Fabulous Firsts At Hildene

September 21, 2026

The tradition of Hildene as a site for weddings began on September 21, 1980, when Jacki Baker and Ron Mancini exchanged vows and celebrated their marriage in the formal garden. The couple, the owners of Mother Myrick’s Confectionary in Manchester, were invited to be the first couple to marry at Hildene by their friend, Oscar V. Johnson, a founding member of the Friends of Hildene.

Johnson asked them to be the first couple to get married because he believed that encouraging wedding ceremonies at Hildene would be a way to engage the interest and support of the Manchester community. He thought that weddings would be a good way to demonstrate that Hildene was part of that community. To show his own enthusiasm for the idea, Oscar finished restoring a vintage carriage so that he could drive Jacki and Ron down the long driveway in a carriage drawn by a horse named Chocolate.

In the early days of weddings, brides got ready in Mary Harlan’s room.

The weather on that historic wedding day was described by Jacki as a “hot, hot, sultry day in September” with everyone dressed for Fall. And so began the lovely custom of the parents of the bride and their daughter pausing in the doorway before processing down the center aisle of the formal garden.

The overlook was more overgrown, and the formal garden was a little wild in 1980 but the setting was beautiful and historic. Now, almost 50 years later, hundreds of couples have exchanged vows and celebrated the happy occasions with their families and friends. Those stories are woven into the fabric of Hildene’s extensive history: cherishing memories of the past, celebrating changes in the present and offering promise for the future..