Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau: The Wedding

"After the Engagement"
by Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau

"For two months preceding the wedding, Elizabeth Gardner was busy with preparations and the renovations of William Adolphe Bouguereau's living quarters at 75, rue Notre-Dames-des-Champs.

The wedding ceremony consisted of three discreet and simple events. None of Gardner's family was able to attend. At 10 o'clock on June 22, there was a civil ceremony conducted by the Mayor of Paris. Elizabeth had two witnesses: long-time friend Ned Tuck and Mr. Morse, the American Consul to Paris. Bouguereau's witnesses were Monsieur Ginain, architect, and Monsieur Thomas, sculptor.

Gardner's description of the 'eventful day' is the object of her June 25 letter:

'Monday was a lovely day. Ned Tuck and Julia (Tuck) came for me at half past nine, and at the mayor's we met all the rest of our party of 16. The service was brief. The mayor made a justly complimentary speech and then we all drove to the chapel where every thing was certainly charming. I believe I behaved well although I confess to a considerable internal emotion. The Bishop made rather a lengthy address and I was proud enough of his appreciation of my dear, noble husband. He also said kind things of your sister...

Of course, our good friends did every thing splendidly. The wedding breakfast was delicious and the floral decorations beautiful. Then came a few toasts. Our Consul proposed the health of the bride and groom. Paul Bouguereau replied in a manner which brought tears to the eyes of many guests. He was most eloquent; he said he had already had occasion at home to shew what he felt for me, but that he wished before the company to assert how proud and happy the children both were at their Father's choice, and to promise constant respect and affection for their new Mother. Then Ned read your cable and proposed the health of my family necessarily absent, saying such nice things of the friendship which had united our Fathers and which he was so happy to continue...

We came then quietly to the hotel which I found beautifully dressed with flowers. I felt weary and so glad to pass the rest of the day quietly in our little garden with my husband, while the young people profited by the fine carriages to take long drives...'"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Elizabeth Jane Gardner: Her Life, Her Work, Her Letters," MA Thesis by Charles Pearo, McGill University, 1997.)