Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Though I almost forgot what day it was, since I am trying to finish a book due (gulp!) next Monday, and I have a cold.  But I also have some happy news!  Yesterday we saw Risky Diane’s Regency wedding gown, and I am currently planning a wedding of my own.  The gown I picked isn’t particularly Regency-esque, but since we are thinking of a smallish wedding at my parents’ house, the wedding itself might be….

In the Regency, marriage itself was, of course, a Big Deal (especially for the bride!), the wedding wasn’t.  There were no wedding planners or Vera Wang salons, no Wedding Industry to tell you if you don’t have ice swans and 3 cakes you are doing it wrong.  Most weddings were small, private, family affairs, taking place in the parish church of one or both of the parties, before noon, after the reading of the banns.  (Hence the “wedding breakfast,” where there would probably be some kind of cake, and which could actually go on all day if everyone was so inclined…)

“I publish the Banns of marriage between [Groom’s Name] of [his local parish] and [Bride’s Name] of [her local parish]. If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in Holy matrimony, ye are to declare it. This is the first [second, third] time of asking.”

There were some white wedding gowns, of course, since white was all the rage for young ladies, and most brides wore their best gowns (or bought a new gown, which then became their best), but it wasn’t the most common color.  We can thank Queen Victoria for that.  There might be a small veil, or a nice bonnet (perhaps with a veil attached), or a wreath of flowers, a small bouquet, maybe an attendant or two.  There might or might not have been an engagement ring, probably not diamonds.

There were exceptions to this, of course.  Princess Charlotte had a rather more splashy affair when she married Prince Leopold, and it was the subject of much interest at the time.  Some people eloped to Gretna Green in Scotland, where the laws were more lenient.

Her dress was silver lama [lamé] on net, over a silver tissue slip, embroidered at the bottom with silver lama in shells and flowers. Body and sleeves to correspond, elegantly trimmed with point Brussels lace. The manteau was of silver tissue lined with white satin, with a border of embroidery to answer that on the dress, and fastened in front with a splendid diamond ornament. Such was the bridal dress … (from La Belle Assemblee, of the royal wedding gown)

A Common or Ordinary License could be obtained for about 10 shillings from any bishop or archbishop, which would allow the marriage to go forward without calling the banns.  All other requirements were in place, though (parish church, before noon, etc).  A Special License, so common in romance novels, were expensive (4 or 5 pounds approximately), and had to be obtained from the Archbishop of Canterbury, but it would allow the wedding at any time or place convenient.

Here is a look at my own ring!  (He knows what a big Princess Di/Duchess of Cambridge fan I am…)

 

 

 

 

 

And one of the dresses I tried on!  (though this is not THE dress…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What was your own wedding like??  How would you plan a Regency wedding?

This week I am so excited we have a brand-new guest blogger here at Risky Regencies!!!  We love all kinds of time periods, and today we’re taking a look at the 1950s, courtesy of my good friend Alice Dean!  (Who is also working on an exciting new 1920s project with me…stay tuned for more!)  Leave a comment to win one of her backlist, any title of your choice….

Although I was born a few years after Elvis Presley burst upon the music scene, I have been a fan my entire life. I don’t remember first discovering Elvis, it just seems that he’s always been a part of my life. I’ve also always wanted to be a writer. I wrote my first romance when I was eleven years old, and the title was “Just Pretend” after an Elvis song. My hero’s name was Lonnie (Elvis’ character’s name in the movie, Tickle Me), and I actually described him in the story as looking like Elvis. 

I’ve more or less carried on with the Elvis theme, somewhat, in my stories, but hopefully, my writing has improved.  Nearly every one of my published novels and short stories mention Elvis, but in an upcoming story, he’s more of a focus than usual. My Vintage Historical Romance, End of Lonely Street (a phrase from the song, “Heartbreak Hotel”) releases from The Wild Rose Press on January 7, 2015, the day before what would have been Elvis’ eightieth birthday. (Can you imagine an eighty-year-old Elvis??? I can’t).

The story is set in November,1957, and I’m not sure how the story idea occurred to me, but as soon as the era was in place, I knew my heroine would be an Elvis fan. It’s funny that, while the time period wasn’t terribly long ago, I still had to do a bit of research. Such as…

• What clothing was popular in 1957 for a college-aged young woman? For young men? (I learned that poodle skirts were for younger teens, and leather jackets and Fonzie-type guys were really more of a cliché, an image of the 50’s rather than a common occurrence.)

• My heroine is going to school to be a teacher, and my hero recently got out of the military and became a deputy in the small town where the story is set, so, I had to find out what the requirements were for both of those positions in the late 1950’s.

• I had to be sure I used the proper terminology for the time period without overdoing it and without my characters sounding juvenile.

• In the story, my heroine is coordinating a fund-raising dance, and at first, I was going to have them sell tickets for $2.00 apiece. Then, I heard a caller on Elvis Radio who said he paid $1.50 for an Elvis concert in 1956, so $2.00 for a dance seemed a little steep.

• What Elvis songs had been released by November of 1957? Did the world yet know that he would be drafted into the Army the following year? (It was announced in December, 1957, so I didn’t mention it in my story)

• My heroine was reading a book, and I had to find one that was out during that time. I chose End of the Affair (Which I purchased a print copy of, and I plan to read).

• Also, I have a character in the story who is suffering from heart problems, so I researched what heart diseases they’d discovered at that time, and what treatments/surgeries were available.

I’ll have to say, the research was fun, as was writing the story. I’ve shared the cover and blurb below.

AND…we are holding a drawing where one winner will receive a free ebook copy once the book is released, plus their choice of any of my available titles (Currently, all of my short stories and novels are contemporary, I’m afraid.  You can find a list here)

Be sure to leave your email address in the comments!

Blurb:

All Toby Lawson wants is to go to college to become a teacher and to be free of her alcoholic mother and some painful memories. But when her mother nearly burns the house down, Toby must put her dreams on hold and return home to care for her. The only time she isn’t lonely and miserable is when she’s listening to her heartthrob, Elvis Presley. His music takes her away and helps her escape from everything wrong in her life.

Noah Rivers has always loved Toby, but no matter what he says, she can‘t get past the fact that her drunken mother once kissed him. He soon realizes the true problem lies in Toby’s belief she’s not good enough for him and in her fear she will be just like her mother.

What will it take to prove to her that she deserves to be happy, and that he would give anything to be the man to make her dreams come true?

About Alicia:

Alicia Dean lives in Edmond, Oklahoma and is the mother of three grown children. Alicia loves creating spine-chilling stories that keep readers on the edge of their seats. She writes paranormal and romantic suspense for several different publishers and was one of the launch authors for Amazon’s Kindle Worlds with two Vampire Diaries stories and one Gossip Girl story.

She’s a huge Elvis Presley fan, and loves MLB and the NFL. If you look closely, you’ll see a reference to one or all three in pretty much everything she writes. If she could, she would divide all her time between writing, watching her favorite television shows-such as Dexter (reruns, now that it has ended), Vampire Diaries, Justified, and True Blood-and reading her favorite authors…Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Lisa Gardner to name a few.

Find her here:

Email: AliciaMDean@aol.com

Website: http://aliciadean.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alicia-Dean/131939826889437?ref=br_tf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alicia_Dean_

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Like Diane, i just got hit with some last-minute copy edits (though I will not be in England soon!  Waaah!).  So–let’s look at some pretty.  A court gown and train from the French court.  These are so intricate and sumptuous (though a bit heavy at the moment, considering it’s almost 100 degrees here…)

Happy week after Thanksgiving, everyone!  I hope you had a lovely holiday.  I turned in a WIP last Friday (yay!), and am taking a breath before diving into the next story tomorrow (which is a Christmas book, the next in my Elizabethan Mystery series–I think this is the first Christmast story I have ever written near the actual holiday.  Usually they seem to be due in July, and I have no snowy holiday feelings when it’s 94 degrees outside…).  In the meantime, I am taking a look back at my reading this year…

As usual, I seem to have spent most of my time reading research books, but I also came across some wonderful fiction, and also some new non-fiction!  What did you enjoy reading this year??

I always get so excited when there is a new Jude Morgan book on the shelf!  (I know Risky Janet is also a fan…)  This year it was The Secret Life of William Shakespeare, which did not disappoint.  (There wasn’t actually much “secret” about it, but the alternating POV between Will and his wife was very well done, and the atmosphere of Elizabethan England was wonderful)

IMO, the world definitely needs more ballet novels, and last summer I devoured Maggie Shipstead’s Astonish Me (which was over way too soon…)

Also, the world needs more novels about bookshops.  And secret manuscripts.  And lost love.  Like Charlie Lovett’s The Bookman’s Tale…

There were two non-fiction histories, both of which pointed out in stark terms that the real life of princesses is often far from storybook, but rather isolating, lonely, helpless, and sometimes even terrifying, even though these two sets of royal sisters were 100 years and several countries apart–A Royal Experiment by Janice Hadlow, about the family of George III (6 daughters, kept isolated at home, growing increasingly desperate and bitter) and The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport (4 sisters, kept isolated at home, dying untimely and horrifyingly violent deaths)

I love a good historical mystery, and I also love the history of the Gilded Age in America, so of course I devoured Alyssa Maxwell’s Murder at the Breakers (and can’t wait for the rest of the series…)

Historical romances are always saved as treats for vacation and/or time between deadlines (when I dangle them as “finish the book” carrots in front of myself!), so this weekend I am looking forward to diving into Risky Megan’s Duke’s Guide to Correct Behavior!  (I also read two great new romances a few weeks ago, Meredith Duran’s Fool Me Twice, and Mary Balogh’s Only Enchanting, both of which had wonderful, realistic, heartbreaking characters…)

I’ve also been zooming my way through the DVDs of season two of the “Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries” (one of the few instances where I much prefer the movies to the books!).  The 1920s fashions, cars, cocktails, and Phryne Fisher’s shining bob and naughty jokes are so much fun!

And now i am off to start my reading list for 2015!!!

Hello everyone!  I feel like it’s been ages since I last popped in here at the Riskies, but it has been a long month.  Christmas, a surgery (which went well, and only meant one night in hospital, even though that one night was Christmas Eve!), and deadlines all over the place have been making me a wee bit crazy.  (But I am excited to say my next Amanda Carmack book, Murder in the Queen’s Garden, will be out in a couple of weeks!)

In the meantime, I am at work on the next Elizabethan mystery, Murder at Whitehall, which is set at Christmastime.  Christmas at the court of Elizabeth I was way more complicated than a holiday at my house (I am not feeding hundreds of people who insist on stuff like gilded peacock, for one thing).  But one of my Christmas gifts was a pink Kitchen Aid, which means I’ve been learning all sorts of fun recipes, including cookies, cake, and my own bread.  If I was making bread in the queen’s kitchen in 1560, though, the recipe might be something like this…

Take one Gallon of flowre, two pound of Currans, and one pound of butter or better, a quarter of a pound of sugar, a quarter of a pint of Rose-water, halfe an ounce of nutmeg, & half an ounce of Cinnamon, two egs, then warm cream, break the butter into the flower, temper all these with the creame, and put a quantity of yest amongst it, above a pint to three gallons, wet it very lide, cover your Cake, with a sheet doubled, when it comes hot out of the Oven; let it stand one hour and a half in the Oven.

I am definitely adding some rosewater next time!!!

What are some of your favorite bread recipes???