A lot of the books I deal with at work must come from house clearances, as I keep finding wedding photographs hidden amongst the piles of book club editions and eight-volume sets of "The Illustrated War News".
I used to think that all wedding photos looked the same, apart from the changing fashions. But I was wrong. In the post-1960 pictures, everyone looks genuinely, almost desperately happy, but in the older photographs it's interesting to see that there are quite a few dissenters. Take this picture, which I found yesterday:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKW8o9Cdy2sx1_FknOx9YyHuvkFLM4t6dFp5ECc4Y3L8pszuwDzd6UHJzrjmaio6fy5dka1JP7FJ6cB9Oa1cVGjQV9W0Hvrpyly95xbC2urKG04ppuXURpSIKr8_YSF9UEbRJO9A/s400/happiest+day1.jpg)
I can see a rather unhappy father, a relieved bride, a mother keeping up appearances and a sister and brother who have witnessed the whole sorry business. Here's a close-up:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxJ2sbkmaqIrsivRmk9MDFVlqXDRxx0g7WxhnNkmlFUf3aYBKcs6KNQ32BenX3mad6_zuAqhsB3UVAAMMp2jSdophNeSevFmPiid_ybejJ3X-k6qsAH3qyZGy2pL7PGi4SVT24A/s400/happiest+day3.jpg)
A great photo, but my favourite is still this image, which I posted a couple of months ago:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5HqugECE5xV97dIMJcTDCr0fcj2DlP3RYSOd9MH74hFNQeDoz6nPXL9WAigtlt_mEgy3npx0ixZ7f4TiDVuWFPJ1D6UjzturTxsaI1eyMsgyqnumjhTeY1LXJ_zIAqBtIOt7q4g/s400/wedding2.jpg)
The face of a condemned man. I wonder what happened next?
3 comments:
I dread to think, but he doesn't look too happy.
She's wondering what colour curtains for the lounge - he's wondering where to get a bath of acid....
I suppose they had a little more choice in the 1960s, a few more career/contraceptive choices for women and a little less social/financial pressure all round to contend with.
Marriage for love was a luxury few could afford until surprisingly recently (unless they really were lucky) long though the ideal of 'love' and finding 'the one' may have existed.
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