What Was Our Wedding Day Like?

This August 20, 2021 will be the 55th Anniversary of our marriage. I was 21 years old and my husband to be was 23 years old.

He had completed his undergrad degree at UW-Madison in June. His plans were to teach high school speech at Badger High School in Lake Geneva, WI while I commuted from Lake Geneva to UW-Whitewater to complete my undergrad degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Library Science. We planned our wedding for a date that followed my summer classes at UW-Whitewater and before school began at Badger High School in Lake Geneva, WI. We rented a furnished apartment which was on the second floor of a large home. This apartment was used from Memorial Day to Labor Day as summer rental housing for people who flocked to Lake Geneva for their summer vacation destination. The town was on a beautiful lake with many vacation amenities during the summer months. We could move in after Labor Day and would need to move out before Memorial Day the next May.

With a wedding on August 20th, we would have one week for a honeymoon before John would begin his teaching job and I would begin my fall semester of school.

Our wedding day was perfect. The weather was beautiful and all that was planned unfolded as we had hoped and prayed for.

We got married at Faith Baptist Church in Madison, WI.

    This was and had been John’s home church since he was a child. I quite frequently attended the church with him as our dating got quite serious and after our engagement on February 20, 1966. The Pastor was Rev. Wendell Graham. We had premarital counseling with him during our engagement of six months.

My home church was Lakeside Evangelical Free Church in Winona, MN. That church was seven miles from my farm home. We did not get married there for a few reasons. The current Pastor had not been there while I was in regular attendance at the church before I moved to Madison, WI for my first years of college so I did not know him very well. It would also have been difficult for him to do our premarital counseling because of how far away it was from where both of us lived prior to our wedding. John lived with his parents at 640 E. Gorham Street in Madison. I lived with a family in a home on Van Hise Street near the University. At that time I was more connected to Faith Baptist Church in Madison than with my home church. Another reason to marry in Madison was that its location was actually closer to quite a number of both of our family members who would be attending the wedding. So we got married in Madison, WI.

We had most of our formal photos taken before the 2:00 PM wedding service. This meant we were fresh and after the ceremony were able to enjoy the reception with family and friends. I know this “broke” some traditional rules about a groom not seeing the bride prior to her walk down the aisle but it has not caused any unresolvable issues in our marriage!

Our service began with an organ prelude which included Mary Jane Peterson playing her flute. Nine months later Jim Worden would marry Mary Jane at her home church in Carney, MI.

The service continued with the entrance of the men followed by the entrance of the females, the the flower girl and ring bearer. I waited with my Dad at the back of the church. I know I had many butterflies in my stomach.

Before Dad and I started our walk down the aisle, John stepped forward and sang a solo, “Because” which were VERY moving moments for me as I saw this man I loved so dearly singing this song to me as all who joined in our wedding that day listened to his words.

“Because, you come to me.
With naught save love.
And hold my hand and lift mine eyes above.
A wider world of hope and joy I see.
Because you come to me.
Because you speak to me in accent sweet.
I find the roses waking ‘round my feet.
And I am led through tears and joy to thee.
Because you speak to me.”

I remember that the room blurred but I managed to stay strong as did John’s voice and his memory of the words of the song.

Following that solo, my Dad and I walked the center aisle to meet John where I would joyfully move from Dad’s side to John’s.

The service included a charge to us and our vows to each other. We had composed our own vows which was mostly done by John but it was a collaborative effort before we finalized the wording.

And then we knelt for prayer…

Program inside and outside below…

And then we kissed…

Then the service ended and we headed to the Fellowship Hall for the reception.

My parents and younger sisters had arrived a day or two before the wedding and were housed with neighbors and friends of the Worden family. I had been attending summer school at UW-Whitewater until early August. After that ended, I had returned home to the farm where I busily baked the items we served at the reception except for the main wedding cake. That cake had been baked, decorated and provided by Gordie’s Bake Shop where I had been working for about nine months. I had baked a

family favorites date and banana breads and maybe coconut chews which were a dessert bar. I can’t remember if other baked items were baked but we also served coffee, punch, nuts and mints. Mom Worden had a number of wonderful friends who set up the reception in the church basement and made sure all went smoothly during the reception which immediately followed the wedding service.

My three sisters and John’s sister were the female attendants with John’s brother as the best man, one of his cousins, Bob Stiles and friends Ev Peterson and Phil Bays who were the groomsmen. The flower girl and ring bearer were children of the family where I had a room and did some babysitting with them.

My mother-in-law’s parents owned a flower shop in California so she had learned to make wedding corsages and bouquets and offered to make all the floral items used for the wedding party, our attendants and family. What a wonderful gift that was to me and my family.

We were very blessed to have our parents - James and Edna Groves and Katherine and John Worden plus most of our…

grandparents in attendance for that day. Pictured below are Irene Worden, Lady May Stiles, Ludvick and Tilly Matson plus Amanda and William Groves.

Our wedding album was privileged to have my father-in-laws professional calligraphy for the front page.

At some point there was the signing of the legal document with Pastor Graham and witnesses Caroline Groves and Jim Worden.

Following the reception, we headed out the front door of the
church with rice pummeling us from our “dear” family and friends.

Shortly thereafter we changed into more casual clothes

and began the drive …

which would take us halfway to Door County that day which is the thumb of Wisconsin which borders Lake Michigan where we would spend the next week. It was a great place for our first week of married life.

So now I have told most all that I can remember of the story of “My Wedding Day” which fulfilled my dreams and continues to be a very fond and wonderful memory.