Great thread from little material, this is shaping up to be :) Little
on _my_ part, I hasten to add. Thanks to you, and everyone, who has
replied!!
So here's the story: actual date (historical characters) Dec 29.
Travel easier by cutter (if snowy), but I won't schedule much snow.
People are not coming far :) Ceremony by Justice of the Peace, which
was typical for New Englanders who upheld the old Puritan traditions.
In bride's home, not the church, so no heating issues. No prayer book-
not a liturgical church. Bible, perhaps, but with a JP ceremony?
Probably not. Family and neighbors only. They're in the country.
Bride prepares by making a new "best dress," certainly not white. I
have her debating colors with her mother: Mom is all for gray or
brown, which bride rejects, wanting a deep rose. Mom rejects rose as
Bride is marrying a preacher and must look dignified to suit the role,
even though only 20. Green fades too much, pale blue shows spots, red
too bright, and they agree the dress might have to last 5 or more
years as her Sabbath apparel. Preachers aren't well paid.
Bride finally chooses a deep medium blue silk: color enough for her,
conservative ("dignified") enough for Mom, and won't show spots as
badly as lighter colors. Pinked trim rather than the more expensive
and hard-to-care-for fringe.
Most of it is written already, but since flowers grow in California
most of the year, I was stumped to see if I could find her any, as a
natural solution for lack of funding :)
My conclusion is that Mom decorates with the bittersweet-- it's really
pretty!, but decrees not in a bouquet: the so-called "language of
flowers" has negative connotations with bittersweet. Perhaps I'll have
the sister-in-law make some paper flowers, as has been suggested, and
coat them with wax.
== Marjorie Wilser
=:=:=:Three Toad Press:=:=:=
"Learn to laugh at yourself and you will never lack for amusement." --MW
http://3toad.blogspot.com/
On Nov 25, 2011, at 12:26 PM, R Lloyd Mitchell wrote:
My referrences make note that "winter weddings' were not the usual
thing...partly because of travel restrictions dominted by the
weather. Private ceremonies might have occurred in special
circumstances, but were usually family, and private, with a larger
celebration in more clement weather.
Mid Spring weddings were planned before Planting and Mowing;
likewise, late summer and fall weddings took place after harvest .
May and 0ctober were often the favored dates. Consider the heating
of a church or hall as a problem? in the cold weather...Marriage
records tend to support Spring and Summer, or early Fall as the
better choice.
t
For assessories, Prayer book, sprig of greenery (seasonally
symbolic), small basket? or nosegay selected by the groom,, of live
flowers,?was the expected thing.? If you can find a history of the
various traditional elements of the bridal occasion, you might get
some other ideas. You have ot mentioned whether your "wedding" is
country or city...That too would make a difference in the style of
the bride and ceremony. Do consider that 'white weddings,were not
the expected until at least mid Century, and then a formal event (in
Church) was the usual occasion of white...if one could afford it. A
Wedding dress for the less class was usually the best dress of 'her'
life and probably would not be white by choice since it would have
to be used for many occasions.Hi List,
I am writing about a winter wedding in 1830 New England. What might a
bride carry in lieu of a bouquet? My fuzzy California brain remembers/
guesses something like "bittersweet," which I assume is a woody herb?
It might be imported orange blossoms, but I think those are later.
In need of floral costuming,
== Marjorie Wilser
=:=:=:Three Toad Press:=:=:
"Learn to laugh at yourself and you will never lack for amusement."
--MW
http://3toad.blogspot.com/
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