Photo: Vernon Museum

The June 12, 1913, wedding of Ellen Ellison and Arthur Sovereign, noted for its elaborate details and grand celebration in Vernon.

May often marks the beginning of wedding season, and in the early days of the Vernon News, matrimonial events were reported with notable care and charm.

In a smaller community where nearly every name was familiar, weddings were not just personal milestones — they were community affairs, described in vivid detail for readers near and far.

In April 1897, the wedding of G.A. Henderson and Violet Viddler was heralded as a major social event. G. A., described as the “deservedly popular” manager of the Bank of Montreal, married Violet, the daughter of Cpt. Albert Viddler.

The event was so celebrated that some called it the most noteworthy gathering in Vernon’s early history.

“All the beauty and fashion of Vernon and the surrounding districts turned out en masse,” the newspaper proclaimed. The church was decorated with wildflowers, and the bride wore an ivory satin gown embroidered with pearls, her head adorned with a wreath of orange blossoms and a bouquet of white blooms in hand.

With a modest population, even weddings that took place elsewhere were considered newsworthy if they involved Vernon residents. One such example is the 1894 marriage of Clara Dewdney and W.F. Cameron, which took place in Gleichen, NWT.

Clara, widow of Edgar Dewdney, the town’s first government official, married W. F., a local shopkeeper and Vernon’s first mayor.

Even weddings with only a tenuous connection to the region found a place in the columns of the Vernon News. On Dec. 26, 1912, Alfred Tennyson, formerly of Lavington and grandson of the poet laureate, married the Honourable Cicely Drummond, daughter of the Viscountess of Strathallan, in Westminster Abbey.

While the newspaper took care to highlight such notable weddings, it is worth noting that many unions, particularly Indigenous partnerships or multicultural celebrations, were seldom mentioned, reflecting the social perspectives and reporting priorities of the time. The stories preserved in these pages offer a glimpse into community life, though not a complete picture of its diversity.

Moreover, not every ceremony was described with fanfare. The 1915 marriage of William Mills of Sunnywold to Mrs. A. Rayment of Vernon was a quiet affair; only a few guests were in attendance following the unexpected passing of the bride’s father.

By contrast, a wedding of “particular beauty and interest” took place in June 1913, when Ellen Ellison, daughter of B.C. Minister of Finance and Agriculture Price Ellison, married Reverend Arthur Sovereign. The description was extensive, including the attire of the bridesmaids — one of whom wore a shepherdess costume, complete with a white picture hat and black velvet streamers. Even the wedding breakfast, attended by 300 guests, was detailed, right down to the mother of the bride’s straw hat “trimmed with a handsome plume at one side in tones of palest beaver.”

Whether grand or modest, local or far-flung, early wedding reports in the Vernon News reveal much about the values and social life of the time. These carefully recorded stories offer a glimpse into a past where community celebration and personal style were entwined—and where every detail, down to a plume on a hat, was worth preserving.

Gwyn Evans is the Head of Archives with the Museum and Archives of Vernon.