A Country Affair (1950’s)

For time and money the typical American spends on a wedding, Vermont Lifemagazine doesn’t write on the topic very much.  During the entire run of the magazine, there are only three articles solely dedicated to weddings.  Two of the articles occur during the 1950’s.  During this time, white weddings were the dominant image of weddings in America. Vermont Life portrays Vermont weddings as an alternative to the white wedding.  Both articles are centered around simple country weddings.  Vermont Life often tries to position Vermont as an alternative to the materialistic American lifestyle, characteristic of the post-war era.

Vermont Life’s first depiction of a wedding appeared in the Fall Issue from 1951.  The article spends a significant amount of time outlining the “Vermont” aspects of the wedding.  Community members all came together to put on the ceremony, the ceremony was held outside in the warm days of summer, and flowers were grown by family friends were all highlighted in the article.  The wedding was touted as a simple and classy affair.  The bride states in the article that she and her groom wanted “just a simple little wedding”.  The mother of the bride also notes that the process of planning the wedding was less stressful than she first thought it would be.  The pictures of the wedding convey that they were successful in this endeavor.  Although the majority of the article is dedicated to the ways in which this wedding deviates from norms, there are still components of a white wedding. This Vermont wedding does not serve as a complete antithesis of a white wedding, rather it is a simplification of America’s created tropes.  You can see in the picture above that the bride wore a lovely white dress and had bridesmaids but does not have a gaudy dress or an enormous wedding party.  The affair is recognizable as a wedding but does not go to the extreme standard that was becoming commonplace at the time.

The article from the Fall 1957 issue presents similar themes as the 1951 wedding.  This article is also entitled “A Country Wedding”.  The main difference between the two articles is that the 1957 article depicts the weddings through photojournalism.  Like the other country wedding, the entire town is involved in the preparations for this one.  For instance, the ladies of the church all pitch in to help make food and decorate the church hall.  These aspects signify the simplicity of the wedding, which serves as an alternative to the typical white weddings of 1950 America.  Once again, this affair is still recognizably a wedding.  Common aspects of the white wedding make an appearance: the beautiful dress, a towering cake, a bouquet.  However, there are deviations from the classic white wedding, like the entire town working together to put the wedding on.  Vermont Lifeused this wedding to construct Vermont as an imagined community.  Viewers are supposed to perceive Vermont as an escapist perspective.  Vermont should be seen as a way to escape the fast and material lifestyles of cities.  This article instills in readers that simplicity is beauty, and an integral part of the Vermont way.

Both of the 1950’s articles on wedding construct Vermont as an alternative to modern lifestyles.  The magazine does not make an attempt to sell weddings to the viewer during the 1950s. Commoditization of love and weddings would not have fit the constructed Vermont community the magazine attempted to create. These two articles help develop the imagined community of Vermont as created by Vermont Life.