Wedding Belles Tea to feature decades of bridal fashions

When Gilbert Way married Harriet Fish in the first recorded wedding in Glen Ellyn history in 1840, a justice of the peace had to be fetched from nearby Lisle to perform the ceremony.

The nervous justice, who had never officiated at a wedding before, simply had the couple hold hands and said by the authority he understood was vested in him, he pronounced them man and wife.

The Glen Ellyn Historical Society doesn't have the dress Fish wore for the occasion, but those first nuptials will be duly noted at the Wedding Belles Tea from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Glen Ellyn History Center, 800 N. Main St.

The tea will spotlight about 15 wedding gowns from 1869 to today owned by the historical society or borrowed from Glen Ellyn residents. Some dresses represent generations of nuptials within families.

"There is tremendous interest in period clothing," said Jan Langford, executive director of the historical society. "I'm delighted about the intergenerational aspect."

The historical society has had successful teas in the past, but this is the first one with a wedding theme, Langford said.

In addition to seeing a wedding gown and trousseau show, guests will nibble on refreshments at a high Victorian tea, enjoy the musical styles of Gail Salvatori and bid on silent auction items.

They'll preview the newest photographic exhibit, "The Wedding Party," and tour the space that will open as Stacy's Corner Store in June. Young girls will be able to dress up in a wedding gown for a souvenir photograph.

The cost for the fundraising event is $25 for historical society members and their families and $30 for others.

Historical society member Ruth Wright, the chairwoman for the event, said the oldest bridal dress to be featured will be a rust-colored, two-piece suit from 1869. Brides often chose a dress they could wear on other formal occasions and saved their headpiece as a remembrance of their wedding, she said.

One of the gowns showcased will be a black wedding dress worn by her husband's grandmother in 1910, Wright said.

"White dresses were common, but it was because they were homespun, which was off-white anyway," she said.

Wright's own lace and satin gown from the 1950s will be modeled by her granddaughter, Kyra Lane. The show also will feature the wedding dress Wright's mother wore, made of silk her mother's brother bought in the Philippines during World War I.

Another pair of mother-daughter wedding attire was contributed by Tracey Kreiling of Bells & Whistles Snackery in Glen Ellyn. The mother's Victorian silk wedding gown came with a flannel blue underskirt, long-sleeved undershirt, corset, bloomers, stockings, shoes from Marshall Field's, flower headpiece, netting and her nightgown. The daughter's 1920s dress is complete with shoes, stockings, girdle, teddy, kid gloves, hankie and cathedral-length, lace-capped veil with wax flowers.

Some of the dresses will be modeled, while the older and more fragile gowns will be on display, Wright said. She admitted that it was not easy to find models or mannequins that fit the gowns.

"I would say they are the size 2s of today," she said.

But what's a wedding without a reception? Langford said the nuptial refreshments should be a tasteful treat.

"It's going to be a Victorian high tea with finger sandwiches, scones, tea, of course, and strawberry lemonade," she said. "The dessert is going be miniature wedding cake. Each table of four has its own wedding cake."

Guests also will be able to bid on silent auction items that include handmade jewelry and baskets filled with merchandise that will be in the new Stacy's Corner Store. Baskets will have a value of $25 to $100, Wright said.

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p>

<p class="News"><b>What:</b> Wedding Belles Tea</p>

<p class="News"><b>When:</b> Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 1 and 2</p>

<p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Glen Ellyn History Center, 800 N. Main St.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Tickets:</b> $25 for Glen Ellyn Historical Society members, $30 for others; available at McChesney Miller Grocery Store and The Bookstore in Glen Ellyn</p>

<p class="News"><b>Info:</b> (630) 858-8696 or <a href="mailto:info@gehs.org">info@gehs.org</a></p>