The last time Lucille Stone wore her hand-sewn wedding dress, she was 22 years old and saying “I do” to her husband, Marvin, then 29, at a little Lutheran church in Sterling, Nebraska.
“The thing that took the longest was making 52 buttons that are on the sleeves and down the back,” she told KHGI-TV .
Six decades later, the now 82-year-old Lucille has slipped into that same dress and become a blushing bride once again to celebrate her and Marvin’s 60th wedding anniversary.
The pair proved their love is truly timeless with a positively heartwarming photo shoot featuring the bride and groom in their original wedding attire.
Photographer Katie Autry snapped the sweet couple as they lovingly posed in their vintage outfits — Marvin, a dashing groom in his suit and bowtie, and Lucille, a stunning vision of satin and lace.
Autry was understandably moved by the experience as she photographed the loved-up pair.
“This may be one of my favorite sessions to date,” she wrote in a now-viral post on Facebook . “What an amazing example these two are of true love standing the test of time. I am so glad to have met them, and honored to have captured these memories for them.”
Lucille was the one who suggested she and her husband wear their original wedding outfits for the photo shoot.
She still had her gown and Marvin still had his tuxedo so it certainly seemed like the perfect opportunity to get all dressed up again. After all, when do you ever get to wear your wedding dress a second time?
“[Marvin] thought it was kind of a good idea too, to have a picture,” Lucille told Business Insider .
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Sixty years ago, the couple, who were both from farm backgrounds and both in teaching, tied the knot in a modest ceremony.
“It was a typical wedding,” Marvin told KGHI-TV . “We had a pastor who was in his first ceremony wedding… and he was a little shook but he did it and we were married.”
“My dad cried. He was the only one that cried,” Lucille added. “My mother beamed and they both thought Marvin was just perfect, and that does help when your parents like the person that you’re marrying.”
It also certainly helps that these lovebirds share the same core values.
“We both were free enterprise people and we had similar goals in life and we were both in teaching,” Marvin said. “We had already been in teaching for a while and we were just kind of together in our concepts of what to do and what direction to go and so forth.”
Sixty years and three children later, it’s safe to say these two are still as in love now as they were the day they married.
“We don’t always agree but we have the main focus that we’ve always had, so it just kind of moves along,” Marvin said. “We have had similar values and so it has worked out pretty well and, I don’t know, we never spent any time considering separating.”
Lucille added that the pair have always assumed “marriage is forever,” right from the first day they wed.
“You do what you have to do and by no means have we been perfect in our marriage,” she said. “We’ve had arguments. We’ve had disagreements, but on the big things we’re pretty much on the same track.”
In Autry’s Facebook post about the couple, she shared some words of wisdom they offered about the secret to a lasting marriage.
As Marvin and Lucille explained, you must work hard, be kind to one another, think before you speak, rely on each other’s strengths to overcome your weakness, and stay strong in your faith.
Make sure to check out Katie Autry’s official photography website and see more of her fabulous work on her Facebook and Instagram pages.
h/t: KHGI-TV , Business Insider , Photos courtesy of Katie Autry Photography
