Dolly Parton Renewed Wedding Vows With Husband Carl Dean For 50th Anniversary

Dolly Parton and her husband Carl Dean celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows.

Dolly Parton, Carl Dean Renew Their Vows

Parton and Dean renewed their wedding vows in Nashville, Tenn., on Memorial Day to mark their 50th anniversary. The couple met the day that Parton had first moved to Nashville for her music career at the Wish Washy Laundromat. Two years after that chance encounter, the two wed with just Parton’s mother and a preacher in attendance.

“How many people can say they’ve been married 50 years? We’ve made it this long, we need to do it again,” Parton joked to Rolling Stone ahead of the anniversary. “I’ve always wanted a big beautiful dress, the whole thing.”

Though Parton’s husband has famously shied away from the spotlight that is often fixed on his wife, he agreed to making their vow renewal public. How did Parton convince him? She told him that the pictures taken at the momentous event would be sold to the highest bidder, and that the money would be donated to Imagination Library literacy charity and other causes.

“If I had it to do all over, I’d do it all over again, and we did. I’m dragging him kicking and screaming into the next 50 years,” Parton said. “Wish us luck. In all honesty, the only way I was able to get Carl to do any of this in the first place was that it was a great opportunity for us to raise money for some very worthy causes.”

Talking about her husband’s decision to remain in the shadows throughout their 50 years of marriage, Parton explained that it’s really only her company that he likes.

“My husband is a loner. He doesn’t particularly care about being around anybody but me. He’s just always asked me to leave him out of all this. He does not like all the hullabaloo,” Parton told People last month. “He’s always been supportive. He’s like a brother and a father and a friend and a husband and a lover – all of those things to me. I think he’s kind of proud that we’ve been in it this long!”