Why did they marry on 25 Dec?

[Northern Lass]

This puzzles me ...and perhaps I should post in the History section but we can always move it and the mods won't notice


When I go thru the marriage records there are loads....and I mean loads on Christmas day

now why is this

is it cos there was a special offer on at the churches?

They were having a celebration anyway so might as well have 2 for price of one

They had time off work

The photos looked good with all that snow!

wot is it?

answers on a Christmas card please

[FarSide]

Found this

Common - in fact, in London parishes, where many couples were not that
bothered about peperwork, the C19 clergyman sometimes offered free
weddings on Xmas day, to encourage the making of honest women.

and

In parts of Scotland Christmas Day was celebrated on the 6th January
(and still is in the Shetland island of Foula) which is the
anniversary going by the Julian calendar (as opposed to the Gregorian
calendar now in use). It is thus sometimes known as Old Christmas.

Therefore people married on 25th December may not have regarded
themselves as getting married on Christmas Day!

[Northern Lass]

Thanks FS

So they had to pay to get married...wonder how much it cost?

wonder what a typical Wedding fayre was /what they ate?

I would love to go back for one day and see how they lived
but would miss my kentucky fried chicken!

And did they have a dowry and if so how much?

[linell]

Hi NL, back in the 16th, 17th and early 18th Century, Xmas Day was about the only day they had off Therefore a lot of them Married on Xmas or Boxing Day. Best Wishes Linell.

[Northern Lass]

Thanks Linell

[Tonibunny]

Thanks for this bit of info! My great great grandparents married on Christmas Day in 1889, my grandparents married on Boxing Day in 1937, and I also have GGGG grandparents who married on Boxing Day in 1820. The fact that these were days they would have had off work never occurred to me before!

I've also got three pairs of ancestors getting married on the 27th, the earliest being in 1753. I wonder if this was done so they could have their celebrations at a convenient time of year when they already had something nice put by to eat, even if they couldn't get the day off?

[Maths girl]

Not only was it one of the few days that the bride and groom had off but it was a day when families used to try to be together and hence it could be a family event

[DownTownGirl]

My GGrandparents married 25 Dec 1910 which was a Sunday.

My Grandfather always said it was because they stayed on after the Sunday service for the wedding ceremony to take place.

[Alice]

I suppose that at least they could be sure of the day off and the clergyman perhaps would be too busy in the run up to Christmas, in farming communities it is the time of year when there is least work. wasn't there a Christmas Wedding in Pickwick? perhaps we should ask a clergyman.
Alice

[Alice]

Hi,
Spoke to the vicar yesterday, he said he was told people married on Christmas day because it was free. whether this is true or not i don't know, but it soundslikely, don't you think?
alice