At the request of her grandchildren on her 60th wedding anniversary, 80-year-old Janith Goedde did something she likely never thought she would again: put on her wedding gown. The Chantilly lace gown had been living in a plastic bag in her attic for some time, and impressively enough, still fit.
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Goedde and her 84-year-old husband, Joe Goedde, were married on May 11, 1957, a “hot and sunny day” in Haubstadt, Indiana, ABC News reported. Her dress cost just $69.95 at the time, ABC News reported. They were surrounded by 62 of their family members two weeks ago for a day-long anniversary celebration.
Goedde’s granddaughter, Alison Goedde, proudly posted a photo on Twitter of her grandmother in the dress with the hashtag #Goals.
My grandma is 80, she just celebrated 60 years with her man, AND she fits in her wedding dress. #Goals pic.twitter.com/QcEiAVBEho
— Ali (@AliRenae) May 1, 2017
The dress was a little snug, but it still fit, Goedde said. It was also in “good condition” and still white, even though it wasn’t preserved.
“When we came home that evening, one of the girls said, ‘I bet she can still get in her wedding gown. Where’s it at?’ I told them where it was in the attic and they went up there and got it. So I had to put it on,” Goedde said.
Goedde even still had the original hand-written receipt she received from the bridal shop in Evansville, Indiana.
A description of the dress was even printed in the local newspaper for the couple’s wedding announcement.
“For her wedding, the bride chose a floor-length gown of imported Chantilly lace and nylon tulle over satin, fastened down the back with tiny covered buttons,” it read. “The fitted lace bodice was designed with Sabrina neckline and embroidered in pearlized sequins. The long sleeves tapered over the wrists.”
Upon seeing his wife again in the dress, Joe Goedde said she “still looks beautiful.” He also joked about being “too young” at 24 to get married.
“I didn’t get to see her until she walked down the aisle and I kept saying to myself, ‘You’re too young to get married. I was 24,’” Joe Goedde said, laughing.
The wedding was captured on an old camera Joe Goedde bought in Germany while serving in the army. The bridesmaids, who carried bouquets of daisies, wore matching hoop-skirt dresses in pink, blue, green and yellow.
“At that time you had to have a big hoop,” Goedde recalled. “The dresses were long and then you rented a hoop. They had to be big so they’d stretch all out.”
The couple grinned ear-to-eat as they cut into their anniversary cake and fed it to each other at the blowout party on April 30.
“Our anniversary is May 11 but to get everything and everybody together, we had it on April 30 at the Carriage Inn. They decorated it and it was so nice,” Goedde said.
Although Joe Goedde didn’t want to have a celebration at first, he admitted that he “enjoyed it.”
“I’ll tell you, I couldn’t believe we were celebrating like that,” he said. “But with the insistence of the children, I had to give in. I enjoyed it.”
Goedde said communication and prayer are the keys to a successful marriage.
“We’re looking forward to more anniversaries, but we’ll take what comes,” she said. “We’ll stick it out together.”
(H/T: ABC News)
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