Spring means that wedding season is upon us and to celebrate that, a special wedding exhibit is being featured at Lincoln’s Hearthside House Museum. Over 140 years of wedding dresses are represented in the exhibit, spanning from the 1840s to the 1980s.  In the early years, brides simply wore their Sunday best, which eventually evolved into wearing white, made popular by Queen Victoria in the late 19th century and of course remains the choice of most brides today. The exhibit is displayed throughout two floors of the 200-year-old house and features over 20 dresses, mostly from the museum’s collections.

In addition to wedding attire, the origins of such wedding traditions such as throwing the bouquet, stealing the wedding shoes, serving Jordan almonds, wearing something blue, and other common, and not so common, traditions are explained on informational panels as part of the exhibit.  Visitors are invited enjoy the exhibits at their leisure while taking a self-guided tour the house and learning of its history from guides in period costume.