakfast, we ran into the jeweler from Turlock who had sold us our rings.  

When we came home we stopped at mom and dads house to load our car and theirs with our wedding gifts.  We drove to our home at 14436 Lombardy Road.  Larry’s folks joined us and we had dessert and a fun time opening all the gifts.  I still have a scar on my left thumb from checking the sharpness of one of the steak knives Larry Date gave us.

We had been married on Friday night.  In the wink of an eye all the plans and events of our beautiful wedding, our two day honeymoon, and our party to open gifts were over.  

Larry was up and gone to the orchards by five the next morning.  I spent the day cleaning the huge wrapping paper mess, finding a place for all our wonderful gifts, and making our beautiful little house feel like home.