‘Summer Weddings: Italian Style’ at Ethnic Heritage Museum

Wedding bed spread from the 1930s made of satin and embroidered chenille. (Photo provided)

From press release

The summer months are traditionally known for weddings. The Italian Gallery of the Ethnic Heritage Museum EHM will display “Summer Weddings: Italian Style” May 9-Aug. 29. This display will showcase beautifully handmade wedding gowns from the 1900s.

Confetti are the gifts the bride gives to all invited at the wedding reception. Gifts are usually made of glass or silver. (Photo provided)

Peterina (Stella) Rizzo, married to Peter Butetta, has Rosalie Guzzo mother’s wedding gown. Velia Marinelli, Rockford’s outstanding seamstress, created the gown. Rosalie states it was the first wedding gown Velia created in Rockford.

Bernice Stassi’s gown will also be on display. It was wartime and the gown has a World War II unique story…visit the museum and learn about it!

Remember the Hope Chest everyone had to have? Many of us had mothers who were collecting beautiful linens to the most delicate nightgowns for the Hope Chest. You will see the hand-sewn linens created by Jennie Michelon’s mother, Amabile Faccin Michelon. You can see her handmade wedding linens with matching night gown cascading from an Old World, hump-back trunk.

Also on display, Bonbonieri, unique items from our Italian tradition will be there for your eyes to delight in! Bonbonieri are fragile glass boxes filled with “confetti” disguised as wheat and others may appear as flowers. The colors many times indicate special events in the family’s life. For example, the pink or blue indicates a baptism (the gender determines the color), green represents “sperinza” the engagement, white represents a wedding, and red is a graduation.

In addition, you will find the exquisite satin and chenille bed coverings of Angelina Buttacavoli, mother of Mary Jo Jury. More delightful Italian traditions will be shared with you…join us!

June 13, there will be a Bobbin Lace Workshop conducted by Gwendolyn Wylie. To participate in the Bobbin Lace Workshop, contact Shirley Martignoni Fedeli at (815) 877-2888 for reservations.

Wedding gowns from the 1920s with hand-placed individual beading; through 1945, handmade and some purchased. Displays of linens and lace. (Photo provided)

Ethnic Heritage Museum, 1129 S. Main St., is unique in its blend of ethnic groups—African-American, Polish, Italian, Lithuanian, Irish and Hispanic. A visit to each gallery will enlighten visitors of the values and traditions of each of these groups.

“Summer Weddings: Italian Style” exhibit will be on display until the end of August. Admission is free to the public, but donations are appreciated. There is a small cost for the Bobbin Lace Workshop.

For more information, visit www.ethnicheritagemuseum.org or e-mail ehm1129@comcast.net. Group tours can be arranged by contacting the museum at (815) 962-7402 or e-mailing ehm1129@comcast.net.

The museum is handicap accessible.