We were married on
September 1, 1978 on a Friday night at 7:00 pm at St. James Church in
Syracuse. My brother was married
the same year only in March. We
both had our receptions at a restaurant in Liverpool. I am pretty sure it was $3.50 per person for the
buffet! Our invitation said “A
fresh new day…and it is ours. A
day of happy beginnings when we, Suzanne Lynne Shattell and Mark Edward Searle
pledge our love as one.” I thought
the invitations were beautiful. My
mother was upset that we didn’t put the parents names, but Mark didn’t want to
put his parents on the card and I thought it would insulting to his family to
only list mine, so we skipped it altogether. Anyway, I wore my mother’s dress. It was a little bit short because my mom is only 5’1” at the
time if she stood up really, really, really tall. I am 5’5”. But
the dress fit perfectly without any alterations and I just bought really low shoes. The dress was satin ivory. Stunningly gorgeous, I thought. Mark wore an ivory tux because he said
he always wanted to wear a white tux for some odd reason. The girl’s dresses were hand made. They were different shades of blue in
horrible polyester fabric. The
guys all wore light blue tuxes because back then, you matched the tux with the
color of the girls dress. My
father, 35 years later, still hasn’t forgiven me for making him wear that baby
blue tux! Seriously, at least
twice a month he mentions it! We
took Jordan almonds and nylon netting and made the favors with little
ribbons. My mom and I made cookies
for days and days before the wedding.
It was one of those “budget” weddings that I thought was simply beautiful
in every way.
We chose a Friday night
because my dad and my three brothers all worked at my father’s business,
including Saturday and we didn’t want them to have to lose business to close
the plant for a Saturday morning.
I don’t remember the ceremony itself very much except my father’s arm on
mine as we started to walk up the aisle.
I remember seeing Mark’s face as he saw me for the first time coming
toward him as my dad whispered in my ear, “are you sure you don’t want to turn
around? It’s still not too late.”
“I’m sure, I replied.” Mark refused to take communion telling
the priest that he was allergic! It’s
funny as I am typing this, now, but at the time, I was really concerned we were
going to be struck with lightening!
He lied in church on our wedding because he said those dry communion wafers
made him gag! (Oh my!) My sister Lisa told me that when we were
kneeling at the altar, my feet were bouncing up and down and back and forth
like a jig during the entire thing and she said it was hard to pay attention
when I was so fidgety. It was
Labor Day weekend. I had convinced
Mark to invite his dad to the wedding because up until this point in our
relationship, I had not met his dad and Mark hadn’t spoken to him in years and
years. I was surprised at how
slight his dad looked compared to Mark.
He was just a “normal” sized man with a buzz cut and thick glasses. He didn’t look intimidating at
all. Mark literally spent the
entire reception leaning on the bar talking to his father. I wanted him to come around with me and
talk to the other guests, but his dad was weeping with joy that Mark was
communicating with him again so I let it go. I honestly think Mark extended the conversation as long as
he could so he didn’t have to dance with me or anyone else on that day. But that didn’t stop me. I had a blast. My sisters and friends and I were
dancing fools. It was so much
fun! Sometimes I think we should
just plan a reception just so we can have friends come with good food and
dancing and laughter for no reason at all. I’m guessing the $3.50 a plate buffet is a thing of the past
though!
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