On 16 June 2024, the exhibition Wedding ceremonies in Russia in the nineteenth to early twentieth century. In secular society and at court from the collection of the State Hermitage begins its run in the Small Church of the Winter Palace.

The display is devoted to one of the most important events in any person’s life. Weddings had long been considered not only a family, but also a public occasions, and so were required to conform to a certain set of rules that became established by the early 19th century and remained practically unchanged thereafter. The outward attributes of the Russian wedding ceremony were the clothing of the bride and groom, gifts, various elements of the dowry and icons. Exhibits of this sort from the stocks of the State Hermitage make it possible to see the objects that many years ago would have accompanied couples in the happiest period of their lives.

A wedding was preceded by a betrothal or engagement ceremony. The exhibition includes a dress that Zinaida Ivanovna Naryshkina, the future Princess Yusupova, wore for her betrothal, as well as the icon that was used to bless the bride and groom. After the betrothal, the bride’s parents would begin preparing the dowry. If the families of the future spouses had noble coats-of-arms, then the items making up the dowry would bear “conjugal arms” featuring both devices together.

The bride was meant to wear a white dress, although ivory and gold were also acceptable colours. If the wedding service was taking place in the morning, then the dress was supposed to have a high neckline and long sleeves. An evening wedding permitted a moderate amount of decolletage and short sleeves. The bride’s coiffure was supplemented with a veil. Her hair and dress were embellished with orange blossom, more often than not artificial.

Brides from the imperial and grand ducal families got married in a formal court dress made of silver brocade with silver-thread embroidery. The exhibition includes an outfit of this kind that Nicholas II’s sister, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, wore when she wed Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich.

The groom usually wore a frock coat and white waistcoat. Military men got married in the dress uniform of their unit. Male members of the imperial family donned the dress uniform belonging to one of the guards regiments of which they were honorary patron.

The dowry of a high-born bride had to include a dressing gown for the groom and a pair of silver brocade shoes that he was supposed to wear on his wedding night.

Before the bride set off for the ceremony, her parents blessed her with the family’s icons. She would be accompanied to church by her father, or a father figure, who brought her to the altar. When members of noble families were marrying, that role might be taken by the emperor himself, which was considered a great honour for the couple.

The wedding ceremony was followed by a banquet lunch or dinner, during which sweetmeats placed in little boxes or bags bearing the couple’s initials were distributed.

In the imperial family, the events themselves and their sequence were the same as for private individuals. The sole difference was that everything was done in accordance with the “Ceremonial approved by His Majesty” which was published in advance in the official press.

Besides the marriage ceremony, it was customary in high society to celebrate wedding anniversaries. In Russia it was usual to particularly mark silver and gold weddings. The done thing on those occasions was to give the couple something made of the appropriate precious metal. A striking example of such a gift is the silver clock presented for Emperor Alexander III’s 25th wedding anniversary.

As well as works of applied art, the exhibition also includes paired portraits and photocopies of 19th-century fashion magazines showing depictions of wedding outfits.

The exhibition’s curator is Yulia Valeryevna Plotnikova, Candidate of Historical Sciences, leading researcher in the State Hermitage’s Department of the History of Russian Culture.

The exhibition is accompanied by a scholarly illustrated catalogue in Russian (State Hermitage Publishing House, 2024) with texts by Yulia Plotnikova.