Weddings of yore
were different from the weddings that we know today and that some fantasize
their entire lives about. From ancient times forward marriage was very rarely
about romantic love and very much about strengthening the family unit.[1]
Often these alliances were about making the connections between various
families and the influx of wealth a dowry could bring into the new family.[2]
Often careers needed more then one partner to run the family business and therefore
it meant that a married couple would run the family business together.[3]
With this in mind weddings were not the affairs that we know them as today. However,
with the uncertainty that war brought with it many women in 1812 North America
made matches that they may not have had the ability to make previous to this. With soldiers coming and going over the
length of the conflict these ladies often found themselves far from home
married to men they had not known very long. [4]
Weddings
themselves were private and intimate affairs. They would take place in the
morning at the local church. After which there could be a celebration breakfast
similar to our Wedding reception with all ones friends and family.[5]
Due to the war many of these weddings had to be short and sweet. One story that
survives to us is of James FitzGibbon’s wedding, where he took leave from the
battle to marry his Mary and then had to leave her at the chapel to return to
the Niagara campaign.[6] With
everything as uncertain as it was couples took great lengths to hold the weddingas
soon as they could.
The Ladies and
Gentlemen of the Regency upper classes didn’t did not have the same luxuries
that the others did to marry for love, as these marriages were often politically
minded. In particular when the Prince Regent’s line died out with the passing
of his daughter Charlotte it was seen as the political duty of his siblings to
produce an heir to the British throne. This was an endeavour that they all
undertook and saw the marriage of many, however, the one of importance to the
succession was the marriage between Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of
Saxe-Coburg, which saw the birth of the future Queen Victoria.
While these
matches were politically oriented they were the precursor for today’s grand
weddings. They were a way to show the elite classes of other countries how
wealthy and powerful you were by the kind of party you were able to put on.
Princess Charlotte’s wedding dress for example survives to us and shows how our
modern wedding gown evolved from even the Regency era.
These more
lavish affairs were not only confined to Europe. As the upper class holders in
North America kept up with a majority of what their European counterparts did
so too did they keep up with the Jones’ when it came to weddings. They had
their pick of location, as there was no law stipulating when and where the
marriage could take place. Great care was taken to issue the bride a beautiful
dress and the brides family often held a party after where they provide the
refreshments.[7] While they
may not be what we know them as today weddings during the regency period showed
the commitment that was undertaken by both parties in a manner that was
appropriate to the life they lived.
[1] Amanada Vickery, Behind Closed
Doors: At Home in Georgian England, (London: Yale University Press, 2009),
chap. 1.
[2] Amanada Vickery, Behind
Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England, (London: Yale University Press,
2009), chap. 1.
[3] Dianne Graves, In the Midst
of Alarms: the Untold Story of Women and the War of 1812, (Robin Brass
Studio, 2007), chap. 2.
[4] Dianne Graves, In the Midst
of Alarms: the Untold Story of Women and the War of 1812, (Robin Brass
Studio, 2007), chap. 2.
[5] Laura Boyle, "Weddings During the Regency Era," The Jane Austen Centre Online (blog),
June 20, 2011, http://www.janeausten.co.uk/weddings-during-the-regency-era/.
[6] Dianne Graves, In the Midst
of Alarms: the Untold Story of Women and the War of 1812, (Robin Brass
Studio, 2007), chap. 2.
[7] Dianne Graves, In the Midst
of Alarms: the Untold Story of Women and the War of 1812, (Robin Brass
Studio, 2007), chap. 2.
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