On 29th May 1873, Miss Helen Frances Colvin was married in St Mary Magdalene Church. She was the youngest daughter of the late Colonel John Colvin C.B. [1794-1871] of Leintwardine House.
Helen’s groom was the Rev. F.E. Hopwood, vicar of St.James’s, Congleton, Cheshire. A reporter from the Staffordshire Advertiser travelled down to Leintwardine to cover the event. Here’s what he saw on that spring day in Leintwardine.
“The time appointed for the ceremony was 11 o’clock, and punctually at that hour the bridegroom and his best man arrived at the gates, the church and the churchyard being crowded by people each to witness the ceremony. The bride wore a rich white silk dress trimmed with white satin and orange blossom, and a long bridal veil fastened with a wreath of orange blossom. The eight bridesmaid wore white dresses trimmed with blue and white scarves, white bonnets with blue feathers and long flowing veils.
The officiating clergyman was the Rev. F.G. Hopwood, father of the bridegroom. On the departure of the nuptial party from the church to their carriages, the choir was waiting to receive them, consisting of 14 couples of young men and girls supporting 14 arches beautifully decorated with devices suitable for the occasion. The happy pair had received over 100 presents, and many of these were very valuable. In the afternoon, they departed [from Leintwardine House] for Lancashire where the bridegroom’s father resides, to spend the honeymoon“.
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The ‘tradition’ that brides should wear white dresses started in 1840 when Queen Victoria made the unusual choice of wearing a white gown for her wedding to Prince Albert. Her choice was a pragmatic one. It was the perfect colour to highlight the delicate handmade lace of the gown. It was then adopted by the Victorians as the most fitting hue for a bride, “an emblem of the purity and innocence of girlhood, and the unsullied heart she now yields to the chosen one.” Dressing bridesmaids in white gowns and incorporating long veils into their headgear further embraced this symbolism and imbued weddings with a sense of reverence and tradition. In choosing orange blossom to adorn her dress and veil fixings – a symbol of fertility – Miss Colvin made a further nod towards the outfit worn by the monarch 33 years earlier.
Although this was clearly a costly wedding, the dresses worn by the bridal party may have had little in the way of permanent adornment (note that the bridesmaids were wearing scarves). In a classic fitted shape, nothing too extreme, they were designed to be worn again, at balls, parties or even, with the addition of different trimmings, at another wedding. Photographs and pictures show that Queen Victoria recycled items from her wedding wardrobe many times over the years and it would be good to think that that vicar’s wife Mrs Helen Hopwood and her entourage did the same.
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LEINTWARDINE HISTORY SOCIETY 