Missouri Beta Anne Ward Sabbert’s wedding, to her husband of 52 years, Don, is celebrated with a brass plate on the front door of their home: The Sabberts, est. 1963. It’s also marked by a collection of ceramic figurines of the couple’s bridal party.

There’s a beautiful bride wearing a white lace gown. Her veil drapes softly from her curly brown hair and she clasps a bouquet of yellow and white flowers. Her groom stands by in black pants, white coat and black bowtie, easily recognized as the standard evening attire for the 1960s gentlemen. The couple is flanked by two little flower girls, with big yellow bows atop their heads, followed by a pair of bridesmaids in flowered dresses.

The figurines were used as a centerpiece at Anne’s wedding rehearsal dinner and were created in the likeness of her wedding party, down to the color and style of the group’s clothing and the color of their hair. “We had six bridesmaids and six groomsmen,” Anne said. “Each person had a figure made for them and they took them home after the wedding.”

Her mother’s good friend, Missouri Beta Marguerite Mitchell, known affectionately as “Muggs,” made the figurines for Anne. During her lifetime, many knew Marguerite for her angel figurines. She made thousands of them, clad in flowing pale blue dresses with a golden arrow over their hearts. The angels were even sold as a fundraiser by the Kansas City, Missouri, Alumnae Club in the 1940s and 1950s.

It was this type of angel that Anne received at graduation from Washington University, like every other graduating Pi Phi, except the angel’s head is adorned with a mortarboard and she holds a diploma. Anne recalls the St. Louis Alumnae Club presented the angels to the graduates.

But the figurines depicting Anne’s wedding were a special gift from Marguerite, made with love. And a few years after her wedding, when Anne started having children, Marguerite made figurines for each of the four children. Some show a mother rocking her baby in a cradle, while another is a child standing by itself. Marguerite ensured each figurine’s hair color matched the baby’s hair, and she painted the names of each child along the bottom.

The figurines remain treasured mementoes for Anne, and she proudly displays them in her St. Louis home. “I know Muggs would be so pleased to see the interest in her Pi Phi angels, still today,” Anne said. “She was an amazing woman and a cherished friend of my mother.”