Queen Victoria First White Wedding Dress

The trend in white wedding gowns gained real traction after the february 10 1840 marriage of queen victoria to her cousin albert of saxe coburg and gotha.

Queen victoria first white wedding dress. Queen victoria in her wedding dress february 10th 1840. Queen victoria just 18 when she ascended the throne was a young reigning monarch with a mind of her own. Victoria swapped her wedding gown for a swansdown white dress and bonnet for the wedding banquet a frenzy of nodding curtsying beaming and handshaking according to baird before. The honiton lace used for her wedding dress proved an important boost to devon lace making.

Queen victoria of the united kingdom married her cousin prince albert of saxe coburg and gotha on 10 february 1840. A white wedding is a traditional formal or semi formal wedding originating in great britain. French fashion plate by laure noël paul lacouriere. This romantic gesture demonstrated in her choice of clothing and the image of queen victoria as an adoring and innocent bride really captured the public s imagination and cemented the connotations for good.

The first answer is more or less accurate but glosses over centuries of white wedding dresses worn before queen victoria s wedding and decades of coloured wedding dresses after her wedding and also doesn t explain why victoria wore a white wedding dress. Wedding dress day dress and girl s dress by madame hamin. Her wedding dress set the standard on several fronts. She chose to wear a white wedding dress which was considered an unusual choice at a time when colours were more usual made from heavy silk satin.

She chose to wear a white dress in honiton lace order to help the struggling factory where the fabric was created. There was some drama with her bridesmaids. While a few historic women wore white gowns to the altar over the centuries including mary queen of scots in 1558 it wasn t until queen victoria debuted a white silk spun gown at her wedding. Like any number of traditions the white wedding dress comes to us straight from the victorian era in fact from queen victoria herself who was married to prince albert of saxe coburg and gotha.

The term originates from the white colour of the wedding dress which first became popular with victorian era elites after queen victoria wore a white lace dress at her wedding. In 1840 queen victoria married prince albert in one of the first heavily photographed royal weddings of the time. The 2nd answer is mostly rubbish and dates to the mid 20th century.