A Most Unforgettable Day

When Linda Darnell married Captain Robbie Robertson recently, we thought it was one of the loveliest informal weddings we’d seen, and for the benefit of you who expect to be in a wedding party soon, we asked her how she’d managed to do it all in just three weeks. First off, she ordered her wedding invitations “rush,” choosing ecru stationery, script engraving and matching reception cards.

With help, and a little luck, they went out the required two weeks before The Day, and answers were prompt. (That’s something to keep in mind the next time you receive a wedding invitation in the mail!) When wedding gifts started coming in, Linda listed them for “thank you” notes to be sent later, and set them out on display. Her wedding dress was ready early: it was pale pink peau de soie, not as traditional as white, but highly fashionable.

Though photographers were legion, the dignity of the ceremony was maintained by Linda’s inviolate rule of “no photographs at the altar.” Afterward, Linda and Robbie greeted their guests in the charming courtyard outside the chapel. (As a guest, you congratulate the groom, only extend your wishes for her happiness to the bride, and—most probably—kiss her.) At the reception later, Linda and Robbie danced their first dance as Mr. and Mrs. (the first dance is traditionally reserved for the bride and groom), enjoyed the wedding dinner, cut the wedding cake and shared the first slice in the hope that their life together would be equally sweet.

(Guests are invited to the reception to have a good time—so go ahead and do it! It’s permissible—and proper—to introduce yourself to other guests.) You can stay till after the bride and groom have left, as Linda’s guests did, but if you’re there when the bride throws her bouquet, don’t catch it unless you’re a bridesmaid. You might wind up being the bride at the next wedding, but you would surely give Emily Post a bad shock!

 

It is a quote. PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE JULY 1957