The Wedding Clothes of my Great Grandparents, William and Nellie Means

2016. The wedding attire of my great-grandparents William and Nellie Means are displayed at the Gates House, Machiasport, Maine in an impressive collection of antique wedding clothes.

William and Nellie were married July 1, 1880. They had 4 children: Otis, Harriet, William, Elsie. Harriet is my grandmother.

William and Nellie celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary July 1st, 1905 reported in the Bangor Daily News on July 5th. “The celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Means, held at their elegant home on Broadway, Saturday evening, July 1st was an exceedingly enjoyable occasion for all. The house was tastily decorated throughout with roses, ferns, wreaths and Madeira vines hung in arches and along the banisters and alcoves, interwoven with pinks and flowers of varied tint and hue.

Two hundred invitations were responded to and by as many friends, who appeared and heartily greeted the happy couple in a decidedly informal way. The bride and groom of twenty five years ago, received in their wedding suits, which had been meticulously preserved. The silk poplin, pearl colored dress, and white gloves of the bride and conventional black suit of the groom caused much merriment by reason of the antiquated style of the garments.”

When I was growing up, I loved to explore the attic and open the trunk that held William and Nellie’s wedding clothes. Later in my mother’s life, she would ask me to bring them to her for she could no longer get upstairs, little less the attic.

I laid the precious clothes across her lap. “Why is there a safety pin in the back of Nellie’s dress?” I asked.

Mom smiled, her eyes danced. “Bob and I wore these clothes for an 8th grade play. I had to use a safety pin to keep the dress on. It was the last time the dress was worn.”

Bob is my mother’s brother, born a year before she was. They started school together (Mom was four years old) and both graduated from Machias High School in 1936. Mom was 16 years old.