This photo is at our small wedding reception in 1971 with my new husband and his brother. Those long sideburns and the long hair were popular then as were The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and others. The Vietnam War was still raging and we had lost high school classmates in it. Things seemed unstable in the world but love kept us going.
Being 70ish I have often looked back into the past which is something many aging people do. Yesterday was our 52nd anniversary so I had lots of memories to revisit. Things were different and people seemed to be different, the whole world was different in the 1970’s.
Maybe you were fortunate to have parents or a relative who set aside a chunk of money for you to have a big wedding when the time came, adding a large fancy reception as well. I was not as lucky. Plus my midwestern raised Mom was practical, frugal and did not believe in throwing away money on a simple thing like getting married. My parents did not have much money and I had a couple low paying part time jobs while getting through college. That meant a cheap, cost cutting and efficient wedding. Sounds simple, but it led to a stressful time and a major realization that my fiancé and I had to put our collective foot down eventually. We knew we wanted it to be inexpensive and creative.
We planned for the day to be in July and wanted to go to a park we liked for a ceremony with only family. We got a judge to promise he would do the honors at the park for a small fee. Judge Bach arrived in his shiny new corvette that day in July of 1971. He said some perfect words before the regular “I do” part. He said we were free thinkers and we were getting married in the park because that’s what we wanted and we two were independent, young and original, wanting a uniquely simple place to be married and we were in love. Others in our family wanted us to get married more traditionally but we decided to do it our own way. My Mom said we were too young and did not even have decent jobs. I still needed to do my student teaching, but we both had gotten our college degrees that summer. We persevered. We were getting hitched and the purple wedding invitations had been sent out.
AT THE PARK WITH MARRIAGE LICENSE IN HAND, WE WERE OFF TO THE CONDO CLUBHOUSE FOR THE DO IT YOURSELF RECEPTION.
THE NEW BRIDE AT THE RECEPTION WITH TWO GUITAR PLAYERS WE HIRED TO PLAY AS PEACEFUL BACKGROUND MUSIC.
THE WEDDING CAKE WAS SMALL BUT DELICIOUS FROM A LOCAL BAKERY. I PAID FOR IT AND FROZE THE LEFTOVERS BECAUSE THE SMALL GROUP DIDN’T EAT MUCH.
MY MOM, UNCLE BILL, WHO WAS THE BEST DRESSED GUY THERE AND WRITING US A CHECK AS A GENEROUS GIFT AND MY DAD. I ALWAYS LIKED UNCLE BILL AND HE HAD FUN THAT DAY.
Another thing I had planned with my frugal Mom and cousin and best friend was our cost cutting reception. My cousin and Mom would cook the appetizers and make a punch in our big punch bowl from KMart. My husband’s folks would buy the champagne. They were against the whole idea of getting married in a park and the do it yourself reception. But we didn’t listen. I would pay for the small wedding cake and bouquet and a couple centerpieces. We would hold it at my parent’s clubhouse in their large condo complex. I even bought my own non traditional wedding dress and I made my necklace and lace shawl myself. My cousin and best friend made their own dresses and were quasi-bridesmaids just helping at the reception. We had hired two classical guitar players also which lent a peaceful sweet addition to it all. It was a fun day in the end. My fiancé’s parents weren’t too happy in the beginning, they persisted and had offered to pay for a small chapel, but we declined their offer. Some stress and rough feelings came forth. However, it all worked out. We set down what we wanted as a simple 1971 style wedding and reception.
After some food and cake, I threw the bouquet and Ken threw my blue garter. We had a good time with about 30 friends and family members attending and it didn’t break the bank. My Mom and Dad were happy and Ken and I were happy. We got ready to leave that night for our first honeymoon in our 1964 VW van with its built in handmade bed and we took camping gear we had bought separately. We had gotten money and a few gifts so the gifts stayed at my folks house and the money we used to travel plus we had some savings thanks to Ken saving his good tips and pay as a bellboy at a new hotel near Disneyland. We kissed our job’s goodbye as we kissed our friends and relatives goodbye and took off at a brisk 50 mph in the old VW van for Northern California.
Coming soon : Part 2- Multiple Honeymoons 1970’s Style
Those 70ish Girls 