Marriage and weddings

Marriage was different in the 50s. It was then, clearly, an arrangement between a man and a woman; the concept of a gay marriage back then was unthinkable.

A woman wore a white dress to signify her virginity; true, not all those walking up the aisle (Church aisle – it was the Church or the Register Office) were as pure as the driven snow colour of their dresses but should a pregnancy occur in an unmarried girl there was a great rush to get her to the altar before the bump could be seen. Most vicars would refuse to allow divorced people to marry in their Church but in the unlikely event that they did, the bride would NOT wear white.

We have got used to seeing a couple’s children as bridesmaids or pageboys. Not in the 50s. We accept as normal that a couple live together before making a formal arrangement and, in fact, accept as normal those who live together without ever being married (it was called ‘living in sin’ back then). Of course, in the 50s and 60s, many couples did live together without being married – but many of those would not have told their parents or brought the partner to a company, office or works do.

In the 50s, pregnancy out of wedlock was socially unacceptable; girls or women who were pregnant ‘out of wedlock’ suffered greatly; many did themselves great damage – sometimes died – by going to back street abortionists or trying to terminate the pregnancy themselves. Abortion was not legal in the fifties and only became so in 1967. Contraception was much less reliable and ‘the pill’ only became available from 1960 onwards – but only on prescription to a married woman.  Very different.