AA-2026-7AB2C8
On the image
A young couple stands on the chancel of a mid-century American Protestant church, flanked by the full ceremonial apparatus their era required: twin banks of tall tapered candles, potted palms arranged to suggest a tropical solemnity, white gladioli, and an American flag positioned to reassure everyone that God and country were still on speaking terms. The groom's double-breasted gray suit is doing its best, chosen at a moment when men of modest means treated the double-breast as the dignified alternative to a rented tuxedo they couldn't quite justify. She holds her bouquet with the careful grip of someone who has been told exactly where to put her hands. The whole altar arrangement — the candelabra, the ferns, the oil painting presiding from the wall above — was assembled according to a decorating logic that every church in America shared in the 1950s, as though a single wedding-supply catalogue had achieved total denominational market penetration. They have just legally become each other's problem, and neither of them looks entirely surprised.
Visually related — by likeness
American Protestant Church Wedding, 1950s — Bride and Groom at Candlelit Altar. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-7AB2C8. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/american-protestant-church-wedding-1950s-bride-and-groom-at-candlelit-altar.
@misc{aaAA20267AB2C8,
title = {American Protestant Church Wedding, 1950s — Bride and Groom at Candlelit Altar},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-7AB2C8},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/american-protestant-church-wedding-1950s-bride-and-groom-at-candlelit-altar}
}TY - ART TI - American Protestant Church Wedding, 1950s — Bride and Groom at Candlelit Altar PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-7AB2C8 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/american-protestant-church-wedding-1950s-bride-and-groom-at-candlelit-altar ER -
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