Please Pray for my friend....

Cape Cod Cottage Vintage Wedding Cake Topper

Embellished with vintage millinery,bakelite button,blue rhinestone brooch,bluebird brooch and vintage bridal veil piece. www.avintagebride.etsy.com

'A Love Story' Vintage Wedding Card Box

Perfect romantic gift for your Valentine 'A LOVE STORY'.~Sweet original vintage ephemera. Decoupaged with vintage ephemera music sheets. Edged in lovely vintage lace.Top is adorned cute paperd image's,bride wearing a vintage wedding gown and veil,wearing a swarvoski ring and rhinestone necklace.Her bouquet is embellished with a vintage blue rhinestone.A cluster of romantic homemade dried beach roses and blue flowers,french vintage veil Gently open lid to store personal treasures.
A unique heirloom keepsake.Guest's can drop their cards into the slot in back of box.Display pretty decorative box on your vanity or curio.33"DIAMETER X 11.5 TOP LGTH X TOP WIDTH 9" X 7.5 HGT" Base can be customized with couple's names, the wedding date,or other small greeting-with a paper banner. Hair color may also be customized. FREE SHIPPING

Vintage 'Loves Meaning' Wedding Card Box

Vintage Style Wedding by

~Lovely rare romantic original handwriting vintage ephemera love letter.Decoupaged with vintage ephemera music sheet from a Massachusetts antique shop.Edged in lovely vintage lace.Decoupaged with vintage 'love' music sheet ephemera,vintage lace,ivory parchment paper roses.Handpainted wallpaper in an acrylic ivory gold wash and tea. 28" DIAM x 7 " HGT X TOP 10" LENGTH X 8" ACROSS
Gently open lid to store personal treasures.
Guest's can drop their cards into the slot in back of box.Display pretty decorative box on your vanity or curio.
FREE SHIPPING

Victorian Wedding Engagement Etiquette

The Rules

• It was illegal to marry your deceased wife’s sister. You could marry first cousins, but attitudes changed towards the end of the 19th century, and this became frowned upon.
  
• Victorians were encouraged to marry within the same class (remember the views on social mobility!). They could marry up, but to marry down meant marrying beneath yourself (Soames).
  
• A woman entering into the institute of marriage had to be equipped with a dowry. The husband-to-be had to prove that he could support his new bride in the lifestyle she was accustomed to.
  
• An unmarried woman could inherit money and property after she reached the age of 21, but once married, all control would revert to her husband. A woman could not have a will for her own personal possessions; since the control was in her husband’s power, he could distribute her property in any way he likes, even to his illegitimate children (if he has any).
  
• Women married because they had a lack of options; they were not formerly educated, and were only instructed in domestic duties. They needed someone to support them, and were encouraged to marry and have children ("The Rules of Marriage").

The Courtship

• Marriage was a carefully contemplated subject for a woman; since she would lose control over any possessions once married, it was not something entered into lightly, and a woman was not required to accept her first proposal.
  
• The financial aspects of both families were discussed openly. They can be compared to today’s prenuptial agreements. A woman’s father was responsible for retaining a “jointure” for his daughter; this was a provision in the event that she might outlive her husband, so that she was taken care of monetarily.
  
• After the business aspects were secured, the engagement followed. The husband presented his fiancée with a ring; the woman could give her fiancé a ring as well, but it was not required. The woman’s mother was responsible for throwing an engagement dinner for the couple.
  
• Engagements lasted anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. After it was “official,” the couple was permitted to be more intimate: they could hold hands in public, take walks together, take private carriage rides (but the carriage had to be open), and even spend time alone behind closed doors, as long as they were properly separated by nightfall.
  
• Any failure to follow these rules of conduct meant a ruined reputation for the woman; the engagement would most likely be called off and she would spend the rest of her life as a spinster. An honorable man would typically marry her anyway, but then again, an honorable man would not become engaged to a woman who would disobey societal rules. 

Please Pray for my friend....

Cape Cod Cottage Vintage Wedding Cake Topper

'A Love Story' Vintage Wedding Card Box

Vintage 'Loves Meaning' Wedding Card Box

Victorian Wedding Engagement Etiquette