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Similarities and differences of wedding rituals around the world
Symbolism of marriage
Elizabethan era wedding customs
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Victorian Weddings
Like every aspect in Victorian society, great expectations were placed upon weddings. In fact, during this time frame, several guidebooks for weddings were referred to, one of these books was “Our Deportment: On the Manners and Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society” by John H. Young. Many traditions regarding weddings first took place during the Victorian Age and are still followed today.
The Bride
The Victorian bride was expected to follow many guidelines concerning her wedding. The bride would have been responsible for sending invitations to the wedding, which would have been engraved in script, Old English and German texts would not have been socially acceptable. According to Young, after the invitations were sent, “the fiancée [would] not appear in public.” A country bride and the wedding party would walk to the church on a path of flowers, assuring a happy walk through life. Wealthier brides would have had a gray horse, pulling the wedding carriage to the church as a symbol of good luck (Hoppe).
Young dictates that the “bridal costume” would wear a white silk dress, with a high corsage, a long wide veil of white tulle reaching to her feet, and a wreath of blush roses and orange blossoms, symbolizing purity. In addition, the bride would have white kid gloves, an embroidered hanky with her maiden name initials, silk stockings that were embroidered on the front, and flat shoes with bows and ribbons on the instep. The mid-Victorians, showy in their wealth, would have adorned themselves with pearl and diamonds, often wearing a diamond tiara. The jewelry that the bride wore on her wedding day would have been given to her by her husband (Hoppe). The wedding ring would have been a plain gold band ...
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...ave been saved for the 25 th wedding anniversary. Bridal gifts were not obligatory; however, if received, they were not to be put on display, but were instead to be acknowledged by the bride in a private note.
Links
http://www.victoriana.com/bridal/bridal-welcome.htm
http://www.victoriana.com/library/harpers/bride1.html
http://www.vintagewedding.com/
http://www.primalx.com/victorian/ (a little unrelated but, amusing)
Works Cited
Hoppe, M. “The Victorian Wedding Part One- Preparation.” 1997.
Hoppe, M. “The Victorian Wedding Part Two- The Ceremony and Reception.” 1997.
Young, Jphn H. “Our Deportment: On the Manners and Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society.” F.B. Dickenson Publisher, 1892. < http://www.lahacal.org/wedding/wedding.html>
Victorian Fashion refers to the styles and clothing worn before and during the Civil War era of the United States, 1860-1900. This era was filled with a very difficult way of dressing oneself and to deviate from this line of dress was unheard of, and worthy of being outcaste. Victorian women’s clothing was layers, heavy, and barely manageable to even wear. Many different articles made up the full garment such as the undergarments, the skirt, top, shoes, accessories, and even the hair. How did women ready themselves for the day in this era and how did they deal with all the cumbersome attire?
Weddings were always a religious ceremony, conducted by a minister. The religions varied but the legal process prior to the wedding was always the same. There were no Registry Office marriages or marriages conducted by a Justice of the Peace. The first stage was Crying the Banns, announcing a couple's intention to marry. The same procedure still applies to Church marriages in England today. The Elizabethan Wedding custom dictated that the couple's intention to marry had to be announced in the church three times on three consecutive Sundays or Holy days. This allowed time for any objections to be raised or pre-contracts to be discovered. Any marriage not published beforehand was considered clandestine and illegal. Wedding invitations were not issued. People lived in small communities
The three brides are introduced to the reader on page 51 of the novel, when they seduce Jonathon. This is one of the main reasons they are traditional and don’t obey the modern laws of the Victorian era. For women to seduce and show their sexuality in those times was one of the huge horrors of the novel for the intended audience of the Victorian age. It was also one of the most wanted yet fearful thing men had; they wanted women although they were afraid to lose power from a...
Mr. Birling is holding a family dinner party to celebrate the engagement of his daughter Sheila and Gerald. They are dressed in 1912’s evening dresses. The men are in tails and white ties which show their high states and the women are in evening gowns as specified in the text. The inspector is dressed in 1940’s
The early nineteenth century which was in the Regency Era consisted of harsh judgments towards what was believed to be a “wealthy” look and what was considered to be “proper.” In Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the clothing is more than just a fashion statement, it determines how they are perceived and their overall rank and social class in society. Therefore, fashion represents the importance of self appearance during that time.
Author, John H. Young, in his affirmative essay, “Our Department, or the Manners, Conduct and Dress Of Refined Society,” describes the rules of etiquette during the nineteenth century. Young’s excerpt uses academic tone to confirm that if a husband and wife follows the rules, they will have a successful marriage. John H. Young makes his argument about what to do to have a successful marriage by using repetition of words, diction, and syntax.
Marriages during the Renaissance shared common customs such as “crying of the banns” ceremonies, a dowry or gift for the husband’s family, special clothes, and a wedding feast. Commonly, marriages were arranged although Shakespeare’s was not. William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway followed some traditional wedding customs and disregarded others.
When couples decided to get married, something they need to consider is if they would like to follow the tradition of
Marriage is another aspect of families in the 1700's that is very different from today. Most girls in the 1700's married extremely early around th...
Not only did the young ladies need to dress elegantly to obtain a wealthy husband, they also had to have appropriate manners. Mrs. Hammond, after the death of her husband, devoted her life to educating her daughters in how they are to properly conduct themselves. Her reasoning for this was a typical one: to make others believe they were an established family of wealth.
The women on the trail, though it shows, had little time to care about mending clothes, “The majority of the overland women wore what clothing they had and prayed that what they wore would not tear. They were too preoccupied with the necessities of the day to consider fashion at all (Schlissel 105). ” I would be happy if I were these women because that just means one less chore that was their “duty” to perform. In conclusion, the woman of the Victorian Era had her role in life planned out from before she was born. Although it was a dreadful role, these women carried it out in a way that shows their purity of the heart and willingness to do so many things for others and for little return.
"Do not make yourself uneasy, my dear cousin, about / your apparel. Lady Catherine is far form requiring that elegance of dress in us which becomes herself and / daughter. I would advise you merely to put on whatever / of your clothes is superior to the rest / ...she likes to have the distinction of rank preserved" (137 Austen).
Often the bride's bouquet is thrown (by the bride turning away from that direction) into a crowd of female (unmarried) ladies and the one that gets it will be wedded next, according to the tale).
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen shows examples of how most marriages were not always for love but more as a formal agreement arranged by the two families. Marriage was seen a holy matrimony for two people but living happil...
...y bride's dress on the bride's table… so much the better if it is done on this day” (Dickens, 81), and this plan of hers also fails.