Vintage Wedding: Style on Display in Kirkwood

When members of the Kirkwood Historical Society were looking for a new exhibit to draw visitors to historic , they went with something borrowed and something blue, something old but nothing new.

Wedding dresses and accessories dating from the late 1800s to the 1960s are the focus of the current display at the 151-year-old home that is the society’s headquarters.

A blue and white organdy wedding gown adorned with white fabric daisies with yellow centers from the 1950s was the inspiration behind the exhibit. It was donated by a longtime Kirkwood family.

“We thought it was so cool that we thought we should do something with it,” said Sue Burkett, the historical society’s librarian. “So then we started going through our things and finding more (wedding) things.”

The floor-length gown with bouffant skirt and matching tulle veil was worn by Lucy Ambler, who grew up in Kirkwood and was married in the family home on Argonne Avenue in 1955, Burkett said. The Ambler family’s roots in Kirkwood go back to the 1890s, she said.

The wedding dress exhibit, which includes photos, shoes, invitations, and other wedding day paraphernalia, will remain on display through the end of October.

Other special exhibits have included Boy Scout memorabilia, demitasse cups and Christmas ornaments.