Figure 1.--The participants in a wedding are shown here in a photograph taken about 1925. |
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Weddings are the most formal event in which most people participate. For many it is a once in a lifetime event. Wealthy families can spend huge amounts on society weddings. Even middle class families can spend large amounts. It is normally the the dride's family that pays the bill. Unlike many formal events, children are incouraged to participate in weddings. The most formally dressed children are the ring bearers and pages, but all the children are normally dressed up for a wedding. While the wedding party is understandably the focus of the wedding and wedding photographs. Other photographs taken of the wedding, such as of the guests, also provide valuable information.
The ring bearer in the wedding ceremony is the young boy who brings the ring to altar--traditionally on a pillow rimmed with lace and ribbons. The ring bearer brings the pillow down the aisle before
the wedding ceremony. He is usually attired formally, although the actual costume he wears varies greatlt from wedding to wedding. Many believe that the ring bearer and other children serving as attendants can add a nice touch to a wedding. The ring bearer is often accompanied by the flower girl or girls. He and the flower girls usually walk before the bride and her escort but behind the rest of the bridal party. Flower girls usually lay a bed of rose pedals for the bride to walk on. Trainbearers walk in pairs following the bride and her escort, holding the bride’s train.
The youngest boy in th wedding party normally serves as the ring bearer. Older boys can assist as pages. Employing boys in formal weddings as attendants is deriving from the ceremonial functions medieval pages performed in royal courts. There are two such roles for boys in a formal wedding, that of pages and ring bearer. In modern days the page is the boy or more commonly boys who hold the long train of a bride's gown at a formal wedding. Generally pages are school age
boys. A younger boy at a wedding may be employed as a ring bearer.
Many of the traditions associated with modern weddings were established during the Victorian era when the modern concept of family began to take form. Choosing a young boy to serve as a ring bearer was one of those traditions set in Victorian England and which spread to America and other European countries. Of course each country in Europe has added its own rich traditions to the modern wedding ceremony. The
Victorians choose to dress ring boys as pages harkening back to previous centuries. A page was a originally youth of nobel birth employed in the service of a royal or nobel. He would have been much older than the small boys who now serve as wedding ring bearers. Pages were employed in early times among many early civilizatins, such as the Persians and Romans. More recently pages were a special feature of feudal chivalry in the Middle Ages. These are the pages that seved as a model for the Victorian ring bearer. The degree of the page was preparatory to the further degrees of esquire and knight. The Victorian ring boy and page costumes tended to draw
on contemporary or 17th Century Caveler dress.
The costumes for boys serving as ring bearers and ushers at formal weddings are often based on
historic styles which have remained remarkably consistent over time. Some imaginative costumes were seen in the early 20th century, but have since become more standard. Many of our modern customs, practices,
and conventions concerning the wedding ceremony developed during the Victorian era. The ring bearer at a Victorian wedding could be dressed
in contemporary clothes or dressed in period costume.
The fancier outfits worn by ring bearers and pages were specifically tailored for those functions. The blouses with lace collars or white suits might only be worn by the ring. The more ordinary costumes like Eton suits or other short pants suits might be worn by both the ring bearer and other children invited to the wedding, but having no official role.
Other photographs taken of the wedding, such as of the guests, also provide valuable information. Especilly in the early 20th century, we note that it became increasinly common to take a group portrait of the wedding couple surrounded by all the guests. These images provide very useful illutrations a to how to people dressed up. I believe this is because of advances in photography. Such photographs are much less common in the 1890s than in the 1900s. Often the portrait was taken in front of the church. e notice many of these photographs from the United States, but are less sure if this dvelopment was as common as in other countries.
we have mnot yet begun to seriously reserch country wedding trends. Our archive of wedding images is very limited. Here we are primarily interested in aspects of the wedding that affect weddings. We suspect that social class differences are more important than national differences. Having elaborate weddings with costume ring bearers and flower girls as well as pages and other attendents are more likely among affluent than middle class families. There are also religious differences that cross nstional boundaries. We will add information here as more images become available on weddings in different countries. Hopefully readers will provide us information about wedding traditions in their countries. We suspect that Victorian England played a sajor role in establishing modern wedding conventions. Of course a country like the United States people with immigrants from many different countries has a widde variety of wedding trafditions.
Here are some personal accounts describing weddings.
A Catholic who served as an altar boy tells us about his experiences and the weddings he oserved as a choir boy.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site religious pages:
[First Communion]
[Ring bearer]
[Victorian wedding]
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