Jenna Jaxon | Wedding Customs of Georgian England

The eighteenth century had, as our own time does, many customs surrounding weddings. I thought I’d share some of these customs that Lady Juliet might have gone through for her wedding.

1. The bride couldn’t sew the last stitch of her wedding gown until time to leave for the church.

2. The banns for the wedding—a public proclamation in a church or parish declaring the intention of two persons to wed—were read three times at intervals of a week. This was to make sure that there was no impediment to the marriage (previous marriage, blood kin, etc.).

3. Weddings were held between 8:00 am and 12:00 noon. The reception following was called the wedding breakfast.

4. In some areas, a large cake was broken over the heads of the newlyweds for good luck and to insure fertility for the couple. Sort of a forerunner of throwing rice at the couple.

5. Couples preferred to be married on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Thursday through Saturday were considered bad luck days. People preferred to have their weddings between November and February, especially if the couple was of the lower or middle class so as not to interfere with the harvest or planting.

6. The attendants or bridesmaids were often given a favor, such as a fan or gloves by the bride after the ceremony.

7. In the early part of the 18th century, guests would be served bride’s pie instead of wedding cake. It was a savory pie, filled with mincemeat or mutton, into which a glass ring was baked. Whoever got the ring in their slice would be the next to wed (sort of a forerunner of our throwing the bouquet).

8. Toward the end of the 18th century, wedding cakes (now actually cakes) were made with fruit and wine, rather like our fruitcakes. Newlyweds would keep part of the cake in alcohol until their first anniversary and eat it then to prevent marriage problems.

9. A bride would pass out bits of wedding cake to guests after she had passed the bits through her wedding ring. (This custom was frowned on by the clergy, as they objected to the wife taking off her ring.)

Some of these customs have been brought down in part from the eighteenth century but most have changed with the times.

About Jenna Jaxon

Jenna Jaxon is a multi-published author of historical and contemporary romance. She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, she has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories. She lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets. When not reading or writing, she indulges her passion for the theatre, working with local theatres as a director. She often feels she is directing her characters on their own private stage.

Jenna is a PAN member of Romance Writers of America as well as President of Chesapeake Romance Writers, her local chapter of RWA. Her debut novel, Only Scandal Will Do, is the first in her House of Pleasure series, set in Georgian London. Only Marriage Will Do, the second book in the series, is set to release in June 2015 from Kensington. Her medieval serial novel, Time Enough to Love: Betrothal, Betrayal, and Beleaguered, is a Romeo & Juliet-esque tale, set at the time of the Black Death. The next book in that series, a short story called Beloveds, will release in May 2015. She has equated her writing to an addiction to chocolate because once she starts she just can’t stop.

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About ONLY MARRIAGE WILL DO

Not every happy-ever-after begins at “I do.”

When the hero of her dreams rescues Lady Juliet Ferrers from the man claiming to be her husband, she is sure she has found her one true love. But is she free to marry him? Not to be deterred, Juliet arranges for her hero, Captain Amiable Dawson, to escort her to her family estate, hoping that along the way she can win his love.

Amiable is charmed by the sweet, beautiful woman he rescued, and although he has grave reservations about her marital status, he allows himself to be swept up into Juliet’s romantic spell and the promise of a happy-ever-after. The spell breaks when legal questions arise and Juliet faces the horror of not knowing if she is married to her knight in shining armor or the cruel viscount who is determined to have her at any price.