Remembering Grandparents

Recently, lots of you have been showing me photos of your Grandparents weddings. I thought it was time to put our favourite relatives on the stage and hear some stories about their wonderful wedding days! This series is all about the romance, the style and the personalities.

'Love day' is the perfect excuse to share some more glamorous vintage wedding photos. Normally I only post one photo but I just couldn't choose this time! Sian, your Granny looks so beautiful and Gramps looks equally dashing. Sian Sharkey is a hairstylist that I've got to know and I recommend her to you all! That's for another post but today she is sharing photos of her Grandparents wedding in 1945.

So, let's meet Mercedes Munden and Frank Purcell. Apparently these two met at a dance, and were introduced by a family relative. They were both qualified architects and also shared a passion for amateur dramatics.

They married on July 4th and Frank used to joke about losing his independence on independence day! I think a sense of humour is essential for a happy marriage...

Don't they look so relaxed and glamorous? I love Mercede's hairstlye too. Apparently she was always into fashion and style. The couple went on to have eight children.

Sian is delighted to share these images, especially as her Granny died only a few weeks ago. She says that all of the family have followed in their footsteps with their love of music and drama. Check out Sian's website and Facebook page for gorgeous bridal hair-styling.

And here's one final photo of these love-birds. What a stylish and happy looking couple. Thanks for letting me share your family photos Sian!

Do you have photos or know of someone with stories to tell? Drop me an email or leave me a comment below. I'd love to hear from you.

Remembering Grandparents

Recently, lots of you have been showing me photos of your Grandparents weddings. I thought it was time to put our favourite relatives on the stage and hear some stories about their wonderful wedding days! This series is all about the romance, the style and the personalities.

Jo is a friend of my husband and he heard me tweeting about this series! I'm so glad that he got in touch to show me this beautiful photo of his Grandmother, Ellen. I'm not sure if you can see that this photo has been hand-tinted by her husband Noel. It's so delicate. Here is Jo's Mum, Noeleen to tell us a bit more about her parent's wedding and their runaway photographer.

Ellen Smith on her wedding day in 1960

"Ellen Smyth and Noel Green were married on the 18th of June 1960, it was a typical wedding with about forty guests attending. Ellen wore a beautiful lace dress that was made for her by her sister in law Mrs Rosaleen Kenny and her wedding bouquet was made up of red silk roses and was borrowed from a neighbour. The bouquet was passed on to many brides in the area but still remained as beautiful as the day it was made.

Ellen was a shy quiet girl as is evident from her shy smile in the photo. Herself and Noel were married by a Fr Con Sayers in the Church of the Nativity in Whitehall and it was a beautiful summers day. Unfortunately the photographer who was to take the photos never turned up and so all the wedding photos were collected from guests who had cameras that day. The wedding breakfast was held in the Melvin hotel in Drumcondra and the entertainment was by a blind accordian player. Noel and Ellen still have the invoice for the wedding breakfast tucked into the back of their wedding album."

Noleen - thanks for telling us these stories. It's great to hear all those memorable details. Obviously there were wedding dramas even in the 60's; I'd say that photographer's reputation was finished after his no-show?! But whoever took this photo had a great eye. Please thank Noel and Ellen for allowing me to share this beautiful photo.

This post is part of a series - do you have an image of your Grandparent's that you'd like to see up on the blog? Please send me an email [aisling at rangoli dot ie] or leave a comment below.