My, how wedding trends have changed
Large bridal parties, elaborate receptions and exotic honeymoons are now in vogue but they weren't always.
The changing priorities of the couples and American culture have always influenced wedding celebrations.
Edith and Ray Atkinson of Meridian married Sept. 29, 1945. Ray Atkinson was a medic and pharmacist's mate and served in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. She was 18. He was 21.
“He came home one Saturday and we married the next Saturday,” said Edith Atkinson. “You did things up in a hurry.”
A small group of family members gathered at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Zelienople for the ceremony. Afterward, things were simple.
“They took you for a ride and hooped and hollered and then you came home,” Atkinson said. “The cake was from the A&P grocery store, and it was a one-layer cake. You didn't have layer cakes on short notice.”
“I worked in the Pullman Standard shell shop. I borrowed a two-piece burgundy jacket and skirt from a lady I worked with,” Atkinson said.
The Atkinsons' wedding night was spent in Butler, but they did not make reservations.
“It was a Saturday night and we figured we could get a hotel,” Atkinson said.
All the rooms were booked, so they stayed with someone who took in roomers.
Even now, 69 years later, Atkinson said she wasn't disappointed with their simple wedding.
“Nobody planned big weddings during the war. They were just happy they got home alive,” Atkinson said.
Ruth Young Bortmas, formerly of Meridian, was 19 when she married Lee Bortmas in 1949.
Her wedding was just the start of a life of weddings. They owned and managed the family business, Bortmas The Butler Florist, for more than 30 years.
She said most weddings were at 7:30 or 8 p.m., but now there are more afternoon weddings.
She thinks today's weddings are more informal, but receptions are more complicated.
“They have DJs and different dances and drinks. Back in my day, we had a reception at the church,” Bortmas said. “When we got married, it was 8 to 10 or 11 and that was it.”
Bortmas remembers brides bringing their attendants to the florist for planning.“We were much more involved earlier,” Bortmas said.“Some girls didn't have money and might carry one rose and baby's breath and it was enough with some filler in,” Bortmas said.Mary's Cake, Candy and Party Supplies has been in business for 41 years. Tina Villaire, the store manager, has worked there for 35 years.She said receptions today are more likely to have a theme than they did in the past.“The big trend right now is shabby chic. They bring in the burlap, the laces and vintage furniture to decorate with,” Villaire said.She said there is less paper and more props.“It's all in the budget, what your budget is,” Villaire said.She said layer cakes were common in the 1930s and 1940s because they were less expensive.“As time went on the bakeries started offering more of the tiered wedding cakes,” Villaire said.Disposable pillars between cake layers became popular in the 1960s. In the 1970s, staircases and fountains also were popular.“In 2005, stacked cakes became prominent again,” Villaire said.She said bride and bridegroom figurines on wedding cakes vary more today. Figures available include firemen, fisherman, hunters and hockey players. The figurines could be using cell phones, on a park bench or in a canoe.Villaire said cookie tables are still very common in this area, but guests don't have to take cookies home in napkins anymore. Today they might use cookie bags, Chinese takeout containers or plastic hinged containers. Cookies have become a do-it-yourself wedding favor.The Rev. Alden Towberman, senior pastor at St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, and dean of the mid-northeast mission district of the North American Lutheran Church has been a minister since 1970.“What I've really seen in recent years is that the traditional marriage service has not gone out of style even with the emphasis on doing something very individual,” Towberman said.Towberman said more couples at St. Mark's want Communion to be part of the service.“They value the scripture to be read and aren't looking just to have a 15-minute wedding service,” Towberman said.“We marry many folks now who have not had a church background to speak of,” Towberman said.“It used to be in the old days Lutherans married Lutherans,” Towberman said. “Between denominations is much, much more common.”He is performing more second marriages as well.“It was acceptable in 1970, but it has become much more common,” Towberman said.He said today's weddings are less likely to include hymns and have less organ music than in the past. There is a wider variety of contemporary and secular music appropriate for weddings and more diverse instruments are used.“It's not just been change in styles or emphasis on the external trappings, Towberman said. “There is really a presence of God at a Christian wedding service. That to me is the great joy.”The Rev. Edward Volz of St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Freeport said, “The preparation is the most important thing that has changed.”Volz said Catholic counseling for a couple before marriage used to mean participating in a weekend group event with presentations.He said today Catholic counseling includes the Facilitating Open Couple Communication Understanding and Study (FOCCUS). The couple completes this inventory to get a better idea of the future spouse's attitudes about finances, family relationships and other topics. Over several meetings, the priest reviews and discusses the inventories with the couple.He said there was a big change in the Catholic marriage ceremony when altar rails were removed from churches. Previously, a Catholic and a Protestant getting married would stand outside the altar rail. Only Catholic couples were married inside the altar rail.Volz said 60 years ago, it was common for a mixed-faith couple or an older couple to be married at the parsonage.
