Famous Brides in the Gowns They Chose

This is a photograph of Lady Diana Spencer marrying the Prince of Wales on July 29, 1981.

The thread in which we forum members posted pictures of our gowns made me want to start another thread...one on famous brides in the gowns they chose. Here is Jaqueline Bouvier marrying John Fitzgerald Kennedy on September 12, 1953 in Newport Rhode Island.

one of my favorites: JFK Jr. and Caroline Bisset

This is Jacqueline Bouvier and JFK again. I love the simple round lace piece she has on her head.

Jacqueline's train...which was not as long as that of the Princess of Wales who was to marry 28 years later! (Actually, I think that is her *veil*!!)

The train of Lady Diana Spencer''s gown was 25 feet long.

The Princess Elizabeth of England marries Prince Philip Mountbatten of Greece on November 20, 1947.

Oh ABGF, what a perfect thread idea!!!! I especially love that you are focusing on the truly historic weddings! This is one of my favorite brides, the ever-elegant Grace Kelly. Awful picture, but she is gorgeous.

Ooooo... I should look for a picture of Mia Farrow and Frank Sinantra from their wedding. I seem to recall she wore a simple white suit, which would be a nice contrast to a lot of these ballgowns.

abradabra, I do not believe I have ever seen that photo of Grace Kelly! It is *gorgeous*!! I found a drawing of Queen Victoria's wedding. It was not a great shot, but I almost posted it. Maybe I now will. I knew it was she who first carried orange blossoms at her wedding, but from what I read it was also she who started the trend of a bride wearing a white gown at her wedding! She was quite a trendsetter!

Keep up the good work!!!!

Deb

Reena - You could do like Caroline did and dress up the simple dress with gloves and veil... make it fancier since you are liking the the more simple dresses...esp the one you posted! I wonder what the cost would be to add some beading or some kind of simple detail?

Ive been secretly reading the other thread DYING to join... but i still havent graduated from the anxious thread

Thanks for starting this thread AGBF... its a fun one!

Queen Victoria was actually born Alexandrina Victoria (on May 24, 1819). In 1837, when she was barely 18, she ascended to throne. She met her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg in 1839 and they were married on February 10, 1840. The Queen was then 21. Many wedding "traditions" we accept today began with Queen Victoria's wedding. She wore white, whereas royalty had previously usually worn silver when they married. She carried orange blossoms and wore them in her hair. And she had a large (300 pound) wedding cake. Her marriage to Prince Albert was happy and they had nine children together. She ruled until her death in 1901.

AGBF - Whats the orange blossom thing? Is it something special/taditional, ive never heard of that.

I was so taken with the photo abradabra posted of Grace Kelly, that I looked for some more photos of her.

This photo belongs to Getty Images. It, also, is of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier Grimaldi at their wedding.

Date: 12/2/2004 11:55

9 AM
Author: njc
AGBF - Whats the orange blossom thing? Is it something special/taditional, ive never heard of that.

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Hi, njc-

Orange blossoms are traditional at weddings .

Deborah

This is from another website:

To Gather Orange Blossoms
by Cornelia Powell

"In a glimmer of gemsand a sheen of white,With the orange wreathon her snowy brow.
'The Bride Flown' (19th century)

I have always thought a woman adorning her hair is the most feminine of gestures. At the time of ancient festivals and celebrations, women would decorate their hair with flowers or feathers or other fanciful accoutrements. It's no wonder that through the centuries, brides have always worn some form of headdress. Of all bridal customs and traditions, wearing a circlet, crown or wreath of flowers or greenery on the head is the one that seems to best represent the bridal legend, and be the most consistent.

In early times, brides chose the flowers and herbs to wear in their hair for sensible as well as sentimental reasons. Evergreens were always prized, especially fragrant rosemary and myrtle, with their romantic connection to mythological folklore. Roses were selected not only for their beauty, but they were then thought to be the flower of Venus, goddess of love. Country maids wound wildflowers into garlands for their bridal headdresses, or in the winter season, would gild small branches of leaves and wheat, then shape them into golden coronals. Of course, royal brides were an exception to the rule of the botanical wreath, wearing crown jewels rather than some simple pastoral diadem!

Now where do orange blossoms come into the picture? Using orange blossoms for the bride's regalia originated in ancient China where they were emblems of innocence and chastity. There are few trees so prolific as the orange; it is one of the rare plants that blooms and bears fruit at the same time, thus becoming symbolic of fruitfulness and fertility. During the time of the Crusades, the custom was brought from the East first to Spain, then to France in the 16th century, then to England in the early 1800's. By then, many enchanting legends had spread throughout the continent of maidens entwining fresh orange blossoms into a bridal wreath for their hair. The influence became so indoctrinated into the culture that the phrase to gather orange blossoms took the meaning “to seek a wife.”

Even America became enthralled with the bridal orange blossoms. Ann Monsarrat in her book, And The Bride Wore, reports: "Miss Mary Hellen, a badly-behaved young lady who trifled with the affections of all three sons of President John Quincy Adams before settling for the middle one, wore orange blossoms for her White House wedding in Washington in the winter of 1828, when, according to her cousin and bridesmaid, Abigail Adams, she 'looked very handsome in white satin, orange blossoms and pearls'."

When real orange blossoms were in short supply or in northern climates where citrus fruits did not flourish, wax replicas were used instead. The 19th century bride even decorated her gown with these beautiful replicas. But it was Queen Victoria who created the vogue for the translucent flowers when she wore wax orange blossoms in a grand wreath, in lieu of her crown jewels, for her 1840 wedding. From then on, the classic floral theme for the Victorian bride was set.

The ethereal and compelling imagery of these sweet smelling blossoms were just too irresistible for the sentimental Victorians. Reports in society newspapers of certain extravagant Victorian weddings would describe opulent use of "real" orange blossoms, and the effusive accounts of the nuptials told of lush scents wafting through the air.
Whether real or imagined, we will never know!

The very influential etiquette journals of the 19th century dictated that every proper bride include orange blossoms in her wedding. This was so ardently obeyed that, by the 1870s, one of the powerful arbiters of good taste in England, John Cordy Jeaffreson, was begging for a change from the all-white headdresses. According to Ann Monsarrat, he stated that "not one lovely girl in a thousand could wear without disadvantage the solely yellow-white orange-flowers." Jeaffreson also seemed to find "the connection between orange blossoms and fertility extremely distasteful."

However, these exquisite folkloric flowers, either genuine fresh blossoms or wax replicas, continued to be used to "fulfill the demands of tradition" well into the 1950s. And the wax reproductions so prized during the Victorian era have become extremely precious today. Whether it is an entire vintage wax flower wreath that has been restored to wear again, or some individual flowers saved to nestle into a newly made headpiece, these charming wax replica orange blossoms are being treasured once more and used for their uniqueness, beauty and sentiment."

Very cool... Thank you very much! I wonder where i have been hiding...

Here is grace kelly again. This is from a current issue of "Life and Style" magazine.. its a little "people" type deal.. They had a thing about star jones'' weding and then they had other famous brides too.

oops sorry.. Here it is..

Lady Di and Jackie O. from the same mag..

okay. I have a few more.. These aren''t so classic.. but don''t kill me. I just think they''re pretty.
Jessica Simpson. She''s REALLY annoying.. but her dress (Vera Wang) was gorgeous.

J.Lo... in one of her many wedding dresses.. This one was Valentino.. soo pretty.

And last, star jones. For as much crap that she took for being a bridezilla, she really did look gorgeous. I don''t have the picture of the back her gown with her veil and her train, but they were AMAZING.

"Moremoremore Lachey" ....ssssssiiiiiiggggggghhhhhhhhh LOL

And Star Jones looked damn good. Too bad her husband's gay

Who *is* Star Jones? (I recently heard of Jessica Simpson...after her sister made a hit record!)

Deborah...who knows more about orange blossoms and Victorian customs than about current celebrities

Yay! I love all these pictures of Grace Kelly.... I go through phases, but she is one of my fashion icons. So timeless and ladylike. The antithesis of say, Paris Hilton...

Deb, you are much better off knowing about orange blossoms and Victorian customs than Star Jones.

She is a lawyer who became a talk show host on The View (it''s on ABC, the brainchild of Barbara Walters, 4-5 women sit around and discuss issues of the day and celebrities) and was rocketed to stardom from that... If you occassionally watch television, she is the current Payless Shoe spokeswoman (because a woman who gets married in a Reem Acra dress with a train longer than Princess Di''s really shops at Payless). I think she''s uber-obnoxious but she''s been very successful in her position, so I must be in the minority.

Random thing I read about Victorian customs in Emily Post Weddings, Queen Victoria outlawed all royal wedding during the month of May because it was supposed to be bad luck! Interesting, huh?

Date: 12/2/2004 6:38:57 PM
Author: abradabra

Random thing I read about Victorian customs in Emily Post Weddings, Queen Victoria outlawed all royal wedding during the month of May because it was supposed to be bad luck! Interesting, huh?

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abradabra,

I read that about Queen Victoria today, too. Actually I read that she refused to marry in May and wouldn''t let any of her children. Her children pretty much covered European royalty of the time, though!

Deb

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt married her fifth cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1905 (thus becoming Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt). Her uncle, Teddy, who was then the President of the United States, had offered her a White House wedding, but she turned it down. So when he was in New York City to lead the St. Patrick's Day Parade, he walked her down the aisle at the home of her cousin, Susie Parish. No photographs were taken of the ceremony, but she later posed for this photograph in her wedding dress.

i too love jessica simpson''s dress--BUT does it look to anyone else like it''s kind of slipping down really low on her? strange.

njc: exactly. i am so going to go for a caroline bisset look, i think.

i love nick and jessica, and jessica looks gorgeous in her dress. and just a tidbit on the star jones wedding...her bridesmaids wore payless shoes for the ceremony, of course given to them, and the only thing she saved money on