Wedding Corner-Judy and Colin Anderson

Judy and Colin Anderson
Judy and Colin Anderson

Who: Judy (Hague) Anderson ’71 and Colin Anderson

When: December 21, 1974

Where: The Trinity Chapel. The stand-up reception was held in the Senior Common Room.

Who else was there: Jane Hague, the bride’s identical twin, was maid of honour, and later married the Rev. John Hodgins ’83 (M.Div.). Bridesmaids included another sister, Madeleine Hague, and the bride’s Trinity 7T1 pals, the late Christine de Catanzaro (whose father, the Rev’d Dr. Carmino de Catanzaro taught in the Faculty of Divinity), and Alyson Barnett (now the Rev’d Canon Barnett-Cowan). Colin’s son, Nick, was best man. Trinity Chaplain Rev’d Bruce Stavert (who later became Anglican Archbishop of Quebec) performed the wedding ceremony, Rev’d Canon Eugene Fairweather celebrated the Eucharist, and then-professor David Neelands’65, ‘66 (MPhil),
‘78 (MDiv) (who later became Trinity’s Dean of Divinity) was deacon for the Eucharist. Giles Bryant, Trinity’s music director at the time, was in England for Christmas; in his stead the organist/choir director was Peter Walker ’75, ’78 (MDiv).

From the bride: Things were so much simpler in those days. We were engaged in March 1974, too early to have a summer wedding. I was a teacher and the first Saturday of the Christmas break was December 21. In March, we reserved the Chapel and the Combination Room for the reception—stand up—and my mom contacted the College’s caterers for the food and wine and beer. Basically, I just showed up at 2 p.m. on the 21st, with family and friends in the pews and in the choir loft. Our close friend, the witty and well-loved Giles Bryant, was in England for Christmas. He left the organ and choir in the very capable hands of Peter Walker, and Albert Mahon, our very dear friend to this day, was the cantor for the plainsong Propers. At the reception, we sang some a cappella Christmas carols. It was a very fine day!

My mother made the distinctive headpieces for me and my bridesmaids. My dress was made by Helen Sidgwick, whose father was beloved Trinity organist and choir director John Sidgwick. The sanctuary MC was the legendary Ron Payne. He’d been my eccentric, again beloved, Latin teacher at Jarvis Collegiate. About my shoes: I’ve never liked white ones and certainly wasn’t going to wear any in December! It was Christmas and so I wore red shoes: very practical, low-heeled ones, which were worn many times after. The Willan Lady Motet I chose—Colin and I had sung it and all the other choral pieces many times—was Fair in Face. It’s in honour of the Virgin Mary and ends, “Pray thou for us all.” Many decades later, I learned that, in iconography, Mary’s shoes are always red!

As we’re both choral singers, the choir loft was packed! We had a nuptial Eucharist. We also had Duruflé’s beautiful Ubi Caritas: “Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est”: “Where charity and love are, there is God.” Inside my ring are the words, “Ubi caritas et amor,” and inside Colin’s are, “Deus ibi est,” if they haven’t been completely worn off after 45 years!

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