Married for 60 Years, Grandparents Share the Secret to an Epic Love Life: "Don't Go to Sleep Angry"

Grandparents can do anything for their grandchildren. Even if the grandchild asks them to play make-believe for a while. This adult grandchild asked her grandparents, who were celebrating their 60th anniversary, to play make-believe by reliving their wedding day. A photographer, Abigail Lydick, dressed them up in wedding attire and gifted them with a professional photo shoot. 

The New Jersey-based photographer gave her grandfather, George Brown, 83, and her grandmother, Virginia “Ginger” Brown, 78, a wedding-style photoshoot when they came to visit her. They had gotten married on June 6, 1959, and 60 years later they were going to redo the entire day for posterity. The couple is loved deeply by the entire family and this gift was a gift like no other. 

Abigail told the elderly couple, who were visiting from South Carolina, that she would like to dress them up so they could all go out for their anniversary. The photoshoot was a surprise, which she didn't reveal until they had arrived. The surprise left them nervous and excited. 

"When they arrived in New Jersey, we had our first family dinner together and I told them, 'I have a surprise for you, and it might seem a little crazy'," the photographer tells 9honey.

“Of course they said yes, because they’ll do anything for their grandchildren!” Lydick told HuffPost. “Then I got to work with some of our favorite local vendors to get [Grandmom] a dress to wear, hair and makeup and florals.”

This was a gift the couple would never forget. They were a little shocked and nervous to be in front of the camera initially. “My grandmom had never even had professional hair or makeup done before," she added. She had also never had professional photos taken of her before but the white gown gave her a boost. 

The gown was similar to the one Ginger had worn on her wedding day. "They found the perfect dress to compliment [the original dress] while still having a little bit of a modern touch to it," she explains to 9Honey. "I think it was perfect," she added. 

The photographer began the shoot by doing some "first look" photos, where George sees his wife in the gown for the first time. Later, she made them pose near old buildings and a forest as a backdrop. 

"They have such natural chemistry together that it wasn’t hard to catch a lot of sweet moments," she added. "Almost the entirety of the shoot consisted of Granddad cracking jokes, which would in turn cause Grandmum to break out in laughter," she said. 

The couple shared the secrets of a long, happy marriage with their granddaughter during the shoot. “Don’t go to bed if you’re angry,” “be prepared to forgive, always,” and “maintain a good sense of humor," the couple shared, according to HuffPost. They have had many many years together to learn from each other and those around them about having a good marriage. 

The granddaughter added her own observation about them as a couple too, adding that she learned a lot from them. “They aren’t afraid to talk about the hard stuff but are always ready to celebrate the good stuff,” she said. “When you are with someone for so long, there are bound to be bad days. But I always say that the bad days are what make the good days shine the brightest," she added.

When the couple finally saw the photos, they were over the moon. "They absolutely loved the photos ... they said, 'That's actually what we looked like?!' It was pretty cute," she tells 9honey. "You can tell how wonderful they are by how many people helped them celebrate this awesome milestone. They are loved by many and they are leaving such a great legacy for us all to see," she added. 

References:

https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/grandparents-anniversary-photo-shoot_l_5d13b704e4b0d0a2c0aaf392

https://honey.nine.com.au/latest/grandparents-wedding-anniversary-photo-shoot/83439d17-aff2-4863-80ad-1d1a22131bb2