Carol Reeser Married on the Radio

"Bride and Groom" was a nationwide radio show from 1945 to 1950.  Locally, it aired at 1:30 p.m. on Friday afternoons.  On the show, a couple would be interviewed, serenaded, married by a clergyman, and showered with gifts from the show's sponsors in front of a studio audience. 

17-year-old Washingtonian Carol Reeser met 27-year-old North Carolinian Ben Bridgers toward the end of 1947 in the Peoria Travelers Insurance office where they both worked. They dated until the summer of 1948 when Carol quit her job to move to Chicago to attend modeling school. Bridgers didn't want to lose her, so he proposed. She accepted, and modeling school was put on hold.

On a whim, the couple sent an application to the radio show. In February 1949, Carol and Ben were notified that they would be married on the show on April 1.  The couple packed their bags on March 30 and flew to Hollywood, California, where the show was broadcast.

The show was promoted locally, and central Illinoisans gathered around the radio on Friday, April 1, at 1:30 to hear Ben and Carol's wedding.

After the show, the couple spent their expense-free honeymoon at the Toney Belle Guest Ranch in Phoenix, Arizona, and then returned to Washington to begin their lives together.