Queen Victoria's impact on weddings....

Queen Victoria, as her British royal kin since, impacted all areas social trends.  Her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840 established two important wedding trends practiced today...the white wedding dress...and, important to me - the wedding cake topper!

Smart queen....the industrial revolution had nearly decimated the English handmade lace industry.  In order to stimulate and support the lace industry, Victoria chose for her wedding dress a large piece of handmade Honiton lace. The rest of the dress then became a vehicle to showcase the lace, and white was chosen as the most suitable colour to do this. In the case of Victoria’s dress, white symbolised practicality and patriotism, rather than purity.

Victoria’s wedding attire was not devoid of symbolism though: she wore a wreath of orange blossoms (symbolizing purity) and myrtle (symbolizing love and domestic happiness), and these became the most common flowers carried and worn in Victorian weddings.  A sprig of myrtle from Victoria’s bouquet was planted, and cuttings from the resulting bush have been carried by every royal bride in her family since then!

Next post...her wedding CAKE!