L' Echo de Paris, 1927

Above, three of five different dress designs for this 1927 bride's party, plus two identically dressed flower girls.

        Just before the organ peals forth the wedding march, with what suppressed excitement the bridal party wait their cue to assemble! For just as vital as clothes, to the correct wedding, is the conventional order of the procession: bridesmaids come first, two by two; maid of honor next, and alone; the flower girls ahead of the bride, and the bride last on the arm of her nearest male relative.

       Observe this bride's gown of ivory satin. It offers the classical simplicity demanded of the smart bride in 1927. It has a clever arrangement of two trains instead of the usual one. How lovely the bridal attendants look in their modish frocks, wide hats, and satin slippers! In vivid contrast to the purity of the bride's white, the bridesmaids may appear each in a different color-- a sort of rainbow processional.

Wedding Veils Typically Worn During The 1920s

This 1920s fashion plate shows the bridal veil long in back and short in front.

       An occasion on which a Western woman is likely to wear a veil is on her white wedding day. Brides once used to wear their hair flowing down their back at their wedding to symbolize their virginity. Veils covering the hair and face became a symbolic reference to the virginity of the bride thereafter. A bride may wear the face veil through the ceremony. Then either her father lifts the veil, presenting the bride to her groom, or the groom lifts the veil to symbolically consummate the marriage. Brides may make use of the veil to symbolize and emphasize their status of purity during their wedding however, and if they do, the lifting of the veil may be ceremonially recognized as the crowning event of the wedding, when the beauty of the bride is finally revealed to the groom and the guests.

       In modern weddings, the ceremony of removing a face veil after the wedding to present the groom with the bride may not occur, since couples may have entered into conjugal relations prior to the wedding and it may also be considered sexist for the bride to have her face covered whether or not the veil is a sign of virginity. In Scandinavia, brides wear a veil usually under a traditional crown but do not have their face covered (instead the veil is attached to and hangs from the back).

During the 1920s, modern brides typically wore their hair short
 and their veils short across the front of their face only.

Vintage hair and makeup from HairComestheBride.

1940s Fashions Worn by "Camay" Brides...

A simple, short strand of white pearls (faux or real) added a finishing touch to many wedding gowns in the 1940s.

In the 1940s floral attachments to bridal veils were also popular.

Camay Bride of 1950s

Brides of the 1940s preferred to wear their hair down, loose about the shoulders and curly.

For The Easter Bride, 1911

       The bridal costume is always one of deepest interest. Here is a model that is charming in the extreme. In the illustration satin is combined with lace and with chemisette of chiffon, and there is a bunch of orange blossoms arranged at the left of the corsage. The arrangement of the veil is distinctive and new.

       The blouse is one of  the very new ones, giving the surplice effect, and with a postillion back. It includes double sleeves as well as the fichu is made of lace flouncing. The skirt is simple chiffon for the chemisette and puffed under sleeves.

       There are many brides-to-be who would delight in embroidering their own wedding veils, and the work will be found both easy and effective. To make a good-sized square veil, four yards of Brussels net are required. (newspaper, 1911)

Rogers Bros. 1912 Electro-Silver Plating

"In 1847 electro-silver plating was perfected by Rogers Bros. and for over sixty years the
 original brand has been recognized as the highest quality. It is the heaviest triple plate made.
 This fact together with the beauty of its designs and the prestige of the name, makes it Most
 Popular for Gifts.