Couple holds wedding at Baton Rouge retirement home complete with a 'walker valet' (2023)

This article is part of TyingThe Knot, our occasional series on weddings. Through June, we are writing a variety of stories about various aspects of planning and having a wedding, including this one about tips to help engaged couples plan a wedding.

“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe.”

Jordan Berry must have known that once she selected the venue for her May wedding, her “something old” was covered. After all, her wedding was taking place in the grand room of a retirement home.

As the life enrichment director at The Claiborne Baton Rouge, Berry oversees the daily activities for 200 or so residents in the independent living community, ranging from bingo and bunco to crafts and water aerobics.

Amid coordinating activities for her charges, whose average age is 85, she’s been wedding planning, and several residents are taking part.

“Our home office actually suggested the venue right off the bat, and after I thought about it a bit, realized that it’s absolutely perfect,” she said.

Berry and her fiancé, Nicholas Jennings, both 28, met on the premises when Jennings worked there for a year in the maintenance department. The residents playfully watched their romance blossom.

Peggy Brewer said, “I think they fell in love immediately. We’ve enjoyed watching them and what they’ve grown to be. It’s so exciting for us.”

Although Berry’s attendants were family and friends closer to her age, she wanted to find a way to include her older friends in the wedding party, so she designated a few folks to be her “something blue,” or her “Blue Crew,” as she calls them. They wore blue to the wedding.

“These people are so important to me. Yes, they are part of my job, but they are also some of my dearest friends,” Berry said.

Some residents pitched in to help check off wedding details: Lynn Hutchings altered her wedding gown and maid of honor’s dress. Richard Bouchereau loaned the couple his prized 1963 Ford Galaxie as a getaway car.

Berry said her grandmother bought a sixpence coin in London and gave it to her, which she pit in her shoe.

Brewer, who had been married just shy of 50 years before her husband Ralph died, said back in her day, wedding festivities were very small, if at all. She helped organize a surprise wedding shower on-site where guests donated funds for the honeymoon.

“Words of advice” was one activity that became even more memorable when two brave male attendees piped up with their advice: “Never wreck the car, and never have a headache,” and “Always obey your husband.” After some uproarious laughter, the men were still allowed to remain at the party, Brewer said.

A bachelorette party was also held at the bistro and bar, complete with frozen daiquiris. The partiers donned colored wigs, descriptive banners, temporary tattoos — and played parlor games where they took shots, more like sips, in response to questions. They were also surprised by male dancers.

“I think I had some of them going for a while when I mentioned there would be a surprise at the party,” Berry said. The dancers were friends of Berry’s and were fully clothed, she explained. The fellas were also surprised how energetic and well-prepared the women were as they moved around thetable. The ladies started shoving dollar bills into their shirt collars.

“The boys kept saying, ‘Oh no! We’re not doing this for money,’ but we told them to hush, we were having a good time,” Brewer said.

“The guys were really good sports about it,” Berry said.

For the wedding ceremony, one consideration was seating logistics, so a “walker valet” was devised to hold all the walkers and scooters attendees would be using to make their entrance into the venue. Ushers tagged each piece, like a coat check, safely escorted guests to and from their seats, and helped retrieve the mobility aids following the ceremony.

The wedding ceremony was also livestreamed into the on-site theater so more residents could see it. Berry’s attendants arranged for guest chairs to be packed up immediately following the ceremony to allow floor space for dancing.

“Oh, my guests are definitely going to dance with me,” she said.

The event was strategically scheduled for 7 p.m., Saturday, May 6, so as not to interfere with the daily activities of The Claiborne’s other elderly residents living in Assisted Living and Memory Care. Wedding cake slices were delivered door to door to those who did not come.

Although Berry took a week off for her honeymoon, activities at the retirement home continued.

“I told them for our iPhone class, they have homework — to text me a photograph and then send me a group text,” she said.

And finally, Berry said the retirement home was not her “something old.”

“Oh, goodness no. By having the ceremony here, I’m just so happy my friends could share my wedding with me,” she said.

“For the ‘something old,’ I’m carrying my great-grandmother’s handkerchiefs," Berry said. "They are sewn into my dress."