How Queen Victoria’s Wedding Influenced Weddings Forever After

Many people don’t realize this, but in 1840 Queen Victoria’s wedding changed weddings forever after.

In case you don’t know already, I do a lot of research for this blog.  Over and over, I kept learning about Queen Victoria’s wedding and how it impacted weddings forever while researching, yet I didn’t really know much about her.  If you don’t know much either, she was a much beloved and long reining monarch in 1800’s Britain.  She married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on February 10th, 1840.  The wedding was held at Chapel Royal, St James Palace, London. 

Queen Victoria was already a queen when she got married.  She inherited the thrown at the age of 18, a few years before she reluctantly agreed to marry Albert.  From her viewpoint, getting married would mean that she would have to share power, and she didn’t want to give that up.  However, when she got the notion that she should marry Albert, she was up for it.  Albert was about the same age as her, and she had known him her whole life, as he was her cousin. The two became engaged in October, 1939, just a few months before the wedding. 

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a long and happy marriage, though she outlived him by about 40 years.  They even had nine children together, all of whom survived into adulthood.  Many of her children became famous leaders throughout their own lives. 

But I digress, let’s talk about Queen Victoria’s wedding to Prince Albert and how it changed wedding traditions and customs forever after. 

How Queen Victoria’s Wedding Influenced Weddings Ever After

Queen Victoria’s wedding introduced so many new concepts to weddings in the western world.

It’s incredible how one young woman’s vision and opinions could have such an impact, but they did.  Because she was strong willed, madly in love, had the resources, and was in power, Queen Victoria was able to make her unique vision happen.  There are reports that she was willing to have a smaller affair, but with the support of Lord Melbourne, Britain’s first prime minister, her wedding became a large event.

Let’s get into it! 

QUEEN VICTORIA’S WEDDING DAY

As Queen Victoria’s wedding was held in February, in London, it’s no surprise that it was a very rainy day.

There is a superstition that a rainy day brings luck and fertility to a marriage.  It seems like both of these things came true for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  The rain was no deterrent to an amazing wedding and marriage that produced nine children.

General Schedule

Queen Victoria’s wedding day started with the Queen and her bridesmaids getting ready.  There was then a processional through the streets of London where many onlookers were able to grab a glimpse of the Queen on her way.  A wedding ceremony followed, where the Queen was given away by the Duke of Sussex, as her own father had died when she was a baby. 

Vows

During the ceremony, Queen Victoria agreed to leave in the words “obey” for her vows, which was a bit of a disagreement leading up to the wedding.  In her own words, she later described the wedding ceremony as “very imposing and fine and simple, and I think ought to have made an everlasting impression on everyone who promises at the Alter to keep what he or she promises.”  This is an interesting quote, because after the wedding Queen Victoria was definitely the decision maker in the marriage, and clearly was not going to “obey” anyone. 

Alone Time

After the ceremony, the couple got to spend about thirty minutes alone and exchanged rings.  Then, a banquet was served to all in attendance. Once the wedding ended, Queen Victoria changed into a white silk traveling gown and left for Windsor Castle in a modest carriage, at around 4:00 in the afternoon.  It took three hours for them to arrive, and that was when she was finally able to lie down and rest after an incredibly eventful wedding day. 

Wedding Night

According to many sources, including this article, the wedding night was a wonderful time for the newlyweds.  Queen Victoria was a prolific writer, and this is what she included in her diary:

“I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert … his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness—really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband! … to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before—was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life!”

To sum it up, my friends, based on her writing, the Queen had a wonderful wedding night with her new husband.

TIMING OF THE WEDDING

The first novel thing to note about Queen Victoria’s wedding is the time of day she actually hosted it.

For the first time in history, this British royal wedding was held during the day.  Traditionally, royal weddings were very small and held in private.  They were always held late at night.  But not Queen Victoria’s wedding, though.  There are reports of a huge processional riding though the streets of London, during the day.  Anyone who was outside would have been able to see and hear them coming. 

THE GUESTS

It’s probably no surprise that Queen Victoria’s wedding had a large guest list.

As mentioned above, prior to this wedding, royal weddings were much smaller and private.  Queen Victoria changed all that when she got married at Chapel Royal at St James.  While she would have probably included more people, the chapel itself only accommodated 300 guests.  According to this article, the chapel was filled to capacity.  Many other people were included in the wedding, though.  Dignitaries and notable people were sent pieces of wedding cake afterward.  And during the processional, everyone in London watched the queen go by.  

PHOTOGRAPHY

Though photography wasn’t really invited until over a decade after this wedding, there are many ways to actually see how the wedding looked.

After the wedding, images were made available through many first hand reports.  There were also paintings created and souvenir artwork.  In 1854, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert even got dressed up in their wedding clothes again and had their photo taken by a professional photographer.  If you’re interested in seeing this photo, it can be found here.  

QUEEN VICTORIA’S WEDDING DRESS

Perhaps the biggest impact that Queen Victoria’s wedding made was the wedding dress that she wore. 

Prior to this wedding, wedding dresses tended to be colorful and could be worn again and again.  White was almost never a color of choice, as it was expensive to have it cleaned.  So, if you wore white, it meant that you had the means to clean it, and was a symbol of wealth. The expectation was that Queen Victoria would wear crimson velvet robes, but she decided against that. Wearing white was a huge risk that paid off for her, and it’s explored in further detail below. 

A fun fact about the dress was that she did wear it again and again.  Queen Victoria made it a point to wear her dress at her children’s christenings, her diamond jubilee portrait, and even her son’s wedding.  If I was getting married to her son, I’m not sure how I would feel about my mother in law wearing her wedding dress, but she was the Queen, so I would have probably gotten over it.

The Color White

As mentioned above, Queen Victoria’s wedding dress was white, but there was a lot more to it as well.

Queen Victoria’s wedding dress was technically cream colored satin with lace trimmings.  The Queen was reported as stating that she wanted to wear white because of it’s simple magnificence.  She also wanted the lace on the gown to stand out.  There are even reports that the lace was so delicate and unique that the pattern was destroyed after the wedding so no one would be able to replicate it. 

The guests at Queen Victoria’s wedding were requested to refrain from wearing the color white, a tradition that we still see at most British, American, and Canadian weddings today.  The one exception was her bridesmaids (more on that later).  One main reason why the Queen didn’t want others to wear white was to help her stand out as they made the procession through the streets of London.  It worked!

Orange Blossoms & Myrtle

The wedding dress was adorned with orange flower blossoms and myrtle, to symbolize fertility.  These flower blossoms were also in a wreath that Queen Victoria wore on her head, over her veil.  Orange blossoms and myrtle are significant because that tradition is carried on with every British royal wedding today, with each bride incorporating them into her ensemble.  In fact, myrtle from Queen Victoria’s bouquet was planted after her wedding and a sprig from that bush was later carried by Queen Elizabeth II on her own wedding day.

Train

As seen in recent royal weddings, Queen Victoria started the wedding train trend at her wedding. Her dress reportedly had an 18 foot train, which was carried for her by her bridesmaids.  I couldn’t find any information on how her bustle worked, or even if she had a bustle.  I’m sure as a queen, her train was well cared for by her entourage all day long, either way.  

VEIL

Queen Victoria’s wedding dress was spectacular, so she made sure that her veil also matched.

Her veil was four yards in length, and almost a yard wide, making it quite long and thick.  It sat perfectly on her head, under a wreath of orange blossoms and myrtle, her hair parted in the middle and pulled into low buns on either side.  Just like her wedding dress, Queen Victoria wore her veil at other special occasions after the wedding, and was even buried in it when she died.

ACCESSORIES

Jewelry was front and center as part of the Queen’s outfit.

Starting from the top, Queen Victoria wore Turkish diamond earrings to her wedding, and a diamond necklace.  Albert had given her a sapphire broach, which she also wore pinned to her dress.  They both wore wedding rings, though her family had given hers to her, not Albert.  It does sounds like she had on some sensible shoes, described as white slippers that matched the dress, though I’m not sure that high heels were available back then.

BRIDAL PARTY

As alluded to before, Queen Victoria had bridesmaids.

There were 12 total bridesmaids, all of whom had the title of “Lady”.  Many of them went on to marry very high statuses and became Duchess’s and Viscountess’s.  Each of them wore a white dress, and carried white roses.  They also helped greatly with Queen Victoria’s train and veil. 

There was some controversy about the ladies Queen Victoria choose to be in her party.  Albert found it very important to have each of them come from a reputable mother, with a pristine history.  Apparently there were a few of their mothers who had some rumors or controversy around them, and Albert did not want them to be bridesmaids.  However, Queen Victoria insisted that these were the women who would stand by her, so she got the final choice.  Stand by your girls, right?

CAKE

Queen Victoria’s wedding cake sounds like a showstopper to me.

The cake was humungous.  It weighed 300 lbs, was 9 feet in circumference, and was 16 inches high.  To be honest, it sounds very round but rather short even though it was four tiered.  It was so big, though, that it took four men to carry it.  It was a white cake, with a figure of Britannia on it.  The cake was adorned with cupids, one holding a book with the date of the wedding on it.  Though the cake itself was large enough to feed all 300 guests, there were hundreds of smaller cakes to be given to others to enjoy after the wedding. Even more details about the wedding cake can be found in this post. 

Here are a couple fun facts about Queen Victoria’s cake.  First, the term “royal icing” came directly from her wedding and the type of icing used on the cake.  Second, a surviving piece of this cake was auctioned off in 2016 for about $2,100.  Can you imagine?! 

TRADITIONS THAT QUEEN VICOTORIA’S WEDDING INFLUENCED

As you can tell, Queen Victoria’s wedding was an amazing event, and it left long lasting traditions, even almost 200 years later.

Here are all the traditions that are still carried forward: 

• Hosted during the day
• White wedding dress
• Long Veil
• Big Cake
• Lots of Guests

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Queen Victoria didn’t know she was going to change the course of weddings when she got married, but she truly did.  Many of the novel ideas that she implemented are considered traditional today.  Though her wedding sounds amazing, it’s important to note that she was truly in love with her Prince, and the two of them enjoyed an incredible romance for the rest of his life.  And that is the most important tradition of all.

More From Hummingbird Wedding Advice:  

7 Wedding Expectations You Can Skip

Six Historic Wedding Customs We Still See Today

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