SNAPSHOTS
c1920 The merry wives
A flock of happy couples make the most of the festive season by getting married in the same London church on Christmas Day. (The grooms are doing their best to be seen over the brides’ veils.) While the notion of tying the knot on Noël has all but disappeared, Christmas weddings were a popular sight from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. This was not to add seasonal cheer to proceedings, but because churches traditionally offered weddings on 25 December free of charge, or at least at a lower cost. What’s more, for working-class couples, this was one of the only days of the year that they were guaranteed to get off work.