Each week during the Here Comes the Bride exhibit, the history of one of the dresses will be featured on the website and social media. Visit these dresses and more in person from June 2 through August 12 extended through September 9, 2023, at the David L. Pierce Art & History Center. Exhibit hours will be listed below the article.
This dress was worn by Barbara Alice Ochsenschlager (b.1926) when she married Radivoj Lah (1917-1993) on the afternoon of Saturday, August 21, 1948, at New England Congregational Church.
A Beacon-News article at the time reported that the bride wore “a gown of white imported rosepoint lace fashioned with an illusion neckline, fitted bodice, lace bertha and a full skirt extending in a train. Her fingertip veil of white French silk illusion was held in place by a Juliet cap of matching lace edged with orange blossoms. She carried a bouquet of white Starlight roses, tube roses, and ivy.”
Barbara was a 1944 graduate of East Aurora High School. Radivoj was a graduate of Lane Tech in Chicago and a World War II veteran. Both had continued their studies and gone on to careers in music, both concentrating on the bass violin and playing with major orchestras. While Barbara managed the household after their marriage, Radivoj joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1949, where he remained for 34 years, playing bass violin and also serving as personnel manager and performance coordinator.
Barbara donated her dress, headpiece, and veil to the Historical Society in 1991.
