Here's What Weddings Looked Like the Year You Were Born
Let's embark on a 100-year journey through the history of nuptials, shall we?
Weddings and wedding traditions, such as the dresses, songs, cakes, and showers, have changed and evolved over the course of a century. While some traditions have remained strong, and will probably always be around in some capacity, each year introduces new trends that seem to take over the industry completely... for a few months at least. The recent royal weddings have captivated brides-to-be with their classic nods to weddings of the past.
Whether you're looking for 1930s dress inspiration or wondering why in the world we even have bridesmaids and groomsmen, there's a lot of wedding trivia you probably don't know. You'd be surprised to learn that some of the things you do in weddings today were also done hundreds of years ago, and that a fresh new trend may actually be inspired by something really old-fashioned. Here's what weddings looked like the year you were born. This walk down memory lane might even help you find some inspiration of your own!
1910
A group of bridesmaids look like they're about to say "I do" in white gowns and veils. Even though it's a major faux pas to dress like the bride today, it was quite common back then.
1911
The nuptials of the Emperor of Austria to Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma was one of the biggest weddings of the decade in the early 1900s. It took place in a castle in southern Austria.
1912
In 1912, it was customary for the bride to wear a specially made corset featuring materials like velvet or silk. It was designed to give the bride a popular hourglass shape.
1913
Two page boys are photographed with a group of bridesmaids on a wedding day. Page boys wearing sailor suits were very popular at the turn of the century.
1914
At the wedding of Joe and Rose Kennedy, the bride carried a massive bouquet that was synonymous with the times.
1915
Greenery and florals were often incorporated into a bride's wedding look in 1915. This bride from Minneapolis embraced the trend by wearing a flower crown with garlands framing her veil.
1916
Overseas in Britain, where many of the country's men had been sent off to war, young couples began forming romances through letter writing. Many of these couples became engaged without ever having met face to face, a phenomenon that resulted in a large number of "hasty war weddings."
1917
The tradition of bridesmaids wearing matching dresses dates back to ancient Rome, when bridesmaids not only wore the same dresses as each other, but also the same dress as the bride in order to act as decoys against evil spirits (and the bride's exes). Matching striped frocks and fancy hats were worn by these bridesmaids in 1917.
1918
Queen Victoria kicked off the tradition of wearing white on your wedding day in 1840, and by the early 20th century the chaste hue was the color of choice for society brides. However, the trend didn't take off with middle-class brides until after World War II ended and laundry techniques became more advanced.
1919
After World War I, as formal weddings became more popular, those without full-time social secretaries realized they needed help wrangling the caterer, the invitation printer, the florist, and the seamstress—and so, the wedding planner was born.
1920
What better way to usher in the Jazz Age than with the wedding of the era's most iconic couple? F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre exchanged vows in front of just eight guests on April 3, 1920 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.
1921
Silent film actress Natalie Talmadge married Hollywood great Buster Keaton in 1921, carrying a bouquet of roses intertwined with long ribbon streamers, a popular bouquet style in the U.S. at the time.
1922
Royal wedding alert! In February 1922, Princess Mary of England married Viscount Lascelles at Westminster Abbey in London, considered by many to be the wedding event of the year. Here, workers prepare ornamental silhouettes of the happy couple for decoration (just imagine if Mary had had access to Pinterest!).
1923
Three models wear wedding dresses typical of the 1920s, with slim lines, short hemlines, and cloche veils.
1924
The black-and-white silent film Troubles of a Bride, produced in 1924, apparently sought to answer the question "At what age should a girl marry?" (No word on what the final answer was, though the median age for a woman's first marriage in 1920 was 21.2.)
1925
During the Jazz Age, wedding vendors began to see the profit potential of marketing to brides, and stores began opening bridal departments that offered all kinds of merchandise geared toward weddings, including white bridal dresses.
1926
In December 1926, guests showered legendary director Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville after the two got "hitch"-ed.
1927
Marshall Field's invented the wedding registry in 1924, and the idea quickly caught on at other department stores in the following years as a way for couples to let their friends and family know which china, silver, and crystal patterns they preferred. Here, a collection of wedding gifts sits on display in 1927.
1928
The first fully automatic photographic film developing machine was patented in 1928, paving the way for wedding photography as we know it today. In the late 19th century, some couples began hiring a photographer to come to the wedding venue in order to pose for a formal wedding picture, but it wasn't until after World War II, once film roll technology was available and lighting techniques had improved, that photographers began capturing the entire wedding event.
1929
After a series of stock market crashes in 1929, the Jazz Age came to an end, and in the years that followed, the Depression led many women to return to the less expensive traditions of their grandmothers, choosing to simply wear their best dresses on their wedding days.
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