Tsarevna Maria Fedorovna's Engagement Dress, 1866.
This stunning dress was worn by Princess Dagmar of Denmark (later Empress Maria Feodorovna) on the occasion of her engagement to Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich of Russia (later Tsar Alexander III).
During their betrothal, all the grand duchesses wore a dress, the style of which was invented by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for her eldest daughter Maria.
As the bride's younger sister, Olga, recalled, "the engagement was solemnly announced in the Hermitage Church. Maria was very pretty in her Russian formal dress: white tulle, embroidered with silver and sprinkled with roses, enveloped her. Mom designed her outfit herself. It was so beautiful that it has since become a tradition to wear it on all formal occasions."
The only dress of this style that has survived to this day was worn by the Danish Princess Dagmar, in Orthodoxy, Tsarevna Maria Feodorovna, at her betrothal to Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich in 1866. The dress was made in the workshop of the Frenchwoman Madame Watt, as it was written at the time, the St. Petersburg rival of Charles Worth. Indeed, the workshop, extremely famous in the 1860s and 1870s, accepted orders from members of the highest court and the Russian aristocracy.
The dress is made of tulle, embroidered with silver sequins of white faye. The train, bodice and sundress are decorated with silver braid, between which are small terry roses (orange shade), folding sleeves lined with marabou feathers, the cost of the entire toilet was 3,035 rubles - a huge amount at that time.
An imperial wedding had long been considered a public holiday, not a personal celebration, the Hermitage museum reminds.
Therefore, the ceremony was quite strictly regulated, the "set of rules" for marriage took shape by the beginning of the 19th century and then remained unchanged for a long time.
The wedding was traditionally preceded by an engagement and after the betrothal, the bride's family began to prepare the dowry. If representatives of noble families got engaged, the so-called marjage coats of arms were depicted together on the dowry items.
The bride's dress was usually white (either gold or ivory), and if the wedding was scheduled for the morning, the dress was supposed to be closed and with long sleeves, and a small neckline and short sleeves were considered appropriate for an evening wedding.
The groom would be wearing a tailcoat and a white vest. If the future husband was a military man, he was married in the dress uniform of his regiment. If particularly well-born aristocrats were married, the emperor could be present at the ceremony.
The Hermitage clarifies that the dowry of a high-born bride necessarily included the groom's nightgown and shoes made of silver brocade, which the spouse wore on their wedding night. Brides of imperial and grand ducal families were married in a ceremonial court dress made of silver eyes embroidered with silver threads.
In addition to the wedding itself, it is customary in Russia to celebrate wedding anniversaries. For example, Alexander III presented this silver watch to his wife on the 25th anniversary of their wedding in 1891. More details here.
