THE WEDDING OF
SUZANNE PLESHETTE & TROY DONAHUE

January 4, 1964

All information obtained from PHOTOPLAY magazine, March '64.


NUPTIAL SITE * Beverly Hills Hotel

CIVIL CEREMONY SITE * Rodeo Room, 6:30 p.m.
CEREMONY GUESTS * 100

RECEPTION SITE * Crystal Room
RECEPTION GUESTS * 300

B * R * I * D * E * S * M * A * I * D * S
Karla Most (maid of honor; a childhood friend of Suzanne)
Eve Johnson (Troy's sister; Troy's real name is Merle Johnson Jr.)
Marge Zizzi (Greg Benedict's fianceé)

G * R * O * O * M * S * M * E * N
Greg Benedict (best man; friend who went to school with Troy)
Arte Johnson (close friend of Troy; escorted Troy's mom, Mrs. Merle Johnson Sr.)
Coz Johnson (brother of Arte & close friend of Troy; escorted Suzanne's mom, Mrs. Eugene Pleshette)

G * U * E * S * T * S
"Guests included many of Hollywood's stars—Rock Hudson,
Dick Chamberlain with Anne Helm,
Tony Young and wife Madlyn Rhue, Richard Rust,
Inger Stevens, and Troy's studio buddies—
Connie Stevens, who rushed in at the last minute with brand-new husband Jim Stacy;
Bob Conrad, Van Williams, Lee Patterson, and Poncie Ponce.
The guests were greeted by ushers John Alderman
[he's the guy in the background of the above photo],
the childhood friend Suzanne has always called her 'brother,'
and agent Henry Wilson, who discoverd a gawky kid named
Merle Johnson Jr. and renamed him Troy Donahue."

Caption for two photos placed next to each other,
one with Rock Hudson talking to the bride & groom,
the other with Dick Chamberlain kissing the bride:
"Famous bachelors Rock Hudson and Dick Chamberlain
were on hand to congratulate groom, kiss the bride."

G * O * W * N
Dress designer Howard Shoup: "The whole dress is reminiscent of
Napoleon's Empress Josephine, with who the Empire style originated.
It's really authentic.... The design of the gown is an idea [Suzanne] had a long time ago.
It's so like Suzanne to know what she wanted and not just say, 'Make me look pretty.'
... In fact, you could say that the dresses for the entire wedding party
were ideas of the bride's, carried out by Howard Shoup."

M * U * S * I * C
They chose their favorite song "Moon River" for their first dance together.
Suzanne started the last dance with her father Eugene Pleshette, to the strains of "Oh, My Papa"
and when Troy cut in, the orchestra switched to "I'll Be Seeing You."

B * O * U * Q * U * E * T
Suzanne threw her bridal bouquet, and it was caught
by Rock Hudson's date Pat Fitzgerald (Troy's publicist).

 
Writer James Gregory, who wrote this article for "Photoplay,"
continues with the "bouquet" information: "But Julie Payne ... told me
she'd heard from the florist that this was actually a duplicate bouquet,
that Suzanne was sentimentally saving the real one."
So THAT's why Rock Hudson didn't marry Pat Fitzgerald!

And the reason Dick Chamberlain never married?
James Gregory: "Immediately in front of me, Dick Chamberlain
and Anne Helm were waiting their turn to pass down the line.
'Does this wedding give you ideas?' I asked him.
Dick laughed. 'I'm terribly anxious to follow suit in about
seven or eight years—when I grow up. I'm only fourteen.'"



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