Gilded Age Brides Want No Kiss

Is it possible that many Gilded Age brides and Dollar Princesses were married off into unions they did not actually desire, which left them not wanting to be kissed? Or was there a genuine wish to keep their kisses private due to a Victorian prudishness?— The most well-known of the “Dollar Princesses,” Consuelo Vanderbilt became the Duchess of Marlborough when she married the Duke of Marlborough in 1895. She was said to have cried unhappily throughout the wedding ceremony.

Kissing Not in Fashion for Wedding Ceremonies 

Kissing the bride at a wedding is no longer fashionable, so the clergyman who officiates at society weddings in future will miss the labial perquisite. Indeed, kissing in public is no longer permissible in good society, and a reserved and refined womanhood has been long in rebellion against this usage without having abolished it until quite recently. This public may be her own invited and welcomed guests, but all tho same she objects to being kissed in their presence, and very properly. Indeed, few brides are willing to have their veils raised and thrown backward until they have left the church. This also is in excellent taste. —Social Etiquette in The Banner, 1888

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