Wedding Fashions circa 1920

[curiouswombat]

When I attended the family wedding last week I was talking to someone whose uncle married my great-aunt. I mentioned that I had a picture showing the great-aunt, and this gentleman asked if I could possibly send him a copy.

However, I could do better - I have a copy of their wedding picture and, having scoured the house looking for it, finally remembered where it was this evening, and scanned it and e-mailed it to him. (And how amazing would that idea have been to the people in this picture back in 1920 or so?)

I thought it worth posting here - the glamorous lady sitting to the left is the bride's sister, my great-aunt Emily (who sadly died when I was an infant), the rather handsome young man standing at the left is their young brother - John, about 20 years old here. I don't know who the other bridesmaid is, but the gentleman sitting on the right, with his waxed moustache and spats, is the bride's cousin Charles Augustus, brought up by her parents and so more like a brother. He was a fascinating person - I must gather his whole history together some day.

But in the meantime - Aunty Nellie and Uncle Bobbie's wedding picture for your edification...

Comments

[estelcontar1.livejournal.com]

What great picture! I love old pictures like that. I find them fascinating.

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

I rather like the idea of a nice suit (new, if you can afford it, but who cares, really?) and family gathering, rather than the sort of affair that takes a king's ransom and 4,000 pins on Pinterest to plan. Yes, it's a special day and all, but really, it's just a part of life.

I'm very grateful to have been married prior to the days when a big sit-down dinner was the "normal" thing to do.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I love this. They look so serious, as if they're aware of the importance of the moment. Not that (some) people now aren't aware of it, too, but there's something here I don't see in contemporary wedding photos somehow.

[desdemonaspace]

Lovely old pic. My mother got married in a brown dress. White wedding dresses weren't so done in 1935, at least, not in my parents' class, it being the middle of the Depression here, too.

How lucky you could lay your hands on the pic, scan it, and send it to the old gentleman.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

It must be wonderful to know your family. Although I do know parts of my adopted family's history, I know nothing of my own at all. I love the fact that you know who most of these people were and are passing that information on.

- Erulisse (one L)

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I love old photos like this and wish I had old family pictures with me here in Spain. My sister has them all and she and I are not on good terms. Sad.

You're right about weddings being so extravagant these days. I never understood that. A cousin of mine made my wedding dress and my bridesmaids made their own dresses. We had a small wedding and it was just fine.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

A handsome group.

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing. They would indeed be amazed by our technology!

[deborahw37.livejournal.com]

Lovely!

[debris4spike]

That is a great picture - I love those old photos and seeing the clothes ... especially those superb hats.

[clodia-metelli.livejournal.com]

What lovely flowers - and hats!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Absolutely lovely!

I much prefer a small wedding like that than these days of wedding-one-upmanship that seems to be the norm. I'm grateful that my nephews who had grand weddings are still happily married, but too often it seems like couples get so enraptured by the idea of a lavish wedding that they forget that after it's over, there's a marriage to manage!

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

In the 1960s, none of my friends had large weddings and none, to the best of my knowledge, wore white wedding dresses. So the huge wedding industry hadn't taken hold yet.

Thanks for sharing the photo. You do, indeed, have a good looking family.

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Photos like this are priceless!

[myrhiann.livejournal.com]

I find it fascinating to look at old photos, and the fashions in this one are very smart, and the wedding party is a very good looking group of young people. You must be very happy to have it in your collection.

[raingirl26.livejournal.com]

oh the hats - i love the hats - and the loose beautiful bouquet. what a great image to have.

[peabodyblue.livejournal.com]

Great photo! I love looking at pictures like this of my own family as well. Sometimes, wish I could go back in time to meet them!