Who attends the wedding? Parents and witnesses of suburban brides and grooms (1880-1912)

Abstract

ABSTRACT If the witnesses of 19th-century civil marriages have been the subject of several researches, especially to distinguishing related and non-related witnesses, less attention has been paid to the precise choice of family members or the non-related witnesses. Even less attention has been paid to the parents of the brides and grooms, their presence or absence at their child's marriage, and the consequences on the call to family members or friends witnesses. The idea of this article is to provide new information about the people who attend the wedding ceremony _ parents and witnesses _ with a particular focus on two cities in the Paris suburbs between 1880 and 1912. The analysis focuses on brides and grooms who had not been married before and emphasises the gendered dimension in the parental presence and the choice of witnesses.