My family on both sides stayed up all night to listen to the ceremony live over the radio. The hotels in Colorado Springs hosted special "listening parties," which included food and champagne for a fee. My grandparents had a radio with a strong enough signal so all the neighbors came over.

In Clinton, Iowa, the other part of my family likewise hosted family, friends, and neighbors. Mom brought some friends home from college and they all wanted descriptions of the clothes. Later, when the film of the wedding played theaters, all the women wanted Elizabeth's hairstyle and her shade of lipstick.