Discovering Victorian Tradition: The Christmas Eve Wedding

Artist: Barbara Bedell

​Christmas Eve is such a magical time and what more appropriate time to hold a wedding?

During my delve into genealogy some years ago, I found that my Great-Grandparents were married on Christmas Eve, 1901.  At the time, I simply thought it was a sweet and unusual discovery. However, I recently learned that the romantic Victorians often held weddings during Christmastime and 1901 just marked the end of this interesting era.

A Christmas wedding only added to the joyous festivities already underway in a Victorian household and was incredibly practical as well. The halls were already literally decked out with decorations and greenery, an abundance of all kinds of meats, baked goods and delicacies were loaded onto the "groaning table", the family had gathered from near and far ...  so why not piggy-back onto this perfectly suited occasion by joining a courting couple in marriage? The industrious Victorians threw themselves wholeheartedly into the celebration of Christmas and revived ancient English customs such as wassailing; while creating new traditions, including pulling Christmas Crackers and decorating Christmas trees.

It was wonderful to learn that Christmastime weddings were among the traditions of that time period and I was delighted to find richer detail as to the doings of my ancestors ... and all this discovery stemming from a date on a marriage certificate! 

Bibliography: Victorian Christmas, Bobbie Kalman & Barbara Bedell, Crabtree Publishing Company, 1997

Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan, 2021