The Bermudian and Bermudian Weddings magazines have been celebrating Bermuda and Bermuda brides since 1930. Over the last 84 years we’ve printed the island’s most prominent, most memorable and most daringly fashionable unions. Here we take a look back at these weddings and reminisce about what it was like to say “I do” in old Bermuda.
October 1982 – At Christ Church, Warwick, Holly Anne Havemeyer Darling, daughter of Lt. Col. Michael Darling and Mrs. Holly Webb, became the bride of Michael Ernest Barany, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Barany of Napton, Warwickshire, Eng. After the ceremony, a reception was held at “Lancashire Lodge,” the Warwick home of the bride’s grandmother, Mrs. Leslie Darling.
October 1964 – Miss Rosamond Wendy Walker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard W. Walker of Paget, wed Mr. Michael Anthony Butt, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert R. Butt of Richmond Hill, Ontario, at Christ Church in Devonshire. After the wedding, a reception was held at Pomander Gate, Paget.
October 1956 – One of the most brilliant weddings of 1956 took place at Holy Trinity Church, Hamilton Parish, when Miss Josephine Diana Wilkinson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. Bernard Wilkinson of Bailey’s Bay, became the bride of Mr. Edwin Jay Gould, son of Mrs. John Metler Sturgeon III of Rose Hill Plantation, Bluffton, N.C., and the late Mr. Frank Miller Gould of New York. A specially chartered Pan American World Airways plane brought members of the wedding party and guests from New York and took them home after the nuptials.
October 27, 1938 – At St. Paul’s A. M. E. Church, Miss Catherine Olivia Louise Cannonier, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Cannonier of Warwick East, married Mr. Edward Henry Simons, son of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. E. Simons. A reception was held at Charleston in Paget, the home of the bridegroom’s parents. Music was provided by an orchestra conducted by Harry Foster.
May 14, 1989 – Miss Sharon Ismay Marie Rhonda, daughter of Mrs. Gertrude Rhonda, wed Mr. Arthur Reginald Eugene Bean at Christ Church, Devonshire.
June 21, 1956 – In Christ Church, Devonshire, Miss Penelope Joan Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. Christopher Smith of Warwick East, became the bride of Mr. John Lewis Duhring, son of Mrs. Edwin L. Duhring of Philadelphia, Pa., and the late Mr. Duhring. The church was beautifully decorated with white and yellow gladioli and magnolia blossoms. After the ceremony, a reception was held at Thurlestone, home of the bride’s parents.
July 1972 – At Christ Church, Warwick, Miss Dinah Jane Trainer Williams, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald John Williams of Somerset, was married to Mr. Bryan Robert Darby, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Owen Darby of Northfleet, Kent, Eng. After the wedding, a reception was held at the home of the bride’s parents.
July 5, 1945 – Winifred Treco Tatem, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Tatem, of “Hazelbrook,” Pembroke, to Kenneth Henry Thomas Coad, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Coad, of “Kenrose,” Cavendish Heights, Pembroke, at St. John’s Church, Pembroke.
July 3, 1930 – The wedding of Miss Lucy Clare Watlington (daughter of the Hon. H. W. Watlington O.B.E., M.C.P., and Mrs. Watlington of “Woolside,” Devonshire) and Mr. Bayard Dill (son of Lieut.-Col., the Hon. T. M. Dill, M.C.P., and Mrs. Dill of “Newbold Place,” Devonshire) took place at Christ Church, Devonshire, and was one of the most outstanding social events of the year. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. B. A. Bowman and was followed by a reception at “Woolside,” the bride’s home.
January 1960 – At St. John’s Church, Pembroke, Miss Cornelia Ann Cooper, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Hinson Cooper of Paget, became the bride of Mr. J. Warren Young, son of Admiral and Mrs. Edwin J. S. Young of Orange Park, Jacksonville, Fla. The ceremony was performed by Canon E. N. B. Chapman, with Mr. David Wadson at the organ. The choir of the Bermuda High School for Girls was directed by Miss Gladys Tatem.
February 1996 – Laquita Bean wed Kevin Hill in a ceremony at Astwood Cove. The ceremony included a performance by the Empress Menen Dancers and Mandela Freedom Drummers. A reception followed with more performances and an elegant three-tiered pound and fruitcake.
February 2, 1950 – Miss Frances Elizabeth Ashmore of Cardiff, Wales, became the bride of Mr. Henry James Tucker III, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.J. Tucker, Jr. of Paget. The Rev. Mr. Leslie Gunner officiated at the ceremony, assisted by the Rev. Mr. David Evans of St. John’s Church, Pembroke. Later some eight hundred guests flocked to the Tucker home, The Lagoon. Music was provided by the Talbot Brothers.
December 9, 1941 – Lillian Hare Hayward, daughter of the late Hon. and Mrs. Joseph Ming Hayward of St. George’s, to Canon A. T. Tucker, Rector of St. George’s, at St. Peter’s Church.
August 26, 1931 – On August 26 at the Holy Trinity Church at Bailey’s Bay, the wedding took place between Miss Catherine Margaret North, daughter of Mr. H. T. North, M.C.P., of Bailey’s Bay, and Mr. Henry Hayward Burnet, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Burnet, of Waycross, Georgia, U.S.A. The reception was held at the home of the bride, “Glendon,” and the couple left for their honeymoon and future residence in the States aboard the S. S. Franconia next morning.
April 1930 – Miss Doris Rosabelle Harnett, daughter of the Hon. and Mrs. L. B. Harnett of “Glynhir,” Pembroke, became the bride of Mr. John Gianella of Brooklyn, New York. The service took place at Wesley Church, with a reception at “Glynhir.”
April 10, 1950 – Miss Patricia Joan Selley, daughter of Mrs. Ethel Selley of Pembroke and the late John Selley, married John Elliot (Shot) Cooper, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ross Cooper of Shelly Bay. The ceremony took place at The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity with a reception at the English Speaking Union, Cedar Avenue.
1 comment on “Looking Back at Bermuda Weddings of Yesteryear”
Thrilled to see the photo of my grandparents, the HH Burnets, married 8.26.31. I have the original large photograph framed in my home. So many events occurred in their long lives. My Grandmother, whom I adored, was lonely for BDA, we think, when they moved to a small town in south Georgia to establish their lives.
Thrilled to see the photo of my grandparents, the HH Burnets, married 8.26.31. I have the original large photograph framed in my home. So many events occurred in their long lives. My Grandmother, whom I adored, was lonely for BDA, we think, when they moved to a small town in south Georgia to establish their lives.