By Susan Flynn
staff writer
September 15, 2008 12:10 am BEVERLY — For the wedding ceremony on this picture-perfect Saturday afternoon in the Lynch Park Rose Garden, the brides wore white. They also wore deep purple, orange silk, gray chiffon, white cotton and a leopard-print number. Collectively, 47 brides and grooms came to the oceanfront park to renew their wedding vows before a justice of the peace for a special event billed, "I Did, I Do, I Will." Some couples first wed two years ago. One was celebrating 65 years of marriage. A few brought children. Others came with grandchildren. Even the city's mayor came to pledge his devotion to his wife of 26 years. "I feel like Liz Taylor," said Yvonne Garand of Byfield. "I get to marry the same man twice." Organizers came up with the vow renewal idea to promote the restoration of the Lynch Park carriage house, a potentially ideal spot for wedding receptions. They weren't sure people would embrace the unusual event, or feared it might come across as corny. But romance, they discovered, is still a big draw. "It's funny, walking in here, I was just as nervous as the day I did it," said David Burke of Topsfield. "I think it's cool. If they have it in 10 years, I'll do it again." For the ceremony, the couples were broken into four groups - married in the Rose Garden, married two to 19 years, married 20 to 49 years, and married 50 or more years. Four couples fit that last category, and they got the most applause. Justice of the Peace Fran Macdonald, the city clerk in Beverly, presided over the ceremony that began at 2 p.m. and ended with cake and bubbly (ginger ale, in this case) in the carriage house. Marcia Glassman-Jaffe wore a white strapless dress and a string of pearls and carried a cascading bouquet with pink roses. But that's not all. The Beverly woman lifted her dress a little to reveal a white garter on her leg. Her husband, Mark, wore a boutonniere, and jokingly lamented the lack of any bachelor party. Many other couples also dressed for the event. Amanda Beattie wore a burgundy floor-length satin dress and her husband, Dexter, wore a suit. After the ceremony, the Beverly couple left pushing their 4-month-old daughter in a stroller, affixed with the sign "Just Renewed" and pulling four empty cans on a string. "I was emptying out chickpeas this morning," said Amanda. Every couple had a story. Joanne and Bill Leslie of Beverly got married 50 years ago that day, almost to the hour. Heidi and Steve Bissel were wed 32 years ago, in one of the first ceremonies allowed in the Rose Garden. They brought along an old newspaper clip with a story on their unconventional wedding location. Today, about 50 couples are married each year in the Rose Garden. Back then, no one was quite sure what to do with the Bissels' request. "We had to go through the mayor, the Chamber of Commerce, the Recreation Department, the Homecoming Committee," said Bill Bissel. "It was a lot easier today." Annette and Gary Pelletier didn't get married in the Rose Garden. Annette always wanted to, but her wedding plans were revised when her husband learned he would be deployed for Operation Desert Shield. "We were married in a courthouse in Kansas 18 years ago today," she said. On Saturday, she finally got to recite her vows with the ocean as a backdrop. Paul Lanzikos, a member of the group working to restore the carriage house, announced the names of every couple as they walked out to renew their vows. His wife, Suzanne, is the wedding coordinator at Lynch Park, but on this day she got to be a bride for a bit. So far, the committee has about $1 million of the $4 million needed to renovate the carriage house. "We really want people to see the potential of this place," said Lanzikos. As he spoke, a recently engaged couple interrupted the conversation with a question, as if one cue: Could they hold their wedding reception at the carriage house? Some day soon, he told them. Of all the couples in attendance at the ceremony, one stood out more than the rest. Dottie and Frank Stewart have been married for 65 years. "My husband has been calling me his bride all morning," said Dottie. Frank bought his wife a corsage for the ceremony. "He still does that for Mother's Day, Easter," said Dottie. "Any special day, he still does." At the YMCA where the couple exercises a few times a week, Dottie said younger people will ask how it's possible to stay happy with the same person for 65 years. "One day at a time I say." Staff writer Susan Flynn can be reached at 978-338-2658 or by e-mail at sflynn@salemnews.com
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.