For 75 years the main characters in Brides magazine — the husband and wife — have remained the same. She wears white, he dons a tux and they eat cake. Everything else about the weddings and the way they’ve been covered in the Conde Nast publication has evolved, said Brides editor-in-chief Millie Martini Bratten. The magazine’s retrospective issue this month takes a look at brides through the decades.
1930s: pared-down parties
Even in hard economic times, people wanted to spend on their weddings, Bratten said.
The party, ranging from punch and cake to a four-course meal, was often at home. In preparation for their big day, the magazine advised women to give up smoking from time to time.
1940s: rations on passion
During World War II, weddings were done on a much smaller scale and sometimes planned at the last minute if the man was on a short military furlough. Brides suggested women shop at sample sales and send telegrams instead of formal invitations.
Even with rations, a bride could probably find some satin for her wedding gown, but it was in the back of her mind that if she wore too much of it, she might be taking away from someone else, Bratten said. It was the same with giving silver as a gift.
1950s: a woman’s place
The magazine honed in on the public’s interest in their homes and home life. It was a bigger adjustment for women than men because many had lived only under their father’s care before their weddings.
The women whose wartime jobs went back to men when they came home were looking for more than the happy homemaker life, so the magazine started to look more at the emotional side of marriage, too.
1960s: revolution and romance
There was rebellion with miniskirt-style wedding gowns and articles on birth-control pills. But the party line for women with a snoring husband was get used to it: Men were the breadwinners.
1970s: WIVES CAN BE FEMINISTS
During this decade the magazine started to write about interfaith marriage, women’s lib and extramarital affairs. Bratten thinks the skeptical tone that many marriages took on were partially due to the Watergate scandal, which “shook the foundation of the country,” she said. Some of the edgier topics included women keeping their maiden names, second marriages and the save-the-Earth movement.
1980s: ROYAL WEDDINGS
With the single fairy-tale union between Prince Charles and Lady Diana, pomp and circumstance came back, until the stock market crashed in ‘87. Then couples became introspective and pared down everything, including their weddings.
1990s: ALL ABOUT YOU
Couples decided to get personal, Bratten said, tailoring their weddings to suit their own taste. Big tiered cakes went out the window, replaced by a cupcake cake or even a pie table. “The cookie-cutter wedding was officially done, and we’ll never go back to it. It’s better for your marriage if you start out with who you are.”
2000s: WHAT MATTERS MOST
“People are concerned about looking inappropriate,” Bratten said. Couples want a beautiful wedding, but instead of being show, they’ll ask for donations to charity in lieu of gifts, or give out favors that are edible instead of eventually taking up space in a landfill.
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