Yarrow Weddings in the 1950s
by Edwin Lenzmann

As a boy in Yarrow in the 1950s, I tagged along with my parents to quite a few weddings in the M.B. Church, where my father was the pastor. I usually ended up on the balcony with a few friends whose parents, like mine, were involved with the wedding, most often in connection with the light lunch that followed the service. I might add that everyone was welcome to attend weddings, but only invited guests remained for the lunch that followed.

The ceremony began with a piano music prelude. After the bridesmaids had walked down the long aisle, the couple walked in together and all were seated. The bride was not given away. Special music was provided most often by soloists. There were one or two brief sermons, and in the later 1950s there was often one sermon in German and one in English.

The sermons were followed by the marriage ceremony. My father always used the same German language vows (below) which he had committed to memory. To this day a wave of nostalgia comes over me when I read them. I assume that he acquired these vows from elsewhere; perhaps he altered them in accordance with his own preferences. The English vows (below) which he used very seldom if ever in Yarrow were definitely not his own. It is interesting that the German vows stated that the bride obey her husband; the English vows did not. On many occasions, the couple, by prearrangement, prayed after he had prayed. There was no exchange of rings.

The marriage was followed by the signing of the Register (as it was called) in the PA room off to the side and then the introduction of the couple as Mr. & Mrs. ---. The recessional followed.

(As an aside, I might add that the signing of the register included a copy that was sent to vital statistics in Victoria in a manila envelope that required no postage but did require a 50 cent fee to register the marriage. I know this because I often saw my dad set aside for this purpose the 50 cent pieces that happened to make it into his wallet, and quite often I mailed these letters for him at the post office. On one occasion Victoria asked whether perhaps a mistake had been made: the maiden name and the married name of the mother of the bride were identical and that surname appeared as well in more than one other spot.)

The light lunch was served at a table which pretty much ran the length of the basement, with the newlyweds, the attendants, and close family at a head table at the south end, creating a ‘T’. A large wedding might have up to three settings. Some of the small Sunday School rooms at the sides, which opened up somewhat, were also utilized. My friends and I were in one of those rooms, where we filled up mostly on sugar cubes and dill pickles.

The bride chose the young people (couples) who would serve the coffee and tea. Herman Klassen (Stewart Road) was in charge in the basement, and he seemed to love the job. When they arrived, guests placed the gifts behind the head table and after the lunch these were unwrapped by the couple and sent down the long table for viewing.

Most weddings were held during the summer months. There was at least one wedding most weekends, and on very rare occasions there were up to three, i.e., Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon. July could be a dicey month for us, because this was also the raspberry season. We would close early and my sisters would drive the berries to the cannery (could involve several trips), but they were sometimes involved as servers. Dad seemed to have things timed to the minute – a quick bath, and off to the wedding.