First Comes Love: Wedding Dress Display Promotes Community In SJC

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA —It was natural for Jim and Carole Ward to share pictures of their wedding day for the "Century of Weddings" celebration prepared by Reata Glen. New residents of the retirement community in Rancho Mission Viejo, the couple added a photo of their happiest day to the display. More than 100 residents participated in the collection that spans decades of fashion to form an archival collection worthy of the Smithsonian Institution.

The relatively new Rancho Mission Viejo-based retirement community of Reata Glen is a 60-acre facility in south Orange County. It has been forced to do things differently this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Activities, meals at the dining facility and even meetups with neighbors have been pushed to the side in favor of the health and safety of all who call Reata Glen home. Still, activities coordinator Jayne Austin was determined to make February special for the residents.

A natural romantic by nature, as her name would dictate, Austin decided that February needed to be a month to celebrate love. After all, many residents were in the process of being vaccinated for the coronavirus. By the end of the month, the community expects over 96 percent of its residents and staff will be fully vaccinated.

That is a relief for all who live here and to their families.

Austin was thrilled with the loan of wedding dresses from the '30s, '40s, '50s and '60s. Photos showed the changing styles of wedding dresses through the ages.

Former Smithsonian Magazine editor and resident Ron Walker shared his and wife Louanne's respect for the collection. "We think the wedding gown exhibit is extremely well done and are certain it matches or even exceeds Smithsonian standards," Ron Walker wrote.

A photo on loan from the Tarnay family shows Sharon Tarnay in a wedding dress designed by Hollywood costume designer Edith Head. Head was the winner of eight Academy Awards, including one for costume design in "The Sting," and she was nominated more than 30 times.

"Edith Head only designed three custom wedding dresses throughout her career for private friends," Austin said. "Sharon Tarnay wore one. The feminine, elegant and graceful woman fit into the dress perfectly."

Austin's attention to these stories is reflected in the display, which includes a toast by one father of the bride, as well as wedding crowns and portraits. But it's the fashions that dress up the show.

Austin was startled by the petite size of the gowns, many of which would not fit modern bodies.

Where dresses could not be shared, photos were.

Austin received a bounty of pictures to display throughout the room. More than 100 photos spanning a century showed the changing style of cakes, veils, wedding dresses and tuxedos.

Jim and Carole Ward shared their own love story with Patch.

Jim Ward is a retired appellate court justice from Riverside. He and Carole moved to Reata Glen in September, leaving their home and citrus grove for greener pastures. They agreed that the wedding dresses and photos were an amazing way to get to know their peers at their new home.

Carole Ward's 1950s-era dress accented her waist, with a belle skirt and drop shoulders. Jim Ward looked smart in a three-piece suit. Their wedding photo showed them with eyes locked, beaming.

Their love is apparent in Jim's voice as he told Patch about the day. "We were married in 1956," he said. "My wife got her wedding dress at Bullocks Wilshire. After the ceremony, we packed it up and put it away."

Their daughter wore the wedding dress in 1984, then packed it away again. When a grandaughter in law wanted to try the dress on some 20 years later, it was too yellowed. Though Carole was unable to share her wedding dress then, they shared some memories instead.

The couple met in Paris and later dated in Vienna. They were both students, but his future wife thought Jim looked like "an American trying to look French in a trench coat and goatee," he recalled with a laugh.

She asked him once to help her make a phone call to the famous columnist Art Buchwald, whose phone number a friend had shared. "You can't do that," Jim recalled saying.

They tried anyway, but Buchwald didn't answer. Jim later wrote Buchwald a letter about that day: "Buchwald wrote back, saying he wished he had been there to answer the call."

The die was cast. With no money, the two fell in love and went "Dutch treat" on every date. When they returned to the States, Carole said, "Yes," bought the dress, and they are living happily ever after.

It was a difficult decision to move to Reata Glen amid the pandemic, but things are looking brighter, they said. They are both fully vaccinated against the coronavirus now, thanks to the clinic brought in by their facility.

The couple still goes for rides and discovers things about their new home. "We go get food and sit on the beach and watch the waves come in," he said. They walk the bike path from Reata Glen to the beach, "and we walk and do much exploring. We have also found wonderful restaurants in San Juan Capistrano."

For more information, visit the Reata Glen website: Independent Senior Living San Juan Capistrano.