It seems that I have been on hiatus for a while. But no fear, I have returned!! I can feel the excitement and enthusiasm radiating through your computers right now as you read this (wishful thinking?).
The Taylor-Hughes’
Just yesterday my grandparents would have celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary. Sadly, my grandfather Lionel passed away in May last year, so he was missed, but remembered by all of his family yesterday. However, he did spend fifty-two married years with my grandmother Judy, plus a few more on top of that ‘courting’.
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| 'Just Married': Lionel & Judy with their wedding party, 1960. |
On 27 February 1960 Judith Heather Hughes walked down the aisle
of Christ Church in Moorabool Street, Geelong followed by her bridesmaid,
Dorothy Barnes. Judy was wearing a magnolia satin gown with a tulip neckline
while Miss Barnes was wearing an avocado green satin sheath dress with an
interesting back panel and a Dior bow.[1] Waiting
at the other end of the aisle was Lionel Taylor accompanied by his best man and
brother Arthur Taylor. The men were looking dapper in their black tuxedos and
bow ties. After this happy affair and the ‘I do’s’ had been signed, sealed and
delived, the couple went on a honeymoon to Sydney. Eventually driving to their
final destination, they stopped in at the Savoy in Spencer Street for their first
night as a married couple before making their way to New South Wales.
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| Cutting the cake: Lionel and Judy Taylor. |
Once married and returned to reality the couple moved in to
their first home in Herne Hill where they started a family and lived for nearly
30 years.
The Wilkens-Russells
A few years earlier on 19 October 1957 at St Georges Presbyterian
Church, Geelong, Eric Russell walked his only daughter Erica down the aisle to
wed Hank Wilkens. Erica wore a gown of magnolia delustred brocade with a cowl
neckline and long lily point sleeves. An orange blossom half circlet on the
back of her hair held a lovely old Carrick Macross lace veil, which the bride’s
mother [Amuri] had worn at her wedding.[2]
After the lavish ceremony followed the even more extravagant reception which
was held at the brides’ parents home in Barwon Heads in a large marquee adorned
with flowers. The guests consisted of friends, family and ‘society’s’ glamorous
couples eating and drinking in celebration of Erica and Hank’s marriage.
Above: The new Mr & Mrs Wilkens, 1957.
Left: Hank and Erica signing the registry.
However, it wouldn’t be worth talking about if there wasn’t
some ‘skeleton’. Not spoken about so freely was the fact that Erica had
previously been engaged in somewhat of a ‘society match’ before she met Hank
who had emigrated from the Netherlands in the early 1950s. What was also never
discussed was the fact that Hank had been married before in his native
Netherlands. Ultimately that marriage ended in divorce not long before he left
permanently for Australia. Regardless of these previous relationships Hank and
Erica were happily married for over thirty years before Hank passed away in the
early 1990s.
The next generation
A few decades later on Saturday 19 February 1983 Andrew
Wilkens, younger son of Hank and Erica and Amanda Taylor, eldest daughter of
Lionel and Judy were married at St Johns’ Church in West Geelong. In all things
80s, especially following the resplendent wedding of Prince Charles and
Princess Diana a few years earlier, the Taylor-Wilkens wedding had undertones of
the royals. Flanked with four bridesmaids draped in marshmallow pink chiffon
and four groomsmen dressed in tuxedos and bow ties. Their wedding photos were
posed in the Geelong Botanic Gardens draped on an empty water fountain
surrounded by brown crunchy grass. The wedding date had fallen in the middle of
an extremely hot summer and a few days after the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires
which engulfed parts of Victoria. Their wedding reception was held at Kirrewur
Court in Geelong, the same place that Lionel and Judy celebrated their wedding.
Amanda and Andrew left their reception and boarded a plane to the ultra ‘exotic’
Bali for their honeymoon for two weeks.
Above: Amanda & Andrew and wedding party, 1983.
Weddings are an exciting time and for my forbearers have been
the start of a new chapter, the meshing of families and the beginning to new
generations.
I could go on, and maybe I will make it a two-parter. Stay
tuned for the sequel.
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