AA-2026-2071AE
On the image
A 1950s wedding reception is caught in the obligatory post-ceremony lineup — bride in white lace and pearls, groom in a dark suit with boutonniere, a yellow-gowned bridesmaid clutching a mixed bouquet, and a second man who appears to be the best man or father of the groom, exhibiting the expression of someone who has successfully gotten through the ceremony without forgetting the ring. The yellow bridesmaid dress was the 1950s solution to a problem that has never been solved: how to dress someone in a colour that photographs well, costs a fortune, and will never be worn again. A bank of potted palms and floral arrangements fills the background with the kind of tropical abundance that reception halls deployed to suggest festivity and that actually suggests a greenhouse sale. The bride holds her bouquet with the careful deliberateness of someone who has been told seventeen times not to crush it, and the groom stands beside her with the upright composure of a man who has just signed a thirty-year mortgage without reading the fine print. The whole group is performing exactly what 1950s wedding portraiture required — dignity, symmetry, and the mild suppression of any feeling that might humanise the record.
Visually related — by likeness
1950s Wedding Reception Portrait, Bridal Party with Yellow Bridesmaid. 1953–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-2071AE. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/1950s-wedding-reception-portrait-bridal-party-with-yellow-bridesmaid.
@misc{aaAA20262071AE,
title = {1950s Wedding Reception Portrait, Bridal Party with Yellow Bridesmaid},
year = {1953–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-2071AE},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/1950s-wedding-reception-portrait-bridal-party-with-yellow-bridesmaid}
}TY - ART TI - 1950s Wedding Reception Portrait, Bridal Party with Yellow Bridesmaid PY - 1953–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-2071AE UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/1950s-wedding-reception-portrait-bridal-party-with-yellow-bridesmaid ER -
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