Vintage wedding photographs

I added to my collection of vintage wedding photos the other day and thought it would be nice to take a closer look at them. If you want to find out how my collection started and what I used it for take a look at my posts here and here.

Judging by the number of cloche hats on the guests this is a 1920s wedding. I would love to know why the bride and groom are being photographed through apparently locked gates. Is the man in the cap on the left rushing to open them? You can just see the groom's top hat and he has lots of rice or confetti on his shoulder. The bride looks to be wearing a silk and lace dress, I wish it was possible to see more of it. Her lace cap and veil look beautiful.

I think the rest of the photographs that I found are of 1930s weddings.

This is a great group shot framed in the beautiful stonework of the church doorway. Look at the naughty lads not paying attention to the photographer and chatting at the back. Although you can not see much of the bride's dress if you look closely it appears to have a lace bodice. Her tiara/cap looks quite magnificent. The bridesmaids all have straw wide brimmed hats trimmed with ribbon. The flower girl has a Juliet cap, tilted at a jaunty angle. I don't think that the page boy is having the most fun. I put this down to a) the long white socks, b) the silk knickerbockers and c) having to hold a girl's hand.

I love this bride in glasses, always nice to find a fellow wearer of spectacles. Her gown is very elegant with its puffed and pleated sleeves and the triple layer Peter Pan collar. It looks to have a button through bodice but the large bouquet of carnations and ferns is rather in the way to be able to confirm this. She is wearing elbow length gloves and you can just see that her watch is worn over her gloves as fashion dictated. Near the bottom right of her skirt two tassells are visible so I think that there is some kind of belt to finish off her ensemble.

These three bridesmaids are wearing fabulous dresses. Part of the problem of finding old photographs is that you can not always find a set, so, like in this case, there is no way of knowing what the bride and groom look like. I am always careful to look and see if it is possible to match any pictures up. I have been able to with the next two.

All three bridesmaids have floor length dresses with puffed sleeves gathered into a cuff that sits above the elbow. There are lots of differences between the dresses. The woman on the left has a scalloped Peter Pan collar and her bodice looks to have buttons hidden under a placket. The woman on the right has a much smaller collar and exposed button. They do seem to have matching headpieces and the floral fabric of their gowns seems to be an overlay on top of plain fabric. The girl is wearing gloves which come right up and under her sleeve cuffs. She has a Peter Pan collar, covered buttons and a scalloped edge to the button band on the bodice. I can not tell if the trailing ribbons are a sash or belong to her poesy of tulips.

This is a fantastic full wedding party photograph. I really like the setting, the curved tiled platform in front of those very solid looking doors. The bride is almost completely hidden by her massive bouquet so it is hard to say much about her dress. The problem is the same for the bridesmaids. I like the pin striped, double breasted, wide lapels, wide legged suits of the groom and best man. The older gent's suits are not as stylish! It is really nice to get to see some men's fashion and also to have pictures of the mothers of the bride and groom. The groom has a triple corsage growing over his shoulder.

Here are the happy couple on their own. Don't they look lovely? I hope that they had a long and very happy marriage.