Barbara's twin and matron of honor, Today correspondent Jenna Bush Hager, described it on-air as a very secret wedding, a little bit like my elusive sister.
Matrons, regardless of their ages, always grouped together apart from the bright-eyed girls, beaux and laughter, for there were no married belles in the South.
Ellen had hinted before the wedding that marriage was something women must bear with dignity and fortitude, and the whispered comments of other matrons since her widowhood had confirmed this.