It took 77 years, but Royce and Frankie King finally have a set of professional wedding photos.
The former high school sweethearts didn’t have room to pose for photos when they got married back in 1944. At the time, Royce was heading to Europe to fight in World War II.
With only two days to tie the knot, Frankie never got to wear a pretty white gown and walk down the aisle to see her soldier waiting for her, and Royce never got to see his beautiful bride after lifting her veil. So in honor of their 77th wedding anniversary, staff members at St. Croix Hospice in Oakdale, Minnesota, decided to finally right that wrong!
The team threw the couple a ’40s-themed party at their modest ranch home in Oelwein, Iowa. They managed to locate a vintage 1940 wedding gown for Frankie to wear, while Royce wore his old Air Force uniform.
They held the ceremony in the couple’s backyard, playing music from that era as 97-year-old Frankie finally took her walk down the aisle. St. Croix nurse Hilary Michelson is also a photographer, so she snapped some lovely photos of the big day.
“I had the honor of snapping some photos for their 77th wedding anniversary,” Hilary wrote on Facebook. “Absolutely no shame in the fact that I had a hard time keeping it together behind the lens.”
One of Frankie and Royce’s two adult children was able to attend the event. Sue Bilodeau said she “couldn’t stop smiling” as she watched her mother and father recreate their special day.
“They were just very excited and honored that St. Croix would do that for them,” Sue continued. “They liked to be in the limelight, Dad especially, and Mom was so happy to put on a gown and be beautiful. I think they were just overwhelmed at the whole day.”
After “quite a long kiss” to seal the deal, St. Croix staffers and the family enjoyed a special cake with “77” on top, allowing them to finally have the ceremonial cake cutting part of their wedding day. They really did think of everything!
“We can’t thank them enough,” Sue said. “It was wonderful and long overdue. I just got done printing up a photo album, so it will be in the mail and now they will finally have their wedding photos.”
Isn’t this just too thoughtful? Hospice workers really are angels on Earth. Congratulations to Royce and Frankie on 77 years of wedded bliss!
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