Saturday PM
[ 26 January 2013 ]
You asked - did we send out "Save the Date" letters, notes or cards. No, this custom was not yet in vogue. That is a more recent development. But it is an EXCELLENT idea!
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 1943 we decided to get married. As I told you Sara told her parents on Christmas morning. I wrote to my parents. And then that Battalion Commander announced it on New Years Eve Dec. 31, 1943/Jan. 1, 1944.
Setting the date for the wedding was not all our decision. We wanted to go on a week-long honeymoon to Florida. And for me to get away from the Army (it was wartime you know) took some scheduling. I had a company of 200 Infantryman in training. I had a crew of Lieutenants, Sergeants, Corporals, etc. doing the training but I was responsible and had to be there. I was scheduled to complete their training on 26 February and load them on a train and ship them to Fort Hood, Texas. So the earliest possible date was Sunday 27 February 1944. So, that was the date of our wedding. We informally told friends and relatives.
On 26 February in the afternoon I wished these 200 Infantrymen well and watched as they boarded a troop train bound for Texas. That evening we had a Rehearsal Dinner for everyone involved in the wedding (including Pastor and Wife). And then went to the Church for the rehearsal. Sara did not participate. She just watched. I picked the male soloist (Kenny Gardner from Guy Lombardo's orchestra. Sara picked the female soloist - Teenie Hamilton the daughter of a family friend. She was young, but very good. Sara picked all the music and the soloists agreed. Mostly the Pastor and Teenie's Mother ran the evening. They had been thru it many earlier times. Heh, heh.
By today's standards the Reception would be considered modest. At the wedding we invited everyone to "come back to the house" afterward. There we had cake, cookies, candies, punch, coffee, etc. The people spilled out of the house onto the lawn as they shared the occasion.
Oh yes - the announcements. We did not send out "save the date" announcements but we did make two different mailings. One was to the people up in Valley Forge, PA who could not attend the wedding. It was an ANNOUNCEMENT. The other mailing was an actual INVITATION which went to the Georgia people who could reasonably be expected to attend.
The only PA people who could attend were my Mother and Sister - who was a Bridesmaid. They came down on a train and stayed with friends in Columbus. It was wartime and people went out of their way to cooperate and help each other. A help-each-other attitude really prevailed.
When it was time to break away from Sara's Mom and Dad's house we were (amid rice) on our way. We stopped at a Branch Officer's Club at the edge of Fort Benning for dinner (fried chicken) and then a week in Florida. I had made reservations everywhere we went.
So yes, Sunshine I had a role in planning the wedding but it was a minor one. Sara picked the Minister, the Church, the places to visit on our honeymoon, etc. Next month that will be 69 years ago AND I am blessed to be able to remember it.
