Biltmore Exhibition: Wedding Gowns in Film

 February 12-July 4, 2016:

 After the big success of the Dressing Downton costume exhibit in early 2015, Biltmore debuts another spectacular exhibition “Fashionable Romance: Wedding Gowns in Film,” featuring 40 wedding gowns and groom’s attire from major motion pictures. Biltmore has been a location for countless weddings and romantic getaways since George and Edith Vanderbilt married in 1898. Journey through 300 years of wedding fashion from films set in the years 1645 to 1935.

In addition to the big screen costumes on display inside the house, Biltmore will share mementos from Vanderbilt and Cecil family weddings and special occasions in a new exhibit at The Biltmore Legacy in Antler Hill Village. Be the first to see the painstaking recreation of the wedding gown worn by Cornelia Vanderbilt in 1924

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Also, don’t miss the first-ever display of the wedding veil worn by Mary Lee Ryan Cecil and her cousin Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy. In the photo above: Senator John and Jacqueline on the lawn at Hammersmith Farm on their wedding day September 12, 1953, in Newport, Rhode Island. Photo by Toni Frissell. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

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The exhibition continues in at the Legacy building in Antler Hill Village (adjacent to the Winery) with stories that cover 60 years of Vanderbilt and Cecil Family weddings at Biltmore. See the Lee family veil worn by Mary Lee Ryan for her marriage to George Vanderbilt’s grandson, William A.V. Cecil, and also by her first cousin Jacqueline Lee Bouvier for her marriage to future U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Plus, the Oscar-winning designer John Bright in London recreated the wedding gown worn by Cornelia Vanderbilt in her marriage to John Cecil in 1924  just for this exhibit. Also on display will be Mary Cecil’s wedding gown, a classic example of 1950s fashion with a tiny waist, bell-shaped skirt, and satin bows.

For the rest of the February Newsletter click here….