September 17, 1983

Watching weddings always makes me reminisce about our wedding 27 years ago, as it did this morning while watching the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton (now Duchess of Cambridge). This morning I woke up before 5am to make scones and watch the wedding on television, as I had done years previously when Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married. After it was over, I looked through our wedding photos, and decided to scan some of my favorites into the computer and share them here.

Brian and I were married on a beautiful late summer day in Catskill, NY at a historic home made historic, in part, as the place where President Martin Van Buren and his wife, Hannah Hoes were married on February 21, 1807 , and thus called The President's Wedding. Back then it was the home of the sister of Hannah Hoes. It also had a historic marker having something to do with Uncle Sam too, but I do not remember the specifics (*see Footnote at end). We visited this house years later on vacation, but by then it was a private home and no longer used for that purpose, although the historic markers were still there, of course. The present owners actually came out and talked to us and asked us if we had heard of or knew who the two ghosts were who they had seen in their house! Pretty stunning ... and to think that I had gotten dressed in the rooms upstairs! All we could think of was the portrait of Martin Van Buren and Hannah Hoes that hung on the wall where we said our vows (and you can see that in one of the pictures), but they didn't think that was who it was. Also, they did not know what happened to that portrait, which apparently did not come with the house when they bought it. Anyway, the home was a wonderful place to be married and have a reception. It even had a bar in the cellar for cocktails before dinner (I think Brian and my father may have even had a little something before the ceremony too).

The photos have faded and are probably so old now I will need a special preservationist to restore them, but these are my memories from our wedding day:

















*Footnote: After looking further I found this information on the Uncle Sam/ Catskill link -- from http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=8601 --THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE :

"Samuel and Nathaniel's families lived in a large mansion located at 251 West Main Street. That's were Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States, was married to Hannah Hoes in 1807, before he became the president.

This historical mansion, which was built in 1797, is still standing. Two plaques in front of it remind us of the time when Samuel Wilson and Martin Van Buren were there."