It was 50 years ago today that the former Finley sisters — all three of them — walked down the isle of a Baptist church on Divison Street to honor three lucky men with their hands in marriage at a triple wedding ceremony.

Those blessed unions and the five decades that have since passed were celebrated Saturday night during a festive dinner party at the Forrest Building in downtown Rome, complete with dancing, wedding cake and a slideshow of old photos.

The trio of sisters were once again the center of attention as they entered the building Saturday night, as flash photography and extended applause gave way to a special song and some center-of-attention dancing.

Irene Wilson, the middle child of the Finley family, said Saturday while sitting with her husband James that the party was a lovely event. Her sisters — Emma Johnson, along with husband John, and Juanita Oliver, the widow of Leroy Garrnet — joined her at the table of honor during the dinner as they shared memories and greeted well-wishers.

Wilson said she wasn’t sure who first had the idea to tie three knots at once.

“I don’t know. I guess it was all of us,” she said with a laugh.

Everyone agreed the wedding was a big event, almost as big as the 50th anniversary party that drew well more than 100 guests. Photos and other mementos, including a wedding dress, from the wedding were displayed.

“It was not only big,” said James Wilson, “but it was well integrated.”

His wife said timing had little to do with the trifecta wedding ceremony, because each of the couples were formed at much different times and in much different locations, but somehow it came to be.

And on this Aug. 16, just like the 49 years that preceded it, there are three sisters that wouldn’t have had it any other way.