Courtship and marriage customs in the Georgian Era

Yesterday we looked at vintage wedding rings from England’s Georgian era. These handcrafted rings offer a variety of styles influenced by world events and more over 100 plus years (1714 to 1837). Today, these vintage rings offer classic craftsmanship with a romantic feel from yesteryear if you are lucky enough to find one, but courtship and marriage in the Georgian era often had nothing to do with romance or even love.

 

Don’t get me wrong, love was one reason a couple might have gotten married, but often marriage was a matter of convenience, like making a deal, for reasons like producing heirs, combining finances and families, or to get out of poverty or escape a life of loneliness. Author Jane Austen sums it up the reality of the times in her 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice when she wrote “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.”

Courtship

It may surprise some to know that the age of consent for courtship for girls was age 12 and for boys was age 14. However, even if they were betrothed at such a young age, minors under the age of 21 needed parental consent to marry.

Class prejudice

The Georgian era is known for rigid class prejudice and this played into choosing who you could marry. Choosing someone from the same class made things easier to marry. For instance, if the woman’s family didn’t have a adequate dowry she wouldn’t be likely to see male suitors from “good families” showing interest in pursuing her. However, a socially acceptable double standard allowed well-to-do men to keep a lower-class mistress without criticism, but if they married that same woman they faced condemnation and could even be shunned.

Sex before marriage

Back then, sex before marriage wasn’t illegal, but if the girl became pregnant, she would be pressed to name the father under the Bastardy Act, and such couples could be forced to wed. However, young men who served as apprentices were often committed to their role for seven years from age 14, and were not allowed to “commit Fornication, nor contract Matrimony.”

Marriage

Most couples didn’t get married until they reached their early 20s, once the man finished his apprenticeship and became financially stable. No matter the age, choosing the right companion was a huge decision because marriage was a lifelong commitment with "till death us do part" of their wedding vows taken seriously.

Superstitions related to marriage

Some people depended on superstitions to help find a spouse. One practice was to take place on St. Agnes’ Eve. In this case, the woman took a row of pins and stuck them in her sleeve one at a time, and with each pin she was to say the Lord’s Prayer. With this done, she expected to dream of man she would marry. Another superstition held at this time included the bad luck of walking under a ladder believing it could prevent you from being married that year!

 

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Vintage style wedding rings: Georgian Era

Vintage style wedding and engagement rings offer the perfect opportunity to find a unique one-of-a-kind ring. Georgian era (1714 to 1837) rings are a rare find, but worth the search if you’re looking for handcrafted quality jewelry. This period gets its name from the Hanoverian Monarchs of the United Kingdom who reigned during that time including four Georges: George I who reigned as king from 1714-1727, George II (r. 1727-1760), George III (r. 1760-1820), and George IV who reigned longer than any other king in English history. William the IV finished out the Georgian era reigning from 1830-1837.

Georgian Rose Cut Diamond and Emerald 5-Stone Band

Features of Georgian Era rings

Because the Georgian era covered more than 100 years, the style of wedding rings as well as other jewelry evolved over that time. The Baroque style led in popularity until 1750 with its over-all symmetry and thick ornateness. After 1750, the Rococo style emerged with lighter asymmetrical lines. As a result, the period offers a variety of popular motifs including: bows, crescents, flowers, leaves, and ribbons. The thing that the entire era has in common is that all the jewelry was handcrafted. In fact, the artisans hammered 18 k or higher gold ingots and other metals like silver (for gemstone settings), iron, and steel into thin sheets by hand before they even started to fashion the rings or other pieces.

Rings from the Georgian era often feature gemstones like sapphires, diamonds, and emeralds in closed-back settings. A popular choice included foil backings which enhanced the gemstones scintillation by candlelight. However, if you are fortunate enough to have such an heirloom ring, or to make such a find in your quest for the perfect ring, it is important to note that contact with water will destroy the delicate foil, so be sure not to wear the ring if your hands are going to get wet.

Another thing worth noting, if you’re in the market for a vintage ring from this era, is that because gold assaying wasn’t enforced until the 1900s authentic Georgian jewelry isn’t stamped, nor does it bear any maker’s marks.

Where to find Georgian vintage style rings

Finding vintage wedding rings from this time period can be very difficult, not just because they are from so long ago, but because the jewelers from that time often melted down pieces they considered out-of-date in order to craft pieces fitting the current trend. The best places to shop for these rare rings will be reputable antique jewelry outlets like the Antique Jewellry Company out of London.

Photo credits: Erica Weiner, Erica Weiner

Maid of Honor and bridesmaid roles through time

Today, if I say the word bridesmaid, you know I'm talking about a friend of the bride who is part of the wedding party. Of them, one friend is asked to be the main bridesmaid known as the maid of honor if unmarried or matron of honor if she is married. Bridesmaids today are often a mixture of married and unmarried friends, but it wasn’t always this way because, traditionally, bridesmaids were selected from young unmarried women who were of marriageable age. 

Duties of the maid of honor past and present

Modern day maid of honor responsibilities include things like planning the bridal shower, dress shopping with the bride, and coordinating the bridesmaids. On the wedding day, her duties include things like:

• Help the bride get dressed
• Bride’s train is straightened
• Holds the bridal bouquet during the ring ceremony
• Makes a speech (in some cases)

In similar fashion, in 1700s the maid of honor helped the bride remove her gloves and held them during the ceremony, and instead of a bouquet she might have been asked to hold the dow-purse which symbolized the groom’s dowry to his wife. It was represented by coins placed on the service book. By the eighteenth century this was no longer part of the ceremony, except in parts of northern England where the practice continued into the nineteenth century.

The matron of honor joined the right hands of the bride and groom.

Matron of honor in Ancient Rome

In ancient Roman weddings, the matron of honor had to be the model of moral excellence with a reputation for fidelity and obedience. She couldn’t be married more than once and had to have a living husband at the time of the wedding. Her part in the ceremony was to join the right hands of the bride and groom for the first time.

Unique Bridesmaids Roles

The maid of honor role isn’t the only one that has evolved over time. In medieval times, the bridesmaids dipped plum buns in spiced ale and made the bride eat it to restore "the energies." Of course, those responsibilities changed from one culture and time to another, but a few more unique duties worth mentioning include things like leading the bridegroom to the church (while the groomsmen did the same with the bride). 

In Victorian times, bridesmaids were expected to make party favors using materials like ribbons and flowers. These would be pinned onto guests’ sleeves or shoulders as they left the ceremony. And when it came to bridesmaid dresses, the wedding custom of this era had everyone dressed in white, including the bridesmaids who were to be younger than the bride. They not only wore white dresses but short white veils, while the bride's veil and train were more elaborate. By the twentieth century this tradition fell out of favor and only the bride wore white.

A wedding from middle 1800s

Bridesmaid superstitions

When looking at the history of wedding traditions, there’s often a “good luck” element or some sort of superstition linked to protection from evil spirits involved. When it comes to the bridesmaid tradition it’s no different. In this case, the beliefs are tied to the bridesmaid herself, for the superstition held that if the bridesmaid stumbled as she walked the aisle to the altar, that she would never marry. In Victorian times, the bridesmaids carried bunches of garlic, herbs and grains to drive the evil spirits away.

Today we have a saying, “Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride.” In the sixteenth century being a bridesmaid was considered a good way to find a husband. I think some people still believe that today, but back then if a person walked the aisle as a bridesmaid three times without getting married, it was believed evil spirits had cursed her. The antidote to this curse was to be a bridesmaid four more times to hit the lucky number seven.

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