Wedding bells could be heard from the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse, 4216 Countryside Lane, Hellertown, on May 14.
On May 14, 2016, at 4 p.m., a place many students from Saucon Valley School District associate with a third grade field trip earned a much greater significance.
The Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse in Lower Saucon Township became the venue for the wedding of Doug Kingston and Jessie Gebhard. As this was the very first wedding to be held there, it was a monumental day for the 1880 one-room schoolhouse, the community and the newlyweds.
Guests at the wedding gather on the porch of the one-room school.
Aside from its beauty and local significance, the happy couple chose this as their venue for sentimental reasons. Not only did the groom’s paternal grandmother, Ella Kingston, attend the school from 1933 to 1940, but the adjacent garden is named in her honor. This preserve is a wonderful addition to the schoolhouse and will forever commemorate Ella’s influence on the school.
Once the date had been set, the wedding took about 10 months to plan. This included finding the perfect dress for Jessie to wear, as she married the man of her dreams. When asked about her dress, she gushed, “I fell in love with it when I first tried it on and it felt like the right dress for the right day to marry the right man!”
The front chalkboard inside the school was decorated for the wedding of Doug Kingston and Jessie Gebhard.
Ella’s Garden was beautifully complimented by the black and white decorations of the wedding, and white roses and peonies were used to bring the colors of spring into the ceremony. These, along with the natural elegance of the schoolhouse, created a gorgeous, romantic atmosphere for the perfect wedding to take place.
The iconic bell that called students to class each morning in the 1930s played a crucial role in the ceremony. It sounded to call the guests into the schoolhouse for the beginning of the wedding, and was rung by Oscar, a close friend, when the two were officially pronounced husband and wife. As it had originally rung to signal the start of each school day, it now rang to represent the beginning of their new lives together.
Peonies in mason jars placed on a windowsill for the wedding in the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse.
Although many amazing things come along with hosting an event at the LutzFranklin Schoolhouse, there were also some guidelines that needed to be followed in order to preserve the authenticity of the site. Guests were asked not to wear heels to prevent damage to the old, wooden floor. Also, the traditional school desks needed to be carefully removed in order to make room for the ceremony. After the wedding, the schoolhouse was returned to normal, and all furniture was placed as if school was back in session. According to the bride, “The ceremony couldn’t have been more perfect.”
Not only is the Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse a historical monument, but it is also a place that holds immense sentimental value, and has influenced the lives of this newly-married couple. Their unique connection to this schoolhouse has shown that places, such as this one, must be preserved in order to maintain their historical and personal value for future generations to appreciate.
Kennedy Morgan will be a ninth grade student at Saucon Valley High School in the fall.
Wedding flowers
A limousine arrives with members of the Kingston-Gebhard wedding party
A delicate spring bouquet placed inside a shoe peeks out from underneath the one-room school’s old coal stove
The historic one-room Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse was built in 1880. The building has been preserved by the Lower Saucon Township Historical Society (FILE PHOTO).
