Joanie's Wedding - Mary Pushy

[Yhtapmys]

Jack Benny Has Bills After
$25,000 Wedding of Daughter
Lilies from Holland,
Exclusive Weave of Satin Are Included
By BOB THOMAS
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Joan Benny and Seth Baker embarked on a Hawaiian honeymoon today and her father, Jack Benny, was faced with an estimated $25,000 bill for one of the most fabulous weddings in Hollywood history.
Benny, wearing white tie, tails and glasses, last night led his 19-year-old adopted daughter through the flower-festooned Crystal Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel. "I'd rather not look so good and wear glasses than fall on my face," the comedian explained.
Benny gave Joan in marriage to Baker, 26-year-old New York stock broker and son of industrialist Harry Baker, before a crowd of stars of stage, TV and movies.
Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin performed the double-ring ceremony and advised the couple to "forget about the tinsel of life and live for the good things.”
Billed as a tightwad on his radio and TV programs, Benny spared no expense in the wedding. White lilacs were flown from Holland to add to the white and green motif that converted the Crystal Room into a spring garden. Designer Don Leper, who staged the affair, flew to France to arrange for an exclusive weave of brocaded white satin for the bride's gown. Thirty-five yards with lily of the valley figurings were used.
The wedding went off without a hitch. The principals faced news cameras before the ceremony and after. The bride's mother, Mary Livingston, who had arranged all the details, became impatient with the photographers and ordered the reception line to begin.
Benny played it straight throughout. He smiled weakly and made some attempts at humor, but he seemed obviously nervous with his role as the doting father. He even resisted the temptation to join the orchestra of 10 violins who serenaded the reception with "Love in Bloom."

<AP photo>
Here is how Joan Benny, daughter of Jack Benny, looked when she became the bride of Seth Baker, 26, New York stock broker, in a lavish wedding, Tuesday night in Beverly Hills, Calif. She is shown before the wedding wearing her gown of creamy white French silk brocade designed by Don Loper, who flew to Paris to arrange for the specially woven material.
- Associated Press, Wednesday, March 10, 1954

Yhtapmys
"Drive Your Blues Away!"

[Gerry O.]

I hate to say this, but the mere thought of Mary taking charge as the Mother of the Bride sends CHILLS up my spine!