Thaw and Cynthia’s well-dressed wedding

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Newlywed Cynthia Bloomquist wants to pass her vintage wedding dress on to anyone whose wedding plans may have been shaken up by the pandemic.

On April 14, Thaw Malin and Bloomquist were married at their West Tisbury home, with friends and neighbors gathered around to share in the love.

In 2016, the couple began to consider having a wedding at their home, and Bloomquist wanted to have her father, who was a minister, come and officiate the ceremony. But her father was becoming less ambulatory because of his age, so she reconsidered. 

On Sept. 7 of that year, the Bloomquist’s parents were celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. After the parents recited their vows, Bloomquist said she thought it would be a nice idea for Malin and her to recite their vows to each other.

“I asked Mom and Dad if it would be alright, and they said of course,” Bloomquist said. “We considered ourselves married at that point, but not in the eyes of the state.”

Recently, the couple decided they wanted to have their wedding in June, but then the virus hit.

They started to plan a more unconventional wedding, to include as guests only their friends Judy Worthington, who had introduced the couple in 2013, and her beau, Wayne Lacono. Their neighbor, Georgianna White, officiated the ceremony.

On the day of the wedding, Malin donned a top hat and polka dot tuxedo, and Bloomquist wore an elegant vintage dress that has quite a story attached to it.

While Bloomquist was helping her parents clean out her aunt’s house in Seekonk in March, she stumbled across an old wedding dress in a yellowed plastic covering, complete with a veil and headpiece.

“I was so surprised, and wondered whose it could have been. It certainly didn’t belong to anyone in the family,” Bloomquist said. “A total mystery.”

Bloomquist took it home with her and fixed it up a bit by putting some fresh elastic in the sleeves.

At the wedding, their neighbor officiated the ceremony from a dock jutting out into their newly built pond. Their two friends sat across the pond to share in the special moment. Afterwards, each had wine from an individual sanitized bottle, while the bride and groom toasted with champagne at a small table.

Despite the ceremony being spontaneous and rather unconventional, Malin and Bloomquist both agreed that they wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

“It was an incredible wedding. It was so cool that we didn’t have to worry about wedding invitations, caterers, or the usual stuff that takes months to plan for,” Malin said.

Bloomquist’s mother even got a chance to hear the entire wedding over the phone, and to say some words on their behalf while on speakerphone.

Malin said that although the couple was not physically close to their guests, they could feel the love and togetherness from those in attendance.

“The overall feeling was a strong love for each other and everyone who was able to make our wedding so special,” Malin said. 

After the reception, everyone waved goodbye, and the next day, Bloomquist had an idea. She decided to offer the vintage dress to a woman who might be trying to plan a wedding during this difficult time.

“I thought it would be a great idea to put the dress on the MV Times social network page on Facebook and offer the dress to anyone who might want it,” Bloomquist said. “We have gotten a lot of feedback, but no one has asked for it yet. I would love to give it to any woman who would like it to make her wedding more special, just as it made mine special.”

If anyone is interested in the vintage wedding dress for their own special moment, Bloomquist can be reached at her email bloomquist@alum.mit.edu.