Dave and Karen Get Married

It worked, despite the weather. (This post includes an audio recording of the ceremony.)

By Dave

Apr 4, 2020

The quality of this recording is not very good. In 1972, it was pretty unusual to try and record a wedding, so I’m thankful to have a recording even if it’s not great. I’ve had to boost the volume considerably to hear the voices of the bride and groom. We sound pretty young! The song was a last-minute substitution, as our chosen soloist was unable to make it to the wedding.

We planned our wedding for December 17, 1972, in Karen’s home town: The Dalles, Oregon. It was the Sunday after the end of the first quarter of my junior year at George Fox College. Then we’d have two weeks for a Christmas honeymoon in California, staying with my folks in Whittier for part of that time. My folks planned a reception for us in their church between Christmas and New Years.

It was a great plan, but almost wrecked by the weather. The week before, a blizzard hit the Columbia Gorge and Portland, closing the freeway to The Dalles for several days.

My family (2 parents, 3 siblings, and 4 grandparents) had flown up from California and were staying at the Holiday Inn in Portland. The snow had trapped them in the hotel. I met with them and Dad tried to convince us to postpone the wedding, or to have it there in Portland. But I wasn’t willing to adjust, and I thought we could drive to The Dalles.

On Saturday the weather cleared up a bit and the freeway was opened. It was covered in ice. We rented three cars for the trip. I wasn’t old enough, so I was not allowed to drive. My friend (and best man) Craig Bersagel drove, and I think Dad drove. We got out on the highway to the place where we were supposed to put on our chains, and found that one of cars had the wrong set of chains. We had to abandon it off the road, and cram into two cars.

As we slid across the ice up to The Dalles – it took six hours for what was normally about a 90 minute trip – my two grandmothers had two completely different ways of responding to the situation. Grandma (my dad’s mom) was terrified. Every time we slipped on the ice, she would cry out in fear. Annie (my mom’s mom, in a different car) was thrilled with all of the ice formations, especially the waterfalls, and kept exclaiming about the wonder of it all.

The rehearsal was planned for Saturday night, but I don’t think it actually took place. We did have a rehearsal dinner; it was at Spooky’s Pizza. Karen skipped it and went to her parents’ house. There was work to do on the dress!

What a blessing to have four grandparents at my wedding! Herb and Mary Martin are standing next to Karen, and Mildred and Walter Jessup are standing next to me.

The Votaw family, left to right: Sue, John, Doree, Karen, Dave, Dick, and Peggy.

Karen with her sisters and bridesmaids: Peggy and Sue Votaw, Karen, Karla (Karen’s sister and matron of honor), Carol Sherman (who baked the wedding cake), and Mary Smith (Karen’s roommate).

The receiving line, left to right: Francis Sutton (Karen’s dad), Doree Votaw, Mildred Jessup, Dave Votaw, Herb Martin, Karen Votaw, Walter Jessup.

The church was up on a hill, and the road top it was covered in snow and ice. Big, heavy cars couldn’t make it up to the parking lot, but Karen’s little Corolla did just fine. Somebody set up a shuttle service with a small pickup truck to get people up to the church.

Our wedding decorations were simple. We had just one floral bouquet, in the middle, and a small Christmas tree on each side. Karen made silver and red balls to decorate the trees.

The ceremony was not well-attended, but it worked! We had reserved a hotel room in Portland for that night, but after the reception I decided that I didn’t want to drive down there in the dark because of the road conditions. So we stayed in The Dalles, and over the next few days made our way south for Karen’s first Christmas with the Votaw family.

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1 Comment

  1. Diane Armfield Austin

    Hi Votaws! So happy to see these pictures after all these years. I was friends with Karen and grew up with her, knew her family well. Can’t remember that I made it to the wedding but wanted to be there. Thanks for sharing this! Diane Armfield Austin

    Reply

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