Vintage wedding photographs part five

It is an exciting time as my sister gets married on Saturday. It seems to have been a while in the planning and is now suddenly here. Her dress is made, the cakes are iced, my niece and I have sparkly bridesmaid's shoes to wear, bunting is being put together, paper flowers are being fashioned and crochet floral table centrepiece production is a go go. It is all set to be a wonderful day.

All this wedding preparation made me think it was about time to feature some more vintage wedding photos here. You can find more in my previous posts on this subject here, here, here, here  here and here.

I really like this 1920's photograph as you can see a fair bit of detail of the bride's cap and veil. Look at the lovely lace on the corner of the veil that is hanging over the chair. Her cap is either beaded or she has some kind of tiara on. It is a shame that her massive bouquet hides her dress but this is common in wedding photos of this era.

I think this is a 1920's wedding because of the bride's hat, hair and dropped waist dress. On the back of the photo it says Mother and Dad. I wish we had their names! I like the fact that this bride's bouquet almost touches the floor! The groom is very dapper.

I think that this is also a 1920's wedding, although it could be early 1930's. Massive bouquets, floor length veil, pearls, bridal cap. I am particularly interested in the bridesmaid's dresses as it looks like they have some sort of open, full length coat that goes over their dresses. Their hats are also interesting, the look like they have an inner cap that fits close to the head and then the outer part has the brim. You can see the hat pin on the bridesmaid on the left.

I like these two smiley, happy bridesmaids. I like the jaunty angled brims on their hats too. The sleeves and length of their gowns make me think this is a 1930's photo.

I think this is an early 1940's photograph judging by the hair and the woman on the right's dress and hat. We can't see much of the bride but close up it is possible to distinguish two layers to her dress, the top layer is see through and looks to have a lattice pattern. The bridesmaid's dresses look a little more 1930's with their puffed sleeves. On the bridesmaid on the left you can see some kind of detailing near the bottom of the dress, I think it could be an appliqué bow? The little girl has nice shoes that I would wear now and a great, sticking out dress!

This photo is not in great condition but I wanted to include it as the bride is in the middle of laughing at something and looks so very happy. I can't tell if the bride's dress is a printed fabric, some kind of damask or has a lace overlay. Her sleeves look slightly puffed but then tight from the elbow down. You can just catch a glimpse of her floor length veil behind the groom's leg. I like his pin striped suit. I think this is a 1940's wedding.

This is a lovely picture of a wartime wedding. I hope that they had a long and happy life together. The bride and bridesmaid have suits on or possibly the bride has a long coat and a dress on. Impressive hats too.

Very helpfully there is lots of information on the back of this picture. The wedding of Mary and Alan took place on 4th November 1948. The best man is Brian Temperley and the bridesmaid is May Lyons, the bride worked with her at the Regal Cinema. I love being able to find out this kind of information. The bride is in a lovely shaped suit, it looks like the skirt may button down the middle, or it has some kind of central decoration. May's dress has some very pretty pleats and looks to have some embroidery at the collar. She has a very far away look!

This bride is wearing a lovely suit, it is probably a wartime wedding. The star piece of her ensemble is her hat. It  has masses of veiling and some bird's feathers/wings/half a bird on it. Quite impressive. They look happy couple.

I think that this could be a 1940's wedding too. The top of her dress has such beautiful details on it, beaded flowers and a sequined ribbon. I think that her hat is made of feathers, I like the ones that curl around her ears. This is a lovely, happy picture.

This is such a fabulous picture of these three bridesmaids all smiling away. The have lovely floor length floral dresses with a slight sweetheart neckline finished off with pearls. They all have elbow length white gloves and cute half hats. I think this is from a 1950's wedding.

I'm looking forward to Saturday!

More vintage wedding photographs part three

Recently I was lucky enough to find a few more vintage wedding photographs. I snapped them up; I enjoy looking at them so much. I always wonder about the stories that they are telling: how did the bride and groom meet?, how long had they been together? did they marry for love? who is everyone? how are they related? did the bride make her dress? what did the bridesmaids think of theirs? I wish it was possible to know some of  the answers. The most pertinent question is were they happy? I hope that they did all live happily ever after.

I was really pleased to spot this large group photograph, 4 bridesmaids, a flower girl and a page boy is good going. I think this dates from the late 1920's or early 1930's. The bridesmaids all have shawl collared dresses, the collars are edged with frills as are the bottom of the dresses. I think it is very interesting to see that they are all wearing the same hat but have styled them quite differently, like a bit of their personalities peeking through. I think I like the one on the far right best.

It is very hard to see much detail of the bride's dress. There seems to be quite a lot going on with the bodice and she possibly has a belt on. What amazes me is her tiara/headpiece. It is huge, really like a full on crown. I wonder if it was heavy? The glimpse of lace in her floor length veil looks gorgeous and very intricate.

The groom and the two men on the right are clearly related, they have the same nose and mouth shape. All the men have three piece suits on with differently patterned ties and in one case a bow tie. I wonder if he insisted on being different?!

The woman on the left interests me for a couple of reasons. Her dress is more 1920's in style than the others. It could just be an old one? If you can see her expression she actually looks quite cross! Was she? Or did she just not like having her picture taken?

This is only a tiny little snap that is a bit creased and wrinkled. I very much like it because it is such a candid shot. I like how it captures the bride and groom just as they exit the church, having a little chat or a joke before heading off to be congratulated and to pose for photos. I think this is from the 1930's although it is hard to tell with so little detail of the outfits visible.

This is a lovely picture, everyone looks happy, even the girl on the left who isn't beaming but does have a little smile going on. I think this is from the late 1930's/the early 1940's. Both men have very dapper double breasted pin striped suits on and very well stuck down hair!

The two older bridesmaids are in the same dresses, puff sleeves, centre button bodices and what look like large collars with small ruffles that tie with a bow. I think that it is interesting that they have tiaras similar to the brides and which have small veils at the back. The other two bridesmaids have floral headpieces and no veils. The bridesmaid with glasses has a Peter Pan collar dress and the youngest bridesmaid has lots of ruffles. I am wondering if the dresses are different by design or if it was because it was wartime and you had to take what you could get.

I think the bride is very pretty and looks radiant. Sadly we can't see many details of her dress because of the enormous bouquet and the lucky horseshoe. Her mid length veil seems to be made of a stunning piece of lace.

Oh. Did I mention the bridesmaids shoes? No? Take a look at their shoes!

I was very pleased to find these two pictures as I am always happy to find more than one photograph from the same wedding. It makes me feel like I am getting to see more of the story. The first picture contains the bride and groom's parents, the second just the bridesmaids and best man. I think that these date from the 1940s.

The bride's dress appears to be quilted on the yoke and shoulders and also appears to have amazing big 1940's shoulder heads on the sleeves. The dress has a collar and maybe has a pattern down the centre of the bodice but that is all the detail that it is possible to see, again, due to the enormous bouquet. This contains a lucky horseshoe or two and also a lucky black cat. Her veil is almost floor length and has floral motifs around it's edges. She looks very beautiful.

All of the bridesmaids are in different style dresses which makes me think it is wartime. I didn't see that at first, somehow my eye merged them all into something similar until I took a closer look.  Maybe the fact that they all have gathered muffs with flowers in the centre helped bring it all together. These are quite amazingly poofy! The bridesmaids have two different headpieces - a floral garland and some sort of wire work tiara. Look at the expressions of the bridesmaids on the left in the second photo!

I do like the groom's happy expression and the fact that you can see his and the best man's jumpers sticking out of the tops of their jackets. Maybe it was a cold day and the gathered muffs were not just for decoration.

I have really enjoyed looking at these photographs. I hope that I find some more soon.

More vintage wedding photographs part two.

A few weeks ago I made a great find, all thanks to a friend. She had seen a couple of large vintage photographs on a market stall which I had missed and had to have when I went to look at them. Whilst paying I was in conversation with the seller who pointed me in the direction of the stall behind him. When I asked the seller there about vintage photographs she opened a trunk! That is right, a trunk! I had a very happy time going through the piles in that trunk, and had a hard time choosing my final selection, many of which will feature on here at some point. All today's photos are from that trunk. Thanks to my friend who kindly waited for me to finish despite the freezing weather and who held my dog's lead for a bit so I could have two free hands for treasure hunting!

Here is today's first lovely bride. This is Joy, married September the 4th 1937. I love it when the photos have details written on their backs. If you look closely you can see that her dress has pretty lace inserts in the skirt. It is a very demure dress with the high neck, long sleeves and floor length skirt. I think the hat sets it off perfectly. I like the simplicity against the massive bouquet.



I am glad that we can see Joy's face a little more clearly here. We also get a good view of her lucky horseshoe. The bridesmaid's dresses appear to be lace with cute little collars and a row of tiny buttons down their centres. I like their posies, they appear to have large central flowers surrounded by a shaped paper cuff. Lovely hairstyles and headpieces too. The groom is very dapper, he is holding his white gloves in his free hand.

I was very pleased to find these two as both the bride and groom are wearing glasses! Read more about my favourite brides in glasses in this post. I think this dates from the 1940s. The bride is wearing a beautiful, long sleeved lace dress with a ruffle at the neck. Her veil is a stunning floor length one with an embroidered border. Her hair piece appears to be made from the same fabric as the dress. The groom as lovely striped trousers and a stripy tie. His shoes have a fantastic shine!

This looks to me like a mother and daughter waiting outside their front door with the bride's bouquet. I was hoping to match it to one of the brides in this set of photos but it is not quite right for any of them. Sadly, there is no way of knowing what was going on but I really like the photo. I think it is from the early 1940s. I love the daughter's dress, especially the trim around the border and the neckline. It looks like it may be embroidered. I think it is the pair of jaunty hats which really draw the eye in this photo.

Look at this lovely couple getting married in wartime. Also, another bride in glasses! The third thing that pleased me was that I found four of this couple's wedding photographs, it is so nice to have a set to look through. Obviously the groom is in uniform, with his cap tucked under his lapel?, and the bride is wearing what is probably her best suit. The two black patches look like applique in an inverted rain drop shape. Each nestles between two spirals of fabric decoration. Possibly they may be fur as may be her hat, making them all match together nicely.

Here they are with their tiny flower girl and one set of parents. The flower girl is wearing a dress trimmed at the cuffs and collar with either fur or something like angora. Look at the massive bow in her hair! The parents are very smart in their suits. The mothers has fur patches at the hips and the collar ties with beautiful fur pom poms. I have taken quite a liking to her handbag. I love ones with a top clasp opening, probably as I have happy memories of my grandma clicking hers open in the car to hand around sweets!

I love this group one. I think there are two sets of grandparents in here too. Everyone looks so smart and happy. I think it is a lovely photo. I wish I knew the names of this couple.

I have saved the best one of this group for last! This tinted photo is still in it's paper presentation mount so I had the joy of opening it up and finding this beauty. Assuming the colours are reasonably accurate gives a real feel for what they really looked like. I keep looking at it, I think it is gorgeous.

Moving into the 1950's for the next two couples. This is such a super photo, how very traditional wedding! Look at the groom's topper and waistcoat and slicked back hair. I can't begin to imagine how much net is in that bride's big dress but it looks amazing all stood out. The top two thirds is lace and it looks like she has a long sleeved bolero on. You can just see the string of pearls around her neck. Here it is obvious how fashions have changed from the previous decades, much shorter veil, much smaller bouquet, much bigger dress.

Isn't she a lovely bride in a gorgeous dress?! This picture was also inside a paper presentation mount so I was very excited as I looked inside. It is nice to see a side view to see more details of the dress, including how wide it is at the bottom. From here it is obvious that she does have a bolero on. I wish we knew what the bodice looked like underneath.

This next photograph is the last one from this set. All the rest of the pictures from the trunk are of things other than weddings so I will come back to them at a later date. I am not going to say much about this picture as I think it speaks for itself. I think the photographer has done a great job at capturing this couple's joy on their wedding day.









More vintage wedding photographs

After some successful trips ferreting around in antiques centres and junk shops I have a few more vintage wedding photographs to add to my collection. My virtual collection is growing too, you can see it on my Pinterest board.

This is such a lovely photo set in a splendid panelled room with a huge fireplace that can just be seen on the right hand side. From the suits and dresses I would say it is a late 1930's wedding. The bride's dress has a high square neck with scalloped edging which is repeated at the sleeve edges. The sleeves are puffed and she is wearing a floor length veil. It is a simple and elegant dress. It is interesting that she is carrying a book (prayer?) rather than a bouquet.

The bridesmaid has a tremendous frilled heart shaped head piece, the centre of which seems to echo the panels on her bodice in colour. Her dress has a very high neck, it almost looks uncomfortable, and big puffed sleeves. She has a small pretty poesy finished with thick ribbon.

The men are wearing very dapper double breasted suits and the best man's suit has a pinstripe. The trousers are wide legged and they both carry gloves.

The photo is mounted and written on the mount in pencil is J.M. Turpie, Paisley. I don't know if this refers to the couple or to the photographer and haven't been able to find out.

I was very excited to find this photograph as it is such a relaxed and candid shot. It is very faded, bent and has funny reflections in it's original state so this is the best picture I could get of it. It is obviously a Second World War wedding from the groom's uniform and the bride's best dress rather than a wedding dress. To confirm it the picture is dated on the back which is lovely, I like it when there is any extra information. The wedding was on October 3rd 1942.

 I would love to know who the little girl is, could she be theirs (unlikely due to her age and social stigmas at that time), his, hers (another reason for a best dress rather than a wedding dress if it is a second marriage) or just a relative? All these possibilities are really interesting. I love the fact that it looks like the little girl has just run up to them and the photographer has quickly captured the moment.

There is always a certain sadness when at wartime wedding photographs as you have to wonder whether the men came back and whether everyone survived. I hope they had a long and happy marriage.

When I picked up this photograph I was absolutely convinced that I had seen this bride and groom before and it turns out that I was right. I featured a picture of just the bride and groom on my second post on my photograph bunting from my wedding. She is on the second photograph from the end of the post. I did get them from the same shop but a good six months apart so I was surprised that the two pictures were of the same wedding.

This is from the 1940s, in fact it is dated July 3rd 1945. The bride and bridesmaid are in their best dresses and everyday hats. The bouquets are massive. The groom looks very smart in his three piece suit. I like the row of terraces in the background, I assume they are standing outside the one that will be their home.

It is really nice to have three pictures from the same wedding here which each tell a slightly different part of the story of their day. The first is the bridal party outside the church just after the ceremony. I think the second one is the bride and groom leaving the church on the way to the reception. The third is of the cutting of the cake at the reception. It almost feels like you were there!

I think it is a late 1940s or early 1950s wedding. The bride is wearing a long sleeved, almost sweetheart neckline dress with a fitted bodice and slightly flowing gathered skirt. It is made of a heavy looking printed fabric, possibly satin or silk. Her veil is thigh length and is held in place with a hairband of flowers.

There are 3 adult and 2 child bridesmaids. The children are in bonnets and puff sleeved high neck dresses. The adults have dresses in a similar style to the bride but with short sleeves and different material. They have tiara style headpieces but I think they are probably floral. they all have wonderful bouquets.

It is hard to see much detail of the groom's suit but doesn't he look very youthful?! His best man is in a sailor's uniform, I like his buttonhole flower nestled in the ties of his sailor's collar.

It is really nice to have a picture from the reception, I have not come across many of them. The table setting is lovely, the tea cups have some kind of crest or writing on them. You can see plates of buns and cakes and possibly plates of sandwiches at every place. the wedding cake has 3 tiers with flowers and leaves as the decoration. Look at the vase of flowers on the top. It is on a big silver cake stand, like the one I had.

I keep on looking out for vintage wedding photographs so I imagine there will be another of these posts in the next few months!

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.