A fourth problem was the elements this April day in Briarcliff Manor

The bridesmaid dresses was in the next generation—Kate, the daughter of Kathy Moynahan Schutte, Maggie's sister. Her 1983 wedding was along with a series of unexpected mini-crises. Because she desired to dance at her reception, Kate hoped to bustle the gown—gather in the six-foot train with several hooks so she wouldn't need to hold them back on the floor. A seamstress talked her off the idea.

Instead, Kate would make use of a "dance handle" to drag it up, but an hour or two before the ceremony, she realized that the handle have been accidentally sewn externally to the dress ("like a tail") rather than underneath, where it belonged. Ever practical, Kate got out her sewing kit and fixed the issue herself, although not without pricking her finger and dropping an area of blood onto the gown. It was quickly cleaned up however near-disaster struck: As Kate was wearing the hoop skirt slip, the plastic boning within the hem suddenly broke from the seam and flew over the room. "In disbelief," she recalls, "I got the sewing kit again and were able to guide the boning in and sew up."

A fourth problem was the elements this April day in Briarcliff Manor, NY. The couple had scheduled the marriage for spring to prevent winter travel trouble for the guests. But April showers poured down upon them—and then considered snow. Kate's father made garbage-bag raincoats for the marriage party to put on to the church. Still, the gown was covered with water spots, which fortunately dried before the ceremony. Kate says, "I should have heard one hundred times that rain on your wedding day brings best of luck. I guess it did, but I think the gown had something related to it too."

Kate's husband, Richard Kelley, is a general manager from the NBC-TV station in San Diego. She describes herself because of the "general manager of family and abode." They have three adult children.