Edna (Conklin) Thoe, 1935.
SHM 2005.10.49
Today flowers are considered a crucial element of wedding decorations and accessories; very few brides would go down the aisle without a bouquet. Since antiquity brides have carried bouquets; the earliest were collections of herbs and spices that would protect the bride from evil spirits. If she didn't carry flowers, the bride might wear then in her hair-- the earliest headpieces were floral and herbal wreaths. This was true of Queen Victoria, the bride with perhaps the most impact on wedding tradition. The Queen carried only a handkerchief during her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840, but she wore a wreath of orange blossoms in her hair. Even 60 years later, in 1900, orange blossoms were still the most popular flower worn by brides. However, since the blossoms were extremely delicate, wax versions were regularly substituted.
Interior of Church, ca. 1920. SHM 78.2.180
As the century went on, flowers carried by the bride grew from a small posy in the 1800s to a large bouquet by 1913. These large sheaves of flowers were called "Bernhardt" bouquets after the arrangement given to the most popular actress of the time, Sarah Bernhardt. Also called shower bouquets, by 1920 many of these bouquets were so large they almost hid the bride. The extravagance of the shower bouquet did not match the economic reality of most Americans in the late 1930s, and by World War II many brides gave up bouquets all-together in favor of a simple corsage.
Floral decorations for the church or home did not bloom until the last quarter of the 19th century. Often the only decoration was a single symbolic shape such as a bell, dove, or horseshoe made of flowers that hung above the couple during the ceremony. After the wedding of Nellie Grant at the White House in 1874, for which every possible surface of the East Room was covered with white flowers or potted plants, the mania for elaborate floral decorations grew.
Dressler-Christians wedding, October 6, 1957.
PHM 96.51.5149
In 1897, Manners and Social Usage author Mrs. Sherwood recommended using a single flower as the inspiration for all the wedding decorations. "So well has this been carried out," she wrote, "that at a recent daisy wedding the bride's lace and diamond ornaments bore the daisy pattern, and each bridesmaid received a daisy pin with diamond center." When Adelaide Beebe married Dr. Samuel Keller in Sioux Falls on Valentine's Day, 1922, the front parlor of her uncle R. F. Pettigrew's home
was "beautiful with pink roses, which were used in
abundance."
