When Emily married in 1905 a time when big weddings were uncommon unless it was a society one. This was not so in Emily and Edward Weddall’s case. It was just the two of them with two witnesses and the Vicar. This austerity possibly extended to the bride’s dress. It was not that Emily was miserly, in fact the complete opposite could be said of her it was a sign of those times. Below is an article, The World of Women, from the same year taken from the Penny Illustrated:

We are so utilitarian in these days; if we purchase or learn anything, then that thing must be purchased or learned only if it is likely to prove useful. wear carrying this utilitarian principle to the bride’s dress and the writer takes the liberty of thinking that it it not entirely a wise step.

The argument in favour of this application of the “useful” to the wedding garments is this: The young people are not very well circumstanced it is therefore, better than the bride should have a wedding dress that will easily “come in” for ordinary wear, instead of spending money on a garment that must, in all probability be laid aside after the ceremony…

Yet is it not a pity to banish the poetry from the most solemn, the most important and most poetical of all events of a girl’s life…

Whatever Emily wore to her wedding it was certainly set off by a hat. Emily had a lifelong liking for millinery, wearing the biggest hat available, which usually dwarfed her tiny frame, nevertheless she wore them well.

Sources

The Penny Illustrated 3rd June 1905