Moore Children's Edwardian-Era Weddings Reflect High Society and Celebration of Family

By Melinda Narro
Fort Bend Museum Intern

Many years before brides-to-be could scour Pinterest for wedding inspiration or announce their nuptials via social media, newspapers helped meet both purposes.

Moore family marriages landed in the society pages of papers like The Houston Post, The Galveston Daily News and The San Antonio Star, with reporters taking pains to capture even minute details of dress and décor. All of Congressman John Moore’s five offspring wed within a space of 11 years, starting with firstborn son Raymond in 1905 and concluding with youngest daughter Etta May in 1916. Descriptions of the Moore children’s "big days” offer a glimpse into the kind of stylish weddings a wealthy young couple may have aspired to in the early 1900s.

A 1903 wedding article in the Dry Goods Reporter gives advice on color schemes, the bride's bouquet and the going-away gown: “A ‘going-away’ gown which is absolutely correct in every detail is shown in these pages. Aside from its being particularly modish, it has the added charm of being comfortable for summer travel.”

​One major focus in coverage of the Moore weddings is their use of a unifying color scheme. Raymond’s marriage to Mary Dee Lum featured a then-popular green and white theme that extended from decorations at the Methodist church to the bridesmaids’ dresses of pale green silk. Even refreshments at their reception followed the pattern, with guests enjoying white, heart-shaped cakes served atop green ferns on white china. John Jr. and Etta May stuck with this elegant palette for their own ceremonies, but both added pops of pink through food, the bridal party’s attire, and floral elements. (The Houston Post was especially smitten with Etta May’s artful arrangements of dainty green vines, pink Kilarney roses and white Easter lilies--among other beautiful botanicals.)
           
Much like the green and white motif, highly elaborate white bridal gowns appear repeatedly at Moore weddings. The different components Etta May’s dress read like an inventory for a luxury fabric shop, including two varieties of white satin, royal velvet, Venetian and Chantilly lace, cloth of silver, and embroidered accents of crystal and pearls. Mary Lum and Dorothea Guenther, John Jr.’s wife, introduce muslin, chiffon, and crepe de chine to the mix of materials, not to mention diamonds in the form of a starburst pin Mary used to secure her veil. For her part, Etta May donned a veil of French tulle, while Dorothea opted for one of lace swept into a demure Juliet cap; Ivy Moore’s long veil cascaded, fittingly, from a wreath of flowers perched in her dark hair. In an echo of Queen Victoria’s much-celebrated 1840 marriage, which had helped standardize white as the fashionable hue for bridal garments, Dorothea and Etta May’s ensembles both incorporated orange blossoms, a symbol of fertility.

​For all their gossip-worthy glamour, these extravagant affairs also illustrate how tightly knit the Moore clan remained even as it expanded. Ivy shared a group bridal shower with brother John Foster Dyer’s fiancée, Lida Lum Davis, and performed the song “All Because I Love You” at their wedding; she later served as matron of honor at Etta May’s ceremony, where J.F.D. and Lida pitched in by greeting and directing guests and Dorothea took charge of dishing out dessert. In the end—and color-coordinated cakes aside—Moore weddings boiled down to a simple celebration of family old and new.