A Victorian Wedding

Victorian Cape May seems like the perfect place to have a traditional Victorian wedding.

So what constitutes a Victorian wedding ceremony? The answer will surprise you: A Victorian wedding is essentially a very traditional American wedding.

That's right. It seems that most of our current wedding customs have been passed along straight from the Victorian Days.

Here are some excerpts from Victorian era publications regarding wedding etiquete:

Manners Culture and Dress of the Best American Society. By Richard A. Wells, A.M. King, Richardson amd Co., Publishers Springfield, Mass.; Cincinnati; Sacramento; Dallas, Texas. 1893

The bride's dress is marked by simplicity. But few jewels or ornaments should be worn, and those should be the gift of the bridegroom or parents. A veil and garland are the distinguishing features of the dress.

The bridesmaids dresses...should not be any more expensive (than the bride's), though they are permitted more ornament. They are generally chosen of light, graceful material; flowers are the principal decoration.

The Ladies' Home Journal, March 1894
The Art of Dressing a Bride Author: Isabel A. Mallon

There are some things that a bride must remember: her bodice must be high in the neck; her sleeves reach quite to her wrists, and her gown must fall in full, unbroken folds that show the richness of the material, and there must not be even a suggestion of such frivolities as frills or ribbons of any kind.

In almost every instance at a church wedding the bridesmaids wear large picture hats, unless, indeed, they follow the fashion that prevails on the Continent and appear in short veils, it being considered in bad taste for them to appear in church with their heads uncovered.

In entering the church, the ushers come first, then the bridesmaids, walking two by two, then the maid of honor alone, and then the bride on the arm of her nearest male relative. In coming out the bride and groom are first, the maid of honor next with the best man, and usually the bridesmaids, each walking with an usher.

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Mrs. Lew Beager, Nebraska State Historical Society, Library of Congress American Memories collection..