Trip Down Memory Lane
Weddings have become a new spectator sport judging from the shows on the cable TV: “Bridezillas,” “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding,” “Four Weddings,” “Say Yes to the Dress” and “Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids Edition.”
But some Butler County residents have memories of their weddings that don't include arguing over headpieces or sneering at the meals served during the reception.
Well, residents other than Roxann Booser, executive director of the Maridon Museum, 323 N. McKean St., who said she has few memories of her wedding at all.
Booser said she had a small church wedding and an outdoor reception, but she doesn't remember much of either.
“The fact is that for all the planning, all the stress, all the bickering, in a matter of hours it is all over. You don't have time to eat, you don't have time to drink, you are so busy,” Booser said.
“On that day you are so busy. You have to walk around and do your duty as the bride and groom. You have to welcome everybody and thank them for coming, and then it's time to go. It's a blur,” Booser said.
“But I would do it again. My husband may not ...,” Booser said.
Terry Onufer remembers a wedding that was a do-it-yourself project.
Onufer, who was sworn in as mayor of Mars on Dec. 3 to serve out the term of the late Dick Settlemire, said, “Lynne and I paid for everything ourselves.”
Thinking back to his wedding 31 years ago, Onufer said, “We decorated the church and the hall. We had the traditional fried chicken and stuffed cabbages with a DJ. We kept it low-key because we were paying for it ourselves.
“Our reception was a party, and we partied with the rest of them. It was a great celebration, not just for us, but for everybody that was there, all of our family and friends,” said Onufer.
For Mary Hess, a Zelienople councilwoman, it was the weather that stood out most.“We had an outdoor wedding. I remember that it was the hottest day of the year on the day we got married,” she said. “I remember it was a very small, intimate wedding, and it was done at my parents' home, and it was beautiful.“It was on Aug. 27. It had been so hot, and when the thunderstorm came through it was kind of neat that the thunderstorm cooled it off before the actual ceremony,” she said.“I remember my husband's college buddies came in, and he hadn't seen them in years and he was more interested in seeing his college buddies than me,” Hess added.Bruce Mazzoni, a Cranberry Township supervisor for seven years, also remarked how fast the wedding day seemed to go by.“I would say for me it was how fast it all happened. All that planning went into it, then how fast it all occurred,” said Mazzoni.“We were both Pitt grads, so we had it at Heinz Chapel and the reception was close by at Soldiers and Sailors. The guests could park and walk to both,” he said.“It was a traditional Pitt wedding. We always enjoyed that facility. It turned out to be a gorgeous event,” Mazzoni said.Cantor Michal Gray-Schaffer of Congregation B'nai Abraham, 519 N. Main St., said her most vivid memory was when the music stopped at her wedding.“I remember that I came down the stairs of a beautiful restored mansion to the strains of a string quartet, and they had been playing a Vivaldi piece that I had picked out,” said Gray-Schaffer. “We had gotten our wires crossed. They were supposed to stay for the whole evening, and they didn't, so we didn't have any music for our reception. But while they were there, it was gorgeous.”“When I wasn't even dressed, they were already playing, I just thought they were practicing. They were quietly getting mad because no one was there,” she said.“The time had changed. I had verbally, but not by letter, changed the time. I talked to the head of quartet, and she didn't remember. They played to an empty hall, while we were getting dressed and getting ready,” said Gray-Schaffer.“My husband begged them and said we will pay extra, but they didn't,” she said.For the Rev. David Panther, pastor of First United Methodist Church, 200 E. North St., who on Dec. 19 renewed vows with his wife Jana after 31 years of marriage, two things stood out in his memory,“The first thing is when the service began, I was at the front of altar with all the guys, then the doors opened and my wife walked in a big white wedding gown and she looked so beautiful,” Panther said.“She just took my breath away when she opened the doors. I didn't do anything for the wedding, I was going to school out of state. All I had to do was show up in a tux. She was just so beautiful walking down the aisle,” Panther said.“What I remember more than that was when the wedding was over and we were at the reception saying goodbye, I picked up my wife and carried her to the car,” he said.“We got married on Dec. 19 and there had been an ice storm in Pittsburgh. I couldn't get the car out of the parking space. I had to get all these groomsmen and my uncles to get out and push the car out. I took some ribbing for that,” Panther said.Panther, who has been fighting lymphoma, said renewing his vows last month had special meaning.“When you first get married when you are young you think you know what all those things mean, 'In sickness and health,' but you don't. It's when you've been married for years or go through sickness, that you realize the vows you take are deep and serious things,” Panther said.
