'I arrived at the church in a black Austin Princess car.'

'I arrived at the church in a black Austin Princess car.'

Theresa Byrne remembers her wedding day. In particular she describes her outfit, the grooms and the bridesmaids. She describes how her husband and her had to work hard and save in order to afford the wedding. She also remembers their honeymoon on Jersey Island.

Theresa Byrne

Trinity College Dublin

1966

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Theresa Byrne

Marriage and Family

Life Story

Dublin

1960s

The wedding took place on Wednesday, September 14th, 1966 at 11.30 a.m. in Adam and Eve's Church, followed by a reception in the Clare Manor Hotel, which was totally destroyed by fire years later and is now no more. Back then, weddings were conducted in the mornings which meant receptions ended at about 8 pm that evening. My dress was made of white embroidered satin, a short train and a short veil. The three quarter length white gloves which I wore were too long, but I used them by turning down the top The headpiece was borrowed from my friend and so this fulfilled the old saying _��something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue'. White shoes completed the simple and elegant outfit. The dress material I bought in North Earl Street, the shop now sells bread and cakes. At that time, dressmakers were the norm. At that time too, I remember there was a bus strike and I had to carry the material home, with both my mother and I taking turns each to carry the bundle. My wedding bouquet was simply adorable. I had seen the creation in a book and brought it to the florist in Jennings Funeral Home in Amiens Street. The result was a cascade of white lilies, not too many, but definitely a delight to behold. I arrived at the church in a black Austin Princess car. I had hired it in a garage in Westland Row, which is still there today. On reaching the church, I was disappointed to find that the red carpet did not extend down the steps of the church as I had made my request very clear when booking. The men in my life and the wedding party looked perfect in dress suits with short black jackets, crisp white shirts and tie and pinstripe slacks, all worn with black shoes and white carnations.The two bridesmaids wore dresses of _��winter blue satin'. Again they were designed on a simple line, but sophisticated. They both carried white carnations. My _��going away' outfit was a white bawneen suit, navy shoes and bag and navy leather gloves. In those days of old the bride always wore a hat going away. Mine was a turquoise blue and completed the ensemble. The outfit was bought in Arnotts summer sale and in those days a queue would form outside the store for hours beforehand. I joined the queue and was rewarded when I totted up the savings I had made. The new husband wore a nice navy tailored suite, white shirt and black shoes and off w went into the sunshine. His mammy went shopping with him, she chose very well. At that time too, the bride and groom went away on their wedding day. On honeymoon, we hired a wine coloured mini car and went around the island of Jersey in style.I with Michael saved extremely hard to pay for the wedding ourselves, we sacrificed much and deprived ourselves of many, many essentials over the couple of years in order to achieve our goal. As well as my full time job, I worked every Saturday in Roches Stores and Michael used his spare time working on stained glass windows for a Mr. G. Walsh. The windows are now housed in a Catholic Church in the Finglas West area of Dublin. On a visit recently, I looked and absorbed the beauty they bring daily and to reflect on that time, on the long hours spent labouring to get them just right, completed. These ventures added to the pot of gold, not to mention the sheer pleasure felt at our achievement. We did it our way.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)