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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

June & Romance & Weddings..."I DO!"

Ah, love and romance are in the air...and June is typically the month for weddings! I wasn't sure why June is so popular for weddings...but the term "June Bride" is bantered about very often. So, I did some searching on the Internet and here's what I found.

It seems that in earlier centuries, people didn't bathe frequently...so smelled more. May became "bath month" for most people, and by June they still didn't smell too awful. But, since flowers typically would be in full bloom by June, people decided to wed then and hoped the wonderful aroma of wedding bouquets and flowers strewn around their ceremonies would blanket any body odors.

Nice visual, but that's what I found!

I almost became a June bride. After I got engaged in 1970 (yes, I'm THAT old), we planned to get married in June 1971. Visions of spring flowers and warm weather had me planning a wonderful pastel-coordinated wedding.

In October of '70, my then roommate decided to run off and follow her married boyfriend...and his family...to Hawaii. I thought she was crazy to date him in the first place, and even more loony to up and move to be near him. AND, that left me with a dilemma to solve.

I couldn't afford our rent by myself. So my choices were:
1. Find a new roommate knowing I'd be getting married in June.
2. Have my fiance help pay my rent.
3. Have my fiance move in (and back then that would have given my family members heart attacks).
4. Move up the wedding date.

After ruling out the first three choices, I zeroed in on number four. My warm, springy, pastel wedding became a cold, winter, burgundy-coordinated color scheme wedding as we got married in December 1970 amid snowflakes.

I remember going to three June weddings...I'm sure there were more but these stand out in my mind. One lasted a month. One turned out not to be "real" as the bride hadn't gotten her divorce yet. And the other marriage is still intact...possibly because the couple waited almost six years before getting married.

Anyone have a June bride story? 

Romance book idea: June brides that have HEA endings...after the usual "bumps in the rocky road" to love. Hmm. I'll have to think about that!

Photos: Flickr: Sabrina Campagna, acjetter's photostream. And one of my own!
http://www.mariannestephens.net
http://www.aprilash.net
http://sevensexyscribes.blogspot.com
http://groups/yahoo.com/group/romancebooksrus

15 comments:

Tina Donahue said...

Love the photo, Marianne - you two look so sweet and happy. :)

Molly Daniels said...

Hahaha...nowadays, moving in before the wedding isn't so scandalous. It's hard to believe 30 years ago it was becoming more mainstream.

I always dreamed of getting married on June 19th, so my hubby would only have to remember one date six months apart. But due to an unexpected blessing, my wedding date became May 3rd. I married on one ex-b/f's birthday; K was born on another ex-b/f's birthday; S shares one of my best friend's birthday, and W was supposed to arrive on yet another ex-b/f's birthday. But he decided to nearly become a Leap Year baby...thankfully he arrived 3 hours too late for that!

Bronwyn Green said...

What a wonderful picture!! And can I just say, what extra pounds? I just saw you a few months ago - I bet you could still fit into your dress!

My anniversary (and my birthday) are coming up Thursday the 3rd. We'll be married 21 years. Not even sure how that's possible, but there it is. :)

Anonymous said...

Great post, and I loved your wedding picture. I'm a June bride! Met my hubs on a blind date, he asked me to marry him that night. I was 19, he was 30. I told him to ask me again later. Three months later, he asked again and I said yes. We got married 6 months after that....and we'll be celebrating 21 years this month. :-) I guess when you know you've got a good thing, there is no reason to wait. lol

Katalina Leon said...

I love your wedding picture. It doesn't matter what time of year you get married as long as your marrying the right man!
Why don't you treat yourselves to a casual June vow-renewal. I've "married" the same man 5 times in different ceremonies and different countries just for the fun of it!
XXOO Kat

Paris said...

Love the wedding picture! You guys are so cute;-)

Julia Rachel Barrett said...

Yes, June weddings are so popular. I actually prefer spring and fall, although my April wedding occurred in the middle of a blizzard! Love the photo!

April Ash said...

Thank you all for commenting! I met my husband the end of July, got engaged in Sept., and married in December...knew he was "it" right away!
Marianne/April

Linda Andrews said...

We didn't make it to June, bodies tend to ripen fast in the AZ heat. Because so many of our family traveled from out of state we wed on the 28 for the long Memorial Day holiday. Was 22 years last Friday.

Caroline Clemmons said...

Marianne, I got married in January when snow was unusually heavy for Dallas. However, I wrote a June bride novella called "Happy Is The Bride" that was part of the anthology GOING TO THE CHAPEL from Kensington in 2004.

susan said...

I was a June Bride 47 years ago and so glad I was. Our families all had bets our marriage would not last a year..did we fool them. susan L.

F. D. Davis said...

Okay, I know I'm supposed to comment on the wedding in June part. But I'm an analytical thinker and my question has to be:

Was the first blog from you or a character, or guest blogger, or should I go back and read it again.

by the way Dec. 1 will be my 40th anniversary.

jean hart stewart said...

Other times, other mores. I remember them both well. Now moving in wouldn't raise more than a grin. Gret photo....Jean

Cara Marsi said...

What a sweet and romantic story. I'm a June bride, June 12, in fact, also in the 70's. And shhh, I'm that old. My husband and I met in early 1971 and moved in together September 1972. The families weren't happy, but what the heck, this was the 70's.

Carolyn Matkowsky/Cara Marsi

Sandy said...

Hi Marianne,

It would have been scandalous if I moved in with my husband before we married. It just wasn't done. Actually, I was far too independent to do anything like that. It's a wonder I even decided to get married since I was so used to being on my own by then. lol

I want to see a closer picture of you when you and Steve were young. Smile.

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