Wedding Bloopers

A couple’s wedding is a special day, often planned with perfection in mind. However, these five couples learned that there is no guarantee things will go smoothly. Now, years later, these are the moments that make them smile the brightest when they remember their wedding day, bloopers and all.

Don’t Touch Me

By: John and Carolyn Bolt

 It was at the Cogdill Methodist Church in Weatherford. Texas where John and I were married on August 30, 1964, 59 years ago. My maid of honor was my roommate from University of North Texas, her name was also Carolyn.

The wedding went great with our family and friends in attendance and our honeymoon started off just as great, but everything changed after the first day.

We honeymooned at a resort at Lake Texoma in Oklahoma. The cabin where we stayed was very nice and comfortable. On the second day we had a visit from my aunt and uncle – an unexpected visit that surprised us. I love my aunt and uncle, but on our honeymoon? They didn’t stay long, it just felt that way.

After they left, we took a romantic boat ride out into the middle of the lake, just John and me. We floated around snuggling and enjoying the water and the view and each other. It was nice until the motor would not start. With no phone, no paddles, no other boaters around, and no distress flares, we were stuck. After some choice words were voiced, we began to plan our survival.  The good news was that Lake Texoma did not have any sharks; the bad news was that Lake Texoma is a big lake. John took action. He was a good swimmer, me not so much.

He jumped into the water and began to swim while pulling the boat with me in it. It took several hours to get back to shore. By then I was badly sunburned, and John was exhausted.

It hurt to be touched and John ached all over. We were miserable and could not wait to get home. Our honeymoon may have been over, but our wonderful journey together had just begun.

Where’s the Ring?

By: Larry Beck

I returned from Korea in September 1966 after serving thirteen months there in the US Army. I was home on extended leave until December before going to my new assignment at Fort Hood, Texas. Brenda and I were married on November 5, 1966, while I was at home on leave.

We rented an apartment over a garage. The address was 1003 W. Biddison Street in Fort Worth. It was a two-room apartment. The rent was $70 a month.  

Brenda moved in on November 1, 1966, and lived there until I got out of the Army 10 months later.

The wedding was at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in the original section of the church which no longer exists. Brenda made all the plans. I just had to bring the ring and show up. Brenda had planned everything for months in advance

No wedding goes on without a hitch and ours was no exception. Just minutes before the ceremony was to begin Ron Talley, Brenda’s brother, and my Best Man, asked for the ring. I didn’t have it. I had left it in the apartment!

I told everybody to hold off while I drove to the apartment which was only about three miles away. It should not take more than 15 minutes to get there and back. I hurried out, dressed in my Tux, and drove as fast as I could. Brenda was informed that the groom had just driven off. As soon as I arrived at the apartment, I realized that I had left the apartment keys in my pants back at the church. That was not a good thing.

However, I remembered that the bathroom window was unlocked so I climbed on the roof, prided open the window, and managed to squeeze into the apartment. I retrieved the ring, hurried back to the church, brushed off the window dirt and dust, wiped the sweat off my forehead, and joined the groomsmen at the altar about thirty minutes late.

Brenda looked beautiful in her white, laced wedding dress with its long train. However, she did have some choice words for me later at the reception. She was never at a loss for words!

We were married on September 9, 1959, at the Baptist Church in Cockrell Hill, Texas in Dallas County. Cockrell Hill is a city surrounded by the city of Dallas and having a population of (according to the 2020 census), of 3,815 folks. The city is small with a total land area of only 0.6 square miles. I had seen Glen in the church on numerous occasions but had never met him until I was out on a date with another boy. The “other boy” and I had gone to the local teenage hangout and drive-in diner. I got mad at him and got out of his car and happened to notice Glen in a car near us enjoying a burger by himself. I went over to his car and asked him if he would take me home – he said yes – but little did I know at the time that his “taking me home” would be so permanent.   

Our marriage has lasted almost 64 years, but it almost didn’t get off to a timely start. The day of our wedding Glen, his Best Man and the Preacher were all together in the back offices of the church visiting, joking, and telling stories when they lost track of the time. One of them happened to glance at their watch and panicked, the wedding was starting, and we should already be in place. They hurried out and took their places without the bride knowing anything.  Our wedding was not fancy, it was a family affair with family members in the wedding party and the reception was at my grandparents’ house with family and friends in attendance. It was special to us and both our families.

We didn’t have a real honeymoon although we did make the journey to Dallas where we stayed in a nice hotel for two days, but Glen needed to get back to A&M for his Air Force ROTC training commitments. 

Glen was a senior at Texas A&M, and I was just getting out of high school when we were married. We moved to College Station where we lived while he finished his undergraduate work and then completed his Masters. We lived in a small duplex near the campus. The rental was $35 per month. We lived there until we could afford a small house a little further from campus but worth the extra drive. We lived there until he finished school. The rent was $50 a month but it was worth the extra $15 - but $15 was not always easy to muster up.

We left College Station as an “old married couple” ready to take on the world - and take on the world we did. But he took me home first! 

I Married a Member of a Chain Gang

By: Mary Mayer

We both attended SMU where we met and fell in love. It is also where we got married – in the campus Chapel. I was from Breckenridge, and he was from Galveston but we both felt that the perfect place for our wedding was at SMU – the place that brought us together and the place where we should be joined forever.

Our reception was near the campus, and it was nice with a big wedding cake, lots of food, family, and friends. Charlie was Jim’s fraternity brother and a good friend. Jim had been Charlie’s Best man at his wedding. It was a special wedding, and the reception went off without any problems – until Charlie gave my new husband his wedding gift.

It was the same gift that my husband had given Charlie at his wedding reception – it was a “ball and chain.” Not just your ordinary run-of-the-mill one, but a real handmade heavy ball and chain. Charlie had kept the ball and chain for three years and could not wait to return the item to its original owner in the same manner that he had received it.

A Reception With a “Down” Home Look

By: Kay Newman

Asa Dyer was a farmer, and he always wore overalls – because that’s all he had and that’s all he needed. He wore them every day. They were Dickies blue denim with one center pocket in the front and two deep side pockets and two straps that went over the shoulder. He often didn’t wear a shirt but when he did it was usually a long sleeve red plaid one. I am not sure if he had more than one of those shirts, but he liked them just as much as he did the overalls.

He was a simple, but wonderful man, he was my “Pampa”, and I loved him dearly. He wouldn’t miss my wedding for anything, but he did not have any “Sunday” clothes to wear.   

His birthday was five days before my wedding, so my family decided to “chip in” and buy him a new suit to wear to the wedding. He liked the idea and agreed to wear it and said, “it will come in handy at my funeral.” 

David and I were married at the Wood Memorial Christian Church in Van Buren, Arkansas. Our wedding went as planned. It was a warm and sunny day. It was a simple but beautiful wedding. Everything was perfect. I looked and felt so special on that day.

The reception was also just as nice with family and friends all enjoying themselves. There was a lot of hugging going on during our reception.  Pampa had a belt but no suspenders. His pants, unbeknownst to him, and ever so slowly, began to creep down over his rather large tummy.

He entered the receiving line and when he got to my new husband and me, he gave us one big hug and that’s all it took! Pampa’s pants fell to the floor!

He and his wife butted heads as they both tried to pull up his pants. He yelled out, “dadgumit, I lost my britches” as they tried to pull his suit coat out of the way.

I was laughing so hard people thought I was crying because tears were streaming down my face!

He didn’t seem to be embarrassed but I know he must have thought that this would not have happened if he was wearing his overalls. Pampa asked quite a few guests if they saw him lose his pants! And most did.

To this day the folks that were at my wedding can’t recall what my wedding dress looked like, but they can describe my Pampa’s underwear – they were new, he had bought them just for my wedding!

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A huge thank you to Stevenson Oaks’ resident, Larry Beck, for collecting and compiling these stories and more in a bound book for all to enjoy.  

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