Ada and Bill's Wedding

On 13 April 1961, Ada Mackie married for a second time to become Mrs William Warden. Here are some pictures of their wedding at St. Mary's Church, Chislehurst. That's my father Don with the moustache and Aunt Celia in the role of bridesmaid. Uncle Jack was no doubt behind the camera so not actually seen here. I think the best man must be "F.J. Moran" - one of the witnesses named on the marriage certificate. The wedding was quite a low key affair. I don't now remember why, but only dad attended the wedding, not the rest of us.

Connie & Jack's wedding

At first, I could only recognise Velda, the younger bridesmaid, in this group. But a Google search for various members of my family tree led me to this item about Constance (Connie) Precious http://www.kettlenet.co.uk/kettle/tree/037.htm
I compared notes with Anna Kettle and can now identify the bride as Constance and the groom as Jack Kettle. The best man on the left is Jack's brother-in-law William Woods. The older bridesmaid could be another of Connie's nieces - perhaps Joyce or Evelyn Smith or Kathleen Hunt, but I cannot be sure. And I think it is highly likely that the older man in the right of the picture is Connie's father George Precious.

June and John's wedding

Left to right: Mr C. Ellis, Sybil, Cynthia, Leslie, a friend's girl, John, June, Velda, Florence, Gordon.  I don't know the exact date, but it is shown in the index of marriages for the October-December quarter of 1956.

Update 19 October 2009. Comparing with other photos and postcards and checking against birth and marriage records, this is what I can piece together. This is the wedding of June Saunders and John Ellis. Sybil and Velda are June's sisters. Velda is now married to John's brother Leslie. Their father is Charles Ellis. (Their mother Lily died in 1946.)  Florence (nee Precious) is the mother of Velda, June and Sybil.

Update 25 October 2009. Cynthia is Velda and Leslie's daughter. I had not made the connection straight away as all the other photos I have of Velda's children show only Keith and Gillian.
I'm still trying to track down Gordon. I had at first presumed he was Florence's husband. But she was married to William Saunders and (so far) I cannot find any evidence that she remarried. The only Gordon in the immediate family that I have traced so far is Gordon Smith, husband of Florence's sister Dorothy. But why would he be in this photo without his wife and children?

Update 24 June 2012.  I have now heard from Keith Ellis who has pointed out a false assumption on my part.  Keith and Gillian were the children of John and June.  Leslie and Velda also had another daughter Vanessa, who would have been two at the time.