I’m starting with an apology, because I’ve been working on this post but it isn’t finished yet, and I was offered a chance to go to the beach today, the day I should have it completed and posted. Thanks to the pandemic, I haven’t been to the beach yet all summer, and in normal summers I go every week. Jones-ing for my beach fix! So I’ll give you the basis, and will post the article later this weekend, or early next week.
What caught my interest is simply the disparity between the sources you usually find quoted in material about Regency weddings. Were they elaborate affairs with lots of attendants and a huge wedding breakfast afterwards? Done quietly at home with only close family and friends? Or a very simple affair at the local church, no flowers, no fuss, and maybe one or two special items on the breakfast menu afterwards, shared with only a handful of family and maybe a friend or two?
Searching out the truth behind these could be someone’s master thesis. If I were younger and still pursuing a degree, I would dive into that research with glee. I think it would require reading a very large number of period newspapers, and perhaps correspondence that would first have to be discovered. But we can still draw some conclusions, by looking at the context of the limited sources that are readily available.
Sorry to tease you with this “starter”! I hope the topic interests you as it does me. More coming! Meanwhile, I’m off to the beach. Summer is fleeting and it’s almost over!