Something borrowed, something blue . . .
Hazel followed all the traditional customs of the day when she got married.
While I’m not completely sure what her “something old” item was, I know her dress was new.
She borrowed a handkerchief from her mother’s good friend, Mrs. Hanan. When she was done with it, she returned it to Mrs. Hanan. Mrs. Hanan sent the handkerchief back to Mildred a couple years later with this note:
Dated Dec. 1956, it says: “Dear Mildred, I looked for you to come over this summer. Your mother don’t get out either, But I know she is awful tired. I am enclosing the kerchief Hazel carried on her wedding day. I never used it since she sent it back to me. Well all of you have a big Christmas. Love Ethel Hanan.”
But we also found this box with a handkerchief in it that says it came from the June Powell Shoppe in Macon.
And Mildred put a note in with it:
Mildred’s note says: “This hanky was old and given to Hazel to use at her wedding. She then gave it to Barbara Richardson to use at her wedding. Barbara gave it to me for Katy when she needs it. It think this was given to Hazel by a dear friend of mine, Mrs. Ethel Hanan, K. C. Mo. Mildred”
So there’s a little confusion over which hankie came from where, and which one she actually carried. Maybe she carried them both, for her something borrowed and something old.
For her something blue, she made herself a garter from blue satin:
The newspaper article about the wedding states, “She carried a white Bible, topped with a bouquet of white carnations and stephonatis, and a white lace trimmed handkerchief.” After the wedding, this was evidently Hazel’s daily Bible because it’s fairly worn out.
She filled in the marriage certificate page with their information:
It’s all official now!
The Life of Hazel Ilene 
What lovely memories you have of your mothers wedding,,,
I very much appreciate your sharing all these delightful memories and photos!
That’s an amazing story about the handerchief(s), and the Bible is so
special! I can’t get over the number of attendants in the wedding party.
Wonderful photos and beautiful writeup in the paper, where they were pictured as a couple. Our newspapers didn’t have bride-and-groom photos until the late 1970s!
The napkins struck a chord with me! For my wedding in 1964, we completely overlooked getting napkins for the cake, so my Dad had to leave the reception wearing his tuxedo (under his winter coat) and drive to a grocery store to buy napkins! I didn’t even know he did his until we got back from the honeymoon! (You would think the reception hall would have had some ordinary napkins on hand!) Hazel at least ordered napkins, but didn’t know the date yet!
I wondered where I got the idea of carrying the Bible covered with flowers for my wedding. I certainly have no memory of knowing what those flowers were but would you believe, I did the very same thing when Don and I married on May 22, 1955. Very same flowers. I must have been impressed with Hazel’s flower arrangement. She always had good taste.
Jane Day Wisdom