. . . Phoebe's wedding. Regency weddings were far simpler events than they often are today. Members of the ton, the upper echelons of society, married at St. George's Parish Church, located in Mayfair. As many as three ceremonies a day took place there, which did not give much time between one couple and the next. So there was no decorating the church as is often the way these days. The white wedding gown that is so much the hallmark of modern weddings did not become popular until Queen Victoria married Prince Albert on the 10th of February 1840.
But back to Phoebe. For a simple family wedding, there would be very few in attendance. The minister and clerk, bride and groom, their parents, and their friends. The bride might have had a bridesmaid and the groom a best man. These would have also stood witness to the marriage. The bride might have worn her best dress, sometimes, her only dress and a light meal would have been served in the bride's home.
Phoebe's father and aunt insist that she have a new outfit for her wedding. For this, I made use of illustrations in Tom Tierney's Fashions of the Regency Period Paper Dolls (Dover Publications Inc 1996.) I have never gone as far as cutting these out as the book is far more useful to me in its entirety.
I chose the jacket and bodice of one design and added it to the skirt of another. The spencer jacket is rose-pink crushed velvet, the gown is lavender satin with purple trim. Her frilled bonnet is trimmed with rose-pink crushed velvet ribbon, and she wears purple satin shoes.
Next week, I'll show you what her groom, Lord Andrew Fitzgibbon, will wear.
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