Photo: Courtesy of RR Auction
President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy's 61st wedding anniversary was on September 12, but today, we got a look at some original negatives from their iconic wedding day that are set to go on auction this month.
Pictures and stories from their wedding at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island, have been in circulation since that historic day, when socialite Jackie (née Bouvier) married the dashing young Massachusetts senator. Even before the Presidency, their union was such a buzzed-about event that Life magazine sent a photographer to capture the day.
The new photos, though, are a collection of most likely unpublished negatives that were snapped by a separate photographer, in case something happened to the primary images. "The images were taken by a freelance photographer, Arthur Borges, of Fall River, MA who had been asked to be a 'back-up' photographer for the wedding," says Bobby Livingston, Exec VP at RR Auction, the house that is auctioning the negatives. "They were discovered by family members in his darkroom after his passing in 1993."
Photos: Courtesy of RR Auction
Borges' photos offer a different angle of the entire bridal party (which looks like it included a dog!), their emergence from the church, and their cake-cutting. We love how the candid nature of the photos offer a more natural look at what's become a seminal day in wedding history.
The future President and First Lady's wedding was very much the social event of the season — they had an estimated 700 guests at the ceremony and 1,200 at the reception. As Life put it, "Their wedding turned out to be the most impressive the old society stronghold had seen in 30 years."
If the wedding went off without a hitch, Jackie's dress wasn't so much of a success, at least in her eyes. The famous gown was far from what she would have chosen, according to Time. "She had wanted a simple dress with sleek, straight lines, but bowed to family pressure to wear something more traditional, despite thinking it looked like a lampshade," the magazine states, citing the book What Jackie Taught Us.
Whether or not hindsight taught her that the classic look was a great choice, we think it holds up as an example of gorgeous 1950's fashion!