Older grans! Can you tell me something about 1940s weddings?

My Mum and Dad were married in Southwark, London in 1948. I have one photo of all the guests, mostly family members with one of my mother’s friends. The other is one of my mother and father. My mother did not wear a wedding dress (white) but made her own dress. Her earrings were also homemade with a trim of narrow lace and tiny beads and she carried a small posy. The men all wore suits and the females either suits or smart coats. Women also wore hats except Mum.

Afterwards I think the had a small cake and later went on a cycling holiday to Brittany. Rationing was still in force as others have already said. For those in London it was still a time of austerity.

I know that it was common to have a 'studio'portrait done separately, and the photographers had artificial flowers as props, so some were not done on the same day.
I know that my grandparents had a studio portrait to commemorate their wedding, but that was when many 'ordinary folk' didn't have elaborate wedding dresses - just a new outfit (I'm not sure when the idea of the groom not seeing the dress before the wedding came in). Small copies of the photos were sent to relatives.

However, if the bouquets are still fresh, they may have got a taxi.
We still have the receipt for the taxi that ferried my parents about on their wedding day, although it didn't include a photographer's trip. By then (1940s) the local newspaper sent a photographer to cover all the weddings, and you could order a copy from them - much cheaper than using studio! That was we did in the early 70s as well.

I don’t think any photos were taken of my parents wedding in 1949. It was at the register office, hardly anyone present, only the witnesses I think.
Mum was about four months pregnant, so it was a hasty wedding.
She never talked about her wedding day, or if they went anywhere afterwards, or who was there.
Should say they had a happy marriage, they were not teenagers, she was in her 30’s, Dad over 40, so sad really.
When my sister’s daughter was pregnant with her long time boyfriend, Mum didn’t seem very thrilled, which surprised my sister.
I think Mum just contrasted it to how different the times were
55 years or so earlier.

Oh my fathers sisters certainly had the same dress and headdress. The neckline is the same and the its a bit short on the taller aunt.

That is interesting.

Or am I just lockdown crazy?

I remember my mum telling me about making a funeral outfit from blackout curtains!

Oh. I'll get out the magnifying glass. Good point.

I think there was probably a huge difference between town and village weddings as well. My family are all townies.
In 1945-46 it would have been very difficult to find outfits for a wedding maybe the bride's mother didn't feel she was well dressed enough. Have you noticed if the same outfits are in some of the photos? Even wedding dresses were shared. Everything including material was rationed.

My Mum and Dad had no photos of their wedding day. Those that the photographer took did not come out and apparently no-one else took any. Mum and Dad went back to the Church the next day, stood outside a back door and someone took a photo. She did have her small bunch of flowers. This was 1946. Mum was sooo disappointed she would never talk about the wedding so I don’t even know who was there!

Someone might still have a relative they could ask. My last aunt died last year. Sharp as a tack to the end. Wish I'd had the photographs then.

Trisher. Sorry.

Yes, a lot older I know but I was hopeful ? Somebody might remember their bridesmaid experiences!

They wouldn't have boycotted the wedding Trisha. All the people in the photos stayed in the village and all the offspring grew up together and went from house to house without even thinking about it.

I'm fact all but one of the brides and grooms were related anyway. Normal for Norfolk! ?

Thanks for replying.

I can't give you personal experiences -I'm not old enough, but from family stories I would say.
Usually photos only included family groups and an all guests photo. There might be one of bride and her father arriving. I've never seen a photo of a bride and her mother. Why they aren't on the group ones I don't know, unless like my grandfather they had boycotted the wedding. He isn't on the phtos of my aunt's wedding because he disapproved.
I think the studio photos would have been taken after the wedding day

They might have to be a lot older unless little bridesmaids in the mid-40’s - that was 70+ years ago! I suppose reference to our parents’ wedding pics might be helpful.
There is no sign of my paternal grandparents in my parents’ wedding photograph, and my mothers parents would have still been in Germany and unable to travel. But looking at Paws* parents wedding photograph, my MIL’s parents are in that but his are not. Perhaps that was because theirs was a wartime wedding and in Scotland when my FIL was on a short leave and his parents were living in Hampshire at the time.