Marriages reported in newspapers

[IgorStrav]

Sorry!  erased, wrong marriage!

[Josephine]

Didn't people have to pay to have birth, marriage or death (BMD) notices published in their local newspaper (as they do now)?

In my experience, actual articles about marriages (with lists of guests and gifts) tended to feature the children of prominent citizens.

Karen -- if no one here is able to find a marriage notice for you, my suggestion would be to contact the local library, which might have indexes of BMDs as well as copies of the local newspaper on microfilm. For this type of (non-automated) search, though, it's better if you can supply them with an exact date, so you'd probably need to purchase the marriage record first.

Regards,
Josephine

[Top-of-the-hill]

  At the time I mentioned - 1930s- local papers had full reports of quite ordinary folks' weddings and funerals, as well as extensive reports of whist drives, socials and other meetings. Not sure if this would apply in West Ham, as my background is rural.

[Josephine]

Top-of-the-hill, I hope it didn't sound like I was suggesting you were wrong. I was just writing about my own experiences.

Regards,
Josephine

[Top-of-the-hill]

  That's OK - it's all any of us can do!

[Josephine]

 Thanks!

[ThrelfallYorky]

In the 1960s / 1970s, many local papers did not charge at all to publish reports and photographs of local marriages. Some did send a reporter to the event if people had paid for a formal marriage announcement, but my local paper, when we married, did not charge.

[Karen Durrant]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Much appreciated to hear your ideas.

[Fisherman]

My wife's grandparents married in March 1930. Their wedding, including photograph, was reported in the local paper. We still have the cutting.

Fisherman