Not one, but four weddings

There is no first wedding for a Lithuanian couple in the post WWII immigration story, in fact there are four.  On the 29th May 1948, four young couples, many of whom had just arrived on the General Sturgis ship, ten days earlier were married in the Bathurst Migrant camp.  One Latvian couple also tied the knot.  The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Father Triepper, a Latvian priest whose message in Latin and German was translated into Lithuanian.  

The Lithuanian women wore traditional national costume skirts and white linen embroidered blouses. Throughout the service, Leonas Kazlauskas played and sang hymns in Lithuanian, German and Latin.  On several occasions, Lithuanians in the chapel joined in.  The main decoration was two paper made flags, one Lithuanian, one Latvian, that hung behind the altar. 

Despite the cold weather of the day, over 250 people waited outside to shower the couples with confetti and good wishes. 

A joint wedding breakfast was held in the town.  A wedding cake was made by a Balt pastry chef and a candle was presented to each bride.  Everything else was contributed by the Catholic community of Bathurst.  During breakfast, one after each other, each couple joined hands to cut the wedding cake and each bride lit her candle. 

The couples married that day were,

Juozas Kvietalaitis and Laimutė Gelytė
Juozas Jonelynas and Albina Brazauskaitė
Juozas Matikovas and Stasė Pinikaitė
Grabrielus Žemkalnis and Danutė Butkevičiutė (Pictured above)

National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954)  Mon 31 May 1948   Page 2