MOSES LAKE — Tying the knot in style, and how couples commemorated their day, is the subject of a new exhibit opening Friday at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.

The opening reception for “I Do: Wedding Photographs from the Hilderbrand Collection & 120 Years of Wedding Fashion” will be 5 to 8 p.m. at the museum, 401 S. Balsam St. Admission is free.

The opening reception will include a screening of the 2008 movie “Mama Mia,” focused on – naturally – a wedding. A costume contest is planned; people are encouraged to attend dressed for a wedding, whether it’s the bride or bridesmaid, groom, usher or wedding guest. Prizes will be awarded.

The opening reception always includes refreshments, and for this show the choice was easy. “Of course we have to have cake,” said museum director Freya Liggett.

William Hilderbrand came to Moses Lake in the 1950s and opened a camera business and photography studio. He chronicled life in Moses Lake and Grant County for the next 25 or so years – family portraits, businesses, new babies, weddings. Lots of weddings.

His archive was donated to the museum, and “there are tens of thousands of images,” Liggett said. “We have really great documentation of the people who lived in Moses Lake,” and the families from around the county who had their important moments recorded by Hilderbrand.

“It (the wedding show) was a really fun way to look at the Hilderbrand images,” Liggett said.

The photographs are accompanied by a display of wedding dresses. “We have gowns from 1900 to today.” A few are in the museum’s permanent collection, many are loans from brides or their families, and others were loaned by the Kirkman House Museum in Walla Walla.

Until relatively modern times, brides didn’t have the money or the closet space to own a dress they’d only wear once. It wasn’t until the Victorian era that women could afford a dress just for the wedding.

Wedding dresses are timeless, but they are also very much of their day. The 1910s bridal gown features a very tiny waist; the World War II bride wore satin – very tailored satin. Brides in the 1950s liked wide poufy skirts, and brides of the 1980s rocked the mermaid gown. Brides have worn big poufy sleeves in some decades and gone strapless in others. “It actually proved kind of challenging, finding mannequins (to fit some of the dresses),” Liggett said.

Along with the movie, the costume contest and cake, the opening reception will a creative project in the "adult swim" series. The project is called “redacted poetry,” where participants start with a sheet of text. The poem is written by blacking out all the words except those selected for the poem.

People who want more information can contact the museum, 509-764-3830.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].