loving-lucy:

Lucy & Desi eloped in 1940, but were married again in 1949 in the Catholic Church at the urging of Desi’s mother, who thought that they would be rewarded with children if married in God’s eyes. →

I thought that because Desi and I had eloped and had been married by a judge, our marriage somehow lacked a certain sacred quality. So we were married again in 1949 in Our Lady of the Valley Church in Canoga Park. Groucho Marx couldn’t make the ceremony, but wired: “What’s new?”

Desi and his band were appearing on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip the June day we married. He wore a white suit and I was in a blue satin wedding dress with a bridal bouquet. My mentor in comedy techniques, Ed Sedgwick, gave me away and Desi’s mother, Dolores, was matron of honor. I thought it would please her to have us married in the church, and I promised to bring up any children we might have as Catholics.

It was a sentimental occasion, with our closest friends and family there, and a wedding reception afterward. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I believed in it. 

Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball

We had been married for nine years, but when I saw her coming down the aisle with her bouquet and wedding dress and hat, I got as much of a thrill as the first time, perhaps even more.

A Book by Desi Arnaz