Husband and wife recreate their 1971 wedding photos at the same church to mark their 50th anniversary - and she STILL looks beautiful in $50 dress she wore on big day
- Carolyn and Kelly Gay, 70 and 76, celebrated their golden anniversary by recreating their wedding snaps
- They returned to DSM First Church in Des Moines, Iowa, where they wed 50 years earlier on March 12, 1971
- Grandmother-of-four Carolyn even wore the same bridal gown that she donned on the big day in her 20s
- Carolyn said the shoot took an hour-and-a-half and she was amazed the church hadn't changed in 50 years
- They were able to stand in front of the same altar and cross where they made their loving vows 50 years agoA smitten couple have recreated their wedding photographs exactly 50 years later, with the bride even wearing the same dress and standing outside the same church.
Carolyn and Kelly Gay, 70 and 76, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary by returning to DSM First Church in Des Moines, Iowa, where they got married exactly 50 years earlier on March 12, 1971.
The couple, from Cumming, Iowa, amazingly recreated their original wedding photographs in the same church, standing in front of the same altar and cross where they made their vows 50 years earlier. Grandmother-of-four Carolyn even spent a staggering three years growing out her luscious locks for the photoshoot and wore the same bridal gown that she donned on the big day in her 20s.
Carolyn and Kelly Gay, 70 and 76, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary by returning (left) to DSM First Church in Des Moines, Iowa, where they got married exactly 50 years earlier on March 12, 1971 (right)
Grandmother-of-four Carolyn spent a staggering three years growing out her luscious locks for the recreation photoshoot and wore the same bridal gown that she donned on the big day in her 20s (recreation left and original right)
The couple, from Cumming, Iowa, (pictured) amazingly recreated their original wedding photographs using the same church, alter, cross and candelabras that were used at their wedding, so the pictures were a perfect match
Speaking about the snaps, which were taken by Sam Hoyle from Two Hoyles Photography, Carolyn said: 'I sit here and look at the pictures and I see a lot of wrinkles.
'Sam has very good equipment because it shows every line in my face!
'I was pretty sure I was within five pounds of my weight as to what I weighed back when I was married, so I thought "I think I can get in that dress!"'I sent out invitations for our bridal party, to my kids and my grandkids, before I even tried the dress on!
Kelly, who works in safety solutions, wasn't able to sport the same suit that he wore 50 years ago, but found a similar suit to wear for the recreation shoot.
While photographer Sam Hoyle also incredibly managed to edit in Carolyn's late father Rolland Strain, walking her down the aisle to mirror the original wedding.
Carolyn was inspired to do the photoshoot (left) after growing out her hair, as she explained medical procedures and anaesthetics, as well as suffering from breast cancer, had damaged her hair, meaning she would frequently cut it off
As part of the shoot (left), the couple even dug out the receipts from the original day (right) and discovered that the entire celebration, including their honeymoon and reception for nearly 200 guests, cost around $340 (£247)
Carolyn's stunning white gown (pictured left in recreation shoot and right on original wedding day) cost $46.35 (£33.81), with an extra $8.24 (£6) for alterations, while catering for their 193 guests totalled $63.82 (£46.56)
Kelly, who works in safety solutions, wasn't able to sport the same suit that he wore 50 years ago (right), but found a similar suit to wear for the recreation shoot (left)
Carolyn (pictured with Kelly) said the photoshoot took around an hour-and-a-half and she was amazed that the church hadn't changed in 50 years, adding that it was even the same colour as on their original wedding day
Carolyn said the photoshoot took around an hour-and-a-half and she was amazed that the church hadn't changed in 50 years, adding that it was even the same colour.
She continued: 'It took about an hour to an hour-and-a-half, to take the new pictures and it was just a fun time. It was so much fun to recreate them.
'They've even had the church painted a couple of times since but not long ago they scraped it back and taken it back to the original colour.
'It's amazing as it was the same colour as 50 years ago.'
The longtime couple even dug out the receipts from the original day and discovered that the entire celebration, including their honeymoon and reception for nearly 200 guests, cost around $340 (£247).
Carolyn's stunning white gown cost $46.35 (£33.81), with an extra $8.24 (£6) for alterations, while catering for their 193 guests totalled $63.82 (£46.56).
But their biggest expense was the flowers, which came to a staggering $131.84 (£96.18), while their four-night honeymoon to New Orleans came in at $91.20 (£66.53), with just $0.36 (26p) for gas.
Carolyn was inspired to do the photoshoot after getting the chance to grow out her hair, as she explained medical procedures and anaesthetics, as well as suffering from breast cancer, had damaged her hair, meaning she would frequently cut it off.
Photographer Sam Hoyle from Two Hoyles Photography incredibly managed to edit in (left) Carolyn's late father Rolland Strain, walking her down the aisle to mirror the original wedding (right)
Carolyn admitted that one of the photographs she wanted to recreate 'really badly' was an overlaid image, that took weeks to originally create, where 'a picture of Jesus is overlooking the wedding' (recreation left and original right)
Carolyn admitted that the photographs were 'so much fun' to recreate (left) in the same church that they got married in (right), while they were even able to stand in front of the same alter and cross
Their biggest expense from the original wedding (right) was the flowers, which came to a staggering $131.84 (£96.18), while their four-night honeymoon to New Orleans came in at $91.20 (£66.53), with just $0.36 (26p) for gas
For a snap showing Carolyn's hand wearing her wedding ring, she admitted that she remembered tucking her thumb underneath as she remembered having a broken nail in the original photo (right) that she had hidden
Carolyn said she and Kelly haven't yet made any big plans for their 60th anniversary because she said, 'we've got to get there first' (recreation wedding photo left and original right)
She continued: 'On our second anniversary I had surgery to remove an ovary so I cut my hair after that, and the following August I had my first child so I had to cut my hair again then.
'I have one wedding picture I really, really loved when they took it from in the balcony overlooking all the people that came, and you can see a picture of Jesus overlooking the wedding.
'I wanted so badly to recreate that picture in particular.'
The overlaid image originally took weeks to produce after the wedding due to the novel photography technique, but the second time round the photographer 'whipped it out in no time'.
For a snap showing Carolyn's hand wearing her wedding ring, she admitted that she remembered tucking her thumb underneath as she remembered having a broken nail in the original photo that she had hidden.
Carolyn said she and Kelly haven't yet made any big plans for their 60th anniversary because she said, 'we've got to get there first'.
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