Models in vintage wedding gowns walk down the aisle in church fundraiser
-
As part of "Weddings Through the Years," Mary Ann Migliorino, left, wedding coordinator for Christ United Methodist Church, with Kate Whitewood, who is wearing Mrs. Migliorino's wedding dress of July 24, 1971.
Share with others:
It was the love stories behind the wedding gowns that stole the show at "Weddings through the Years," a fundraiser held last weekend at Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park.
The event drew about 350 people and raised $2,500 for the mission projects of the United Methodist Women.
Church members and students modeled 30 vintage outfits. As the "brides" walked down the sanctuary center aisle in gowns from weddings past, details about the gown, the "real" brides and their weddings were read by members of the women's group.
An example:
When Rose Hergert married on Sept. 22, 1936, she walked on a newly tarred road near the church and the oily resin got stuck on the hem of her gown.
Recently, the gown was successfully dry cleaned, and modeling it, said Molly Patterson, 17, of Upper St. Clair, was like "stepping back in time."
"It meant a lot to me to think how special it was to her," Molly said.
The oldest garment, narrator Heather Stierheim said, was won worn in 1849 and loaned by Dorothy Sherwood. It is so fragile that it is kept on display in the church's Christian Life Center.
Brenda Thompson, wife of senior minister Rev. R. Duane Thompson, said an identical event was last held seven years ago.
"We don't want to wear it out, and want to show new gowns," she said of the lapse between shows.
When her mother, Evon Burke, married her father, Ray Kooyer, on Friday, April 8, 1960, the bride was back at work, and the groom to school, on the following Monday.
The ivory gown she wore had a fitted bodice and painted white flowers on the full skirt.
Kyla Colcombe, 14, modeled a hoop-skirted gown worn by a mother and daughter pair. The older woman wore it in 1969, and her daughter, in 1993.
"I pictured myself ... like Cinderella," Kyla said, describing the dress as "poofy from the shoulder blades to the elbow, and skin tight from the elbow to the wrist."
When Kathy Thornton married Glenn Boyd on April 27, 1985, she wore a front-pleated gown with long, lacy sleeves that she made at a sewing machine in the basement of her parents' home. It cost less than $100 to make back then.
First Published April 29, 2010 6:24 am
