IT started as a simple request in Longniddry Parish Church’s newsletter for anyone with wedding memorabilia to get in touch; but it quickly became an extraordinary exhibition of love, life and tragedy.

The Longniddry Wedding Exhibition, which was held in the church this month, during the village’s gala week, brought together nearly a century of wedding dresses, along with the memories they held.

And it included Christening robes and shawls also lovingly kept by local families – one robe, which still gleamed white, dated back 200 years.

The oldest wedding dress on show was from 1934 and came from the wedding of James Bathgate and Margaret Low, who married in Bolton. The dress had been specially made and sent up from London for the occasion.

The most recent dress had been worn in Longniddry Parish Church in February this year, when local couple Emma Helmn and Dr Tom Sproat were wed.

Even the church clergy were represented, with probationary minister Dan Harper providing the dress his wife Kirsty wore at their own wedding in October 2010.

The exhibition raised more than £1,000, which will be split between three charities – CLIC Sargent for children and young people with cancer, Ovarian Cancer Action and Prostate Cancer UK.

Frances Cunningham, who organised the exhibition, said she had been overwhelmed by the number of people who offered to share their precious dresses and family heirlooms.

She said: “We put a small piece in the church newsletter about our plans and have been overwhelmed by the number of people who have offered help.

“It has turned into just an amazing display with so many interesting tales, some of which were quite emotional.” One such emotional tale came from local author Michael Turnbull, who donated his mother Maria Thereza’s wedding dress.

The daughter of a Brazilian Ambassador, Maria Thereza was just 23 when she met and became engaged to Michael’s father, a press attache to the British Embassy in Copenhagen.

The couple wed in London in May 1940, and Michael’s father was recruited and trained as a Special Operations Executive in the Second World War.

At the end of 1940, he was posted to Stockholm to help co-ordinate the Resistance movements in Scandinavia and the young couple began a long journey to take up the new role, travelling through South Africa, Egypt and Russia.

In Istanbul they welcomed their son Michael, who was born in the American Hospital in February 1941, and continued the journey as a family.

Michael’s earliest memories come from photographs of the young family in Stockholm, while his father undertook his role.

After Denmark was liberated by the Allies, the family were sent back to Copenhagen, where Michael recalls the defining moment of his life on September 27, 1945.

Having waved off his parents as they headed out for a picnic, he heard a crash, Michael recalled: “I turned and ran back to the bottom of the hill. There I found that my father’s car had been hit by a lorry. My mother had been thrown out of the back seat.” Maria Thereza suffered catastrophic injuries and died two days later in hospital. Her husband survived.

Other dresses have their own stories.

Blythe Peart’s wedding dress belonged to her mother and went on display with pictures from both wedding.

Blythe compared the different costs of the weddings, after finding an old notebook with everything written in it.

She said: “The dress was made by Mrs Blair, a dressmaker in Aberlady, and my mum, Jean Denholm, wore it on her wedding day in September 1958. The cost of the material worked out at £3, 2s and 6d.

“Twenty-six years later in October 1984 I wore the same dress for my own wedding in New Restalrig Church, in Edinburgh.” According to Blythe’s mother’s notes, her 1958 wedding saw dinner for 60 guests provided in the Queen’s Hotel, Gullane, at 10s and 6d a head – a grand total of £31.50. The flowers for the bouquets cost £4 in total and transport to collect guests from Edinburgh and Musselburgh and bring them to Aberlady Church and on to Gullane cost £7.10 in total on the day.

Guests made their own way home on the North Berwick to Edinburgh 124 service afterwards.

Blythe said: “I remember my wedding meal was priced £10 a head, compared to 52.5p, 26 years earlier. It would be interesting to compare the costs to a wedding today.” Organiser Frances’ own family contributed a remarkable piece to the exhibition, held in Longniddry Parish Church, with their family Christening robe, which has been used for 200 years.

Frances said: “It belonged to my children’s great great great grandmother. Our son Matthew was the first boy to use it, after 13 girls, in 1985.”