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Marriage
Act of 1753
By
mid-century the English government was persuaded to define
the marriage act. The Attorney General Ryder presented
The Marriage Act of 1753 to the House of Commons:
The
Marriage Act (26 Geo. III, c.33), sometimes known
as Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act:
"Marriage
must take place with banns and an officially purchased
marriage license (the banns being read publicly
in church three consecutive Sundays prior to the
wedding), the two parties must receive parental
permission if under age (under 21), the wedding
must be recorded in the Marriage Register with
the signatures of both parties, witnesses, and
the minister, and it must occur before witnesses
and an authorized clergyman. Under this act, verbal
promises were no longer considered binding."1 |
From
1754 onwards a marriage was only considered legal if it
was carried out in a specific manner, ending a period
of clandestine marriages. For some, however, it meant
less freedom of choice. Children were bound by their parents
social class, and approval. Now, more than ever, found
themselves with less choice in partners, with thier parents
having the power to withhold property, favors, and good
will if they dissapproved. This wedding act stayed in
place until the middle of the 19th century, together with
the law that all inheritances and property were under
the control of the father or husband.
WEDDING
INVITATIONS
Unlike
the printed invitations of today, in the regency era invitations
were hand-written, understandable when the weddings were
usually small affairs. An example exists of a handwritten
invitation
from 1814, written by Ann Palmer for her daughter Ann's
wedding.
WEDDING
DRESS
4. Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold |
From
1790 to 1806 most wedding gowns would have been made of
fine white muslin or silk satin. These were the colours
of the day, and most brides wore what became their best
dress. Collections of antique wedding gowns show finely
embroidered cotton gowns that would have been worn over
a white chemise and stays.
When
Princess Caroline of Brunswick married The Prince of Wales
on April 8, 1795, her dress was made of silver tissue
and lace, topped by a robe of ermine-lined velvet. Her
daughter Princess Charlotte married Prince Leopold in
1816, wearing a silver lamé dress over white silk,
trimmed with silver lace.2
When
Napoleon remarried in 1810, his bride, Marie Louise of
Austria, wore a white muslin gown for her official church
wedding. Her dress was of fine light white satin, heavily
embroidered with leaves and Napoleonic bees in silver
and gold.
Jane
Austen's niece Anna married Benjamin Lefroy on November
8, 1814. Her sister Caroline describes her finery as "a
dress of fine white muslin, and over it a soft silk shawl,
white shot with primrose, with embossed white-satin flowers,
and very handsome fringe, and on her head a small cap
to match, trimmed with lace."3
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