June Weddings – Trivia and a P&P Tale

Our Austen Variations theme for June is weddings! Since I’ve been having so much fun posting “Tuesday Trivia” on our Facebook page lately, I thought I’d kick the month off with some Regency-era English wedding trivia followed by a short P&P wedding scene.


 Image result for regency weddingDid you know that…

  • Until the late 1880’s, weddings by law had to take place in either the bride’s or groom’s parish church during “canonical hours” (between 8am and noon). Exceptions were made by “special license” however, for those who could afford to purchase one.
  • Weddings were usually simple affairs, with a limited guest list and no elaborate decoration or dress. Many women and men of modest means were simply married in their “best clothes.”
  • After the wedding, the party adjourned somewhere for the “wedding breakfast,” which would have included the era’s version of a wedding cake – similar to a fruitcake with icing.
  • If a couple wished to avoid the rules imposed by the Church of England (or their parents’ refusal of consent), they could elope to Scotland, to Gretna Green – the village just across the border – where marriage laws were much more lax. There, they could simply declare before any witness their desire to be married, and it was done. But elopement was severely frowned upon, as a bad start to marriage and an embarrassment to the families involved.
  • Frequently, the bride’s sister or closest female friend accompanied the couple on their honeymoon!

 

Have you noticed that, for all the courtship and romance in Austen’s novels, she never actually gives us a wedding scene? That’s right; we never see her characters at the altar in the original books. We are therefore obliged to use our imaginations. But that’s what we Austen Variations authors do all the time! As an example, here’s one version of the implied double wedding scene from Pride and Prejudice (which I originally wrote for the P&P200 Project). The twist is it’s from Caroline Bingley’s point of view. Not a happy day for her!


 

Caroline’s Reflections at the Wedding

Image result for Pride and prejudice wedding“How thrilling!” a woman in the pew behind said in hushed excitement. “A double wedding!”

Caroline Bingley rolled her eyes heavenward and leant closer to her sister. “Double disaster, more like,” she whispered. Although she had no choice but to attend this farce, she did not have to make believe she liked it.

Her brother’s choice of bride was truly a disaster. He might have married a girl form one of the best families, someone who would have enhanced the prestige of the Bingley name… and perhaps added to the family’s fortune as well. What had they all been working for, after all, if not to raise themselves to where nobody would ever remember their humble origins again? Louisa had done her part, at great person sacrifice. But Charles! He was this minute throwing his one chance away on a nobody, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Caroline could not bear to watch her brother disgracing himself, but she did hazard a glance in Mr. Darcy’s direction… and a sigh. Were there any justice in the world, she would have been the one standing up beside him now, the one he was regarding so tenderly, the one to whom he plighted his highly covetable troth. It was unaccountable – and patently unfair – that after all her efforts, all her attentiveness, he should also prefer a Miss Bennet! It was not to be borne!

Had Darcy determined to marry Miss de Bourgh over herself, she might have understood, for then she would have been beaten by the undeniable claims of a noble bloodline and a superior fortune. But what did Miss Eliza Bennet have to boast of… except for those notorious “fine eyes”?

It was indeed a harsh blow, and one that was not to be recovered from anytime soon.


Pride & Prejudice: Behind the Scenes by [Reynolds, Abigail, Mason-Milks, Susan, Simonsen, Mary, Grace, Maria]

Remember, you can find this and a lot more P&P “missing scenes” (including more about the wedding!) in Pride and Prejudice: Behind the Scenes, written by your very own Austen Variations authors, who contribute all profits from the book to Jane Austen charities!

I was also remembering the wedding scenes I’ve written for my own novels, and I think my favorite has to be the one from The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen, for the poignant circumstances and especially for how long the bride and groom have been kept waiting. Finally, though, it’s happening. They reach the part of the ceremony where the officiant asks if anybody objects, and the bride hears only blessed…

Product DetailsSilence. All impediments had at last been removed. No more objections to spoil our contentment. No more raging tyrants of war to keep us apart. No more want of money to deprive us of the essentials of married life. We were finally free of these hindrances…

There’s more, of course, but I don’t want to give too much away, such as who the bride and groom are!

So, were you married in June? Do you have a romantic or funny story to tell from your own wedding or one you attended? I’ve never been to a double wedding before. Have you?

18 comments

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    • Glynis on June 1, 2017 at 7:05 am
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    No I was married in October but my daughter got married last June. They had been together for 12 years at the time and their 2 little boys were 3 & 9 months. They live in Sydney but as I can’t fly they got married here. They expected to just have a small wedding and invited their friends in Oz as a matter of form. They were amazed when most of them accepted and had a wonderful (though expensive) day. I was so happy to be able to share this beautiful day. (And to not have to deal with a Caroline Bingley!😉)

    1. Lovely story, Glynis. Thanks for sharing it with us!

    • Deborah on June 1, 2017 at 8:22 am
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    I was married in December. I guess the funny thing was our photographer (my husband’s nephew),held us hostage taking so many pictures we missed all the horderves(spelling) we chose. This year we will be married 30 years and I have never been to a double wedding.

    1. Congrats on 30 years, Debbie. We had delays with our photographer too. His flash only worked about 50% of the time, so everything took longer. Plus he missed a couple shots altogether during the wedding itself. Something always goes wrong; that’s so you have stories to tell later!

    • Theresa M on June 1, 2017 at 9:16 am
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    Interesting post since weddings have been a huge topic in our family. We are US but our eldest is marrying next year in the UK. I am curious about the many differences between the weddings I have been to and the UK version. It will for certain be a more simple ceremony in the town hall and then a party with Scottish dancing…all fun!

    1. Sounds like a wonderful opportunity to do some traveling too, after you get your daughter married. And simple sounds lovely to me! Weddings seem to have gotten out of control in recent years.

  1. Loved the wedding facts! How awkward for the bride’s sister to go on the honeymoon. 😉
    I wanted to get married in June, but ended up doing it in April. Ah well.

    1. I know. It seems odd to us, but on some level I can understand the bride’s need for female companionship (especially if it was an arranged marriage and not a love match).
      I planned for July and ended up in August instead. But it took! That’s the important part. 😀

  2. This June marks 32 years for my husband and myself–on the 15th. I was 19; he was 25. I had three years of college and two years of graduate school ahead of me, plus several more years of working in bookshops. 😉

    Although I faked a book report on Pride and Prejudice in high school (the only time I ever did so–I just ran out of time that month), I became acquainted with Miss Austen’s works in a grad school seminar entitled Gender & Satire. I wrote my main essay on the theme of civility in P&P, S&S, and MP. But my professor was convinced that I wasn’t militant enough in my feminism, so I received a B+ (the graduate school equivalent of a C/D). In fact, it was the only grade lower than an A that I ever received in graduate school. I did have to leave the silent reading room while I was preparing the paper, though–I was laughing too much over my first reading of S&S!!

    I look forward to the theme of June weddings this month!!

    Warmly,
    Susanne 🙂

    1. Haha! So funny, Susanne, that you showed so little early promise dealing with the works of Jane Austen – faking your book report and then earning your lowest grade ever in grad school! Glad you didn’t give up on the subject, though. And happy anniversary!

    • Sheila L. Majczan on June 1, 2017 at 9:37 pm
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    My mother-in-law & father-in-law were married June 10th, 1944. She is no longer with us but he is 96 and lives in assisted living. My daughter, who used to live in Washington State was married 9/10/11 The 9th day of October, 2011 in Hadley Castle in Vancouver which was the setting for the school in the X-men. They used a peacock theme and there are peacocks which roam the estate so there are photos of such among their pictures. My husband and I were married on August 31st and he entered the service via a draft on September 13th, 1968. We planned the wedding so we didn’t have to set up an apartment since he was going away. We had a short honeymoon and he was off.

    I read both these books and did post reviews on each. I read “The Scenes…” shortly after it was published. I loved your cover and got that one in paperback, as you know, since you signed it.

    1. Thank you for sharing your wedding stories, Sheila, and thanks for submitting reviews. That’s about the best thing you can do to support authors you enjoy. Yes, I remember the nice lunch with you and your daughter at Applebys a couple of years back. 😀

    • Gwyn on June 1, 2017 at 9:53 pm
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    Almost 27 years ago DH and I met as student/professor at 19 & 34. My future MIL wasn’t too surprised that he brought me home, as her parents and grandparents had also met in the same way. We’ve been married for 19 years this month on the 27th.I wore my grandmother’s/mother’s dress. We had full Episcopal mass. I processed to the congregation singing the Welsh hymn “Cwm Rhondda” – “Grant us wisdon. Grant us courage” and we recessed to the singing of “Ode to Joy”. The ladies from church offered to make tea sandwiches. The woman who altered my dress had won a ‘cake for up to 300’ as a bakery grand opening prize. She gifted that to us – free cake! (small town – I’d known the baker since I was 10) So after mass, guests had afternoon tea in the parish hall and on the green while we took photos. Then we cut the cake. There was an impromtu serenade by a barber shop quartet (The Beatles “When I’m 64”) who were in town for an early 4th of July festival.
    Family and friends still say that it was one of the best weddings they’ve ever attended as there was no loud music to obscure their talking, no embarrassing dancing or alcohol fueled episodes and happy, well behaved children were everywhere. My parents hosted a separate picnic at their house later in the evening where the booze flowed freely.

    We are so looking forward to our 20th next year! Thanks for your post!

    1. Sounds very special, Gwyn, with lots of tradition and impromptu family fun. Happy anniversary later this month, and I’m wishing you many more returns of the day! Thanks for commenting too.

      • Gwyn on June 2, 2017 at 4:18 pm
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      I just finished reading “Return to Longborn”. I loved that Mary got her HEA in a way she least expected it. Bravo for the support of her prescient sister Elizabeth. Thank you for a wonderful story!!

      1. You’re most welcome, Gwyn! RTL was such a fun book to write, taking turns even I didn’t anticipate. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you’ll read my others too!

          • Gwyn on June 3, 2017 at 10:39 pm
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          I have….a few years ago… I enjoyed them, which is why eventually picked up RTL. 🙂

          1. Good to hear! I have couple of new ones out for a total of seven novels, in case you missed any, and I’m working on another P&P book now – The Ladies of Rosings Park.

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