By Sonny Smith
Special Corresponden

The event was on Roy Rogers and Gene Autry would have been proud to attend, the Western-style wedding of Crystal Ross and Jimmy Cook Aug. 12 at Blaney Baptist Church.

The bridesmaids wore long, rose-colored dresses with bustles. Each carried parasols and wore off-white Western hats tilted sideways.

The usher / groomsmen wore white tails and white Western hats (They didn’t wear boots, out of respect for the occasion).

Minister David Currie also sported a Western-style outfit.

The bride’s wedding dress was white with a 16-foot train, covered by more than 100,000 sequins sewn on by her mother.

The bride was driven to and from the church in a one-horse wagon driving by family friend Otis Sessions.

The church fellowship hall was decorated in a Western motif, and the wedding cake, prepared by Kathy Moak, featured seven layers, each a different flavor.

For the wedding toast, the bride and groom used Mason jars.

Junie Ross, who works the second shift at Westinghouse in Columbia, made her daughter’s wedding dress and estimates she but about 800 hours into it. Her future son-in-law, Jimmy Cook, helped cut out the dress and train one night while Crystal slept.

Why the Western theme?

“I’ve always been a little bit country, ever since I was a little girl,” Mrs. Cook said. “When I was 9 or 10 years old, I had my own country and western band, Crystal and the Star Lights. We did some local singing.”

The wedding was a far cry from 18 months ago when, as a 16-year-old, she suffered from severe headaches. She finally found relief at Duke University Medical Center, when she was diagnosed as having an enlarged blood vessel in her brain. Her medication was changed, and her condition has improved.

“We didn’t give up hope, and it was during this time that I promised Crystal she could have the kind of wedding she wanted some day,” Mrs. Ross said.

Now that the honeymoon is over, Mrs. Ross said she’s ready to head for the beach for a well-deserved break.