Emma Jurk and Bernhard Joseph Schmidt, 1907—
Formerly associated with Texas Wends is the
German Lutheran custom of a black wedding dress.
The symbolic color was a reminder of the difficulties,
pain, and grief accepted as parts of marriage. In time
the custom changed. Wedding dresses became gray,
then white by the turn of the century. Marriage may
have become no easier, but later generations of women
did not want that reminder on their wedding day

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Last modified May 1999
© copyright 1999
The Institute of Texan Cultures