The first
wedding picture is of Vera entering the church. You can
see the bridal party waiting for the wedding music signal to start so that they can walk down the church aisle. As was once the tradition for every bride, Vera wore her veil over her face.
However, the tradition is slowly dying out, probably due to many weddings being held, not in a church, but in a registry office
or country house hotel.
Vera's gown is a wonderful example of the bridal fashion for 1961.
The skirt
silhouette has still has similar look to the style set by
the wedding of Princess Grace of Monaco in 1956. The close fitting
bodice and the full skirted gown are also in line with a fashion set by H.R.H. Princess Margaret at her 1960 wedding to photographer Anthony
Armstrong Jones.
This 1957 pattern Vogue 9084 right is also similar in line to
Vera's dress.
The wedding picture above
shows Vera and her husband Peter leave the church, followed by the bridal party.
The
bridesmaids wear ultra bright white ankle socks. It would take a
miracle to get girls of that age to wear socks with a formal dress today.
However in 1961, brilliant white nylon socks from America were
all the rage. The brighter white the better.
Vera told me that the bridesmaids, her nieces, wore lemon dresses and this seems to have been a popular colour choice from 1955 to the early 1960s.
About the dress and the wedding morning she wrote, 'I was
awake very early of course ... my nieces, the bridesmaids arrived quite
early too because the wedding was at 10am.
The dress I chose was from a current book showing many
styles. My sister-in-law's mother made it free of charge, which must have
saved a fortune because she was a professional dress maker. I went through
her books and chose bits of different dresses which she put together ... you
can see the result in the photographs.'
Vera also wrote to tell me, 'The day before my wedding saw
me sitting in the hairdresser's chair having my hair seriously back-combed,
then the whole of that night I laid on my stomach, head on hands in order to
stop my hair becoming squashed. Even so in the morning it was considerably
flatter than the previous evening.'
After the wedding service Vera and her new husband
Peter, held a
wedding reception and Vera sent me a copy of the bill from 1961. It details the
cost of the wedding breakfast, reception including wines and drinks at the
Stork Club, London. The 1961 wedding reception in total cost £76.16.6d., as you can see from this
itemised bill when you enlarge
it.
She also wrote 'The final item here is the bill for our
wedding breakfast. It wasn't anything special really ... cold meat and salad
for the main course, but I can't remember the rest. I think we had to keep
the costs down a bit. Overall the whole wedding cost around £300.'
As the sixties saw the rise of the
Affluent Society, so formal wedding attire was back on the agenda. The wedding was once again developing event
status after the austerity of hastily arranged
war weddings.
The men in the main bridal party all hired their formal morning dress suits from Moss Bros which would have been part of the £300 Vera mentions.
Vera also sent me an exercise book list with just a few of
the rough costs of the wedding as they occurred. The list, see right, is full of
deposits made and sundries for the gowns. It also details where items
were purchased, such as the shoes from Manfields, a shoe company that has
stood the test of time.
Vera looks perfection in this 'off on honeymoon' photo. She is
so beautifully groomed in her lemon yellow dress and jacket suit.
Vera told me that in 1961 she found that £3 bought a good pair of winkle picker shoes with nice
high heels and the going-away suit she wore cost £3 too.
Her
new husband Peter looks delighted with his choice of bride and he carries her
little vanity case full of personal beauty items to keep a wife looking well
groomed.
Vanity cases such as this one, were a must-have of the 1960s. Inside
they were often lined with moiré fabric and had little elasticated pockets
so that women could store containers and jars safely.
Women used them for an overnight occasion, going dancing or, if they went on to night
classes straight from work. In the 1960s in particular you would
see girls entering Mecca and Top Rank ballrooms with their little vanity
cases ready to help prepare the their hair of that of their friends. In a way
vanity cases of the 1960s era acted in much the same way as a consumer uses an
oversized 'it' bag today. The likely contents were different, yet had similar functions.
Although many women regularly had a weekly shampoo and set at the hairdressers, the
vanity case probably contained all the requirements for a do it yourself
hairdo.
Contents such as hairbrush, mirror, a make up bag and hairspray by a brand
like Supersoft, would have been essential for touch-ups. It may have
contained a liquid hair lacquer bought in a pump action
spray from a local hairdresser. It was common practice in the 1950s
and 1960s to purchase a bottle of hair lacquer after a hair-set appointment
so that a woman could brush up her hair herself.
To this list add rollers, hair grips, spare stockings and perhaps spare gloves in
case they became soiled and the case was probably full.
The last photos here
are of Vera with Peter at a 14 June 1961 party to celebrate
their friend Anna's 21st coming of age birthday party.
Both Vera and Anna's dresses are so typical of full skirted dresses of c1960. The
mod look and Mary Quant was
still to arrive.
Vera wrote that her fiend Anna had naturally thick wavy hair. When you see that bouffant hairstyle you know why Vera and other young
women like Anna also needed that vanity
case.
Look more closely at the enlarged picture and you'll notice the 60s
finger buffet party food.
If 1961 was a year of memorable history for Vera, then for the rest of the
world it was one of notable history with both optimistic and pessimistic
happenings.
John F Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th President of
the USA.
On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin (Russian) became the first person to
circle the globe in one single orbit in 108 minutes. Only years
later did the Soviets admit he almost never arrived back safely.
The Cuba/Bay of Pigs invasion happened on 17 April 1961. It proved to be a
pivotal event in C20th history leading to the missile crises
of 1962.
5 May 1961 Alan Shephard became first American in manned space
flight.
On July 1 1961, Lady Diana Spencer was born. She later
became a much feted Princess of
Wales in 1981, on the occasion of her marriage to the heir to the
British throne H.R.H. Prince Charles.
The Space War and the Cold war heated up. On August 13, 1961
the Cold War stepped up and a dividing 'Wall' was erected between West
and East Germany.
In November 1961 The Beatles first met Brian Epstein who
masterminded their rise to global success.
In the UK the contraceptive 'Pill' was introduced and prescribed
initially only to married women.
1961 is the recognised start of the Vietnam War.
Old photos can be useful when tracing family members and narrowing down
search dates. These photo pages may help you put an era to your
undated images. If you have dated photographs of interest that could
be made into a C20th wedding page that will help others to
date unknown genealogical photos I may be able to add them as a page.
My sincere thanks to Vera in Evesham for the chance to use such lovely
old wedding photos.
For more information about Wedding Photos click below:-
*
Old photos can be useful when tracing family members and narrowing down
search dates. These photo pages may help you put an era to your
undated images.
If you have old wedding photos please send them to me and if suitable I will
add them to this pictorial section of social history.
OLD WEDDING PHOTOS
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