Victorian wedding traditions fascinate me and I have unearthed some very interesting information while studying this subject. Many of the traditions have lasted through the year's however, there are many that have not. I hope that you enjoy learning and exploring this topic as we take a glimpse into Victorian Wedding Traditions..

Permission for asking for the daughter's hand in marriage had to be granted by bride's father, although the gentleman could wait until he had his bride's consent before asking. The father of the bride after giving consent will often give a dinner in honor of the engagement and make a special toast for the couple. After the engagement has been communicated to the friends, those who are in the habit of entertaining may give receptions, dinners or theatre parties to the engaged couple if they so desire. The Victorian engagement ring would typically be a diamond, but other stones were also used for example, rubies and emeralds. The ring might spell out words of love with a combination of stones. The gentleman also received an engagement ring which is something that we do not practice in present times.

The bride to be would select a date, usually within three months of the engagement. The month of June was considered to be the luckiest month for wedding, hence today's tradition of the "June Weddings". May was considered to be the most unlucky of months to wed even by the least superstitious of people. This could very well have stemmed from the ancient Roman who strongly believed in omens and signs. Evidence of this can be found in a quote by Ovid, "That time, too, was not auspicious for the marriage torches of the widow or the virgin. She who married then, did not long remain a wife." The time of day that the wedding would be held had to be considered. It was traditional in the South to have summer wedding at 6 pm when the weather had begun to cool down. In the East wedding typically took place before late afternoon.

Even the smallest detail, such as invitations have a proper procedure to be followed. If the wedding were to take place in a church then, properly engraved invitations were customary. But, if the wedding were to take place in the home a handwritten invitation was used. All guests that were invited were expected to attend unless there were extraordinary circumstances. After the invitations are properly sent, it was customary for the bride to be to make social calls where only their card was left.

The all white gown was usually the choice of the Victorian bride. Around the late 1800's the train became more popular and began to replace the bustle. If a bride is married in her travelling dress, she wears a hat or bonnet. The groom is dressed in dark clothes. They do not require brides-maids or groomsman, but have ushers, while the groom has his "best man," whose place it is to attend to necessary details. The bride not only carried a bouquet of flowers, but also wore them in her veil and on her dress. The orange blossom was a popular choice, where they were available. The bridal bouquet was often made up of roses and violets, but more commonly it was completely white.

The Victorian's had not one, but three wedding cakes. One for the bride, one for the groom, and the wedding cake. Usually the cake was not eaten. It was usually fruit cake with white frosting. Wedding-cake is not sent out as formerly. In lieu of that it is piled up in tasty little boxes on a side table at the reception, and each guest takes just one box.

I found this to be most interesting and decided that it deserved a spot on this page. The color of dress that a bride chose often reflected how they viewed the upcoming union! This rhyme sums up these feelings very well:

White-Chosen Right

Blue-Love Will Be True

Yellow-Ashamed Of Her Fellow

Red-Wish She Were Dead

Black-Wish She Were Back

Gray-Travel Far Away

Pink-Of You He Will Always Think

Green-Doesn't want To Be Seen

This page is by far one of my favorites! I absolutely adore weddings and the Victorian's certainly knew how to put on a grand affair. Modern day weddings are one of the rare occasions etiquette is still somewhat followed. I always find it interesting when I attend to see exactly what traditions were picked up and which were disregarded. I hope to soon add more to this section as I further research Victorian weddings and etiquette so if you are interested in learning more be sure to check back again. I have provided the link to my guestbook below and I would just love to know that you visited with me today so take a moment to leave me your name. The links below will take you to the other rooms within Camden, enjoy discovering the world of Victoriana with us by viewing each!

Art Gallery || Library || Secret Garden || Drawing Room || Affiliations || Webrings || Links

The content and graphic design on this page are all copyright protected by their creator, Connie Prince of Legend Designz. I appreciate your leaving things as they are and not "borrowing" my things to take home with you! If you would like graphics similar to the ones on this page then please don't hesitate to contact me and I am certain that I can help you! Some of the wedding information was taken from Victoriana Online. The Victorian bride image was found at Bette's Free Victorian Clipart and I do extend a sincere thank you to her for sharing these treasure with us all! The wonderful dingbat used for the bar was created by Moonlight Designs.