Always the Bridesmaid

Title: Brudkrona (Bridal Crown)
Material: Silver, Garnets, Pearls, Turquoise
Creator: Solve Hallquist
Year: 1952

The American Swedish History Museum has one bridal crown on display.  It was worn by the creator's wife, Margaret Hallquist, for the couple's wedding in 1952. Mrs. Hallquist gave her crown to the museum as a gift in 2002. It is on display along side the couple's wedding photo in a silver frame also designed by Solve Hallquist.

Bridal crowns have been work in Swedish weddings since the Middle Ages. They were a symbol of purity and virginity.  Similar bridal crowns were also worn in neighboring countries like Norway. The crowns were often made of precious metals and decorated with jewels, making them very expensive.  Wealthy families could afford to commission a crown, but peasant girls often rented the crown owned by the local church. If was very important that the bride be a virgin and deserving of the honor of wearing the crown, although in some instances if the bride offered a bribe or new gilding of the church crown, the priest would allow a pregnant bride to wear it. Brides that did not wear the crown were ridiculed.

Bridal crowns fell out of favor as other American and European wedding traditions were adopted in Sweden, such as wearing a white wedding dress (another symbol of purity) replaced the traditional black two-piece dress.  Visitors may be interested to learn that there has a been a resurgence of the bridal crown tradition in Swedish American weddings as bride wish to make their wedding unique or include aspects of the family's Swedish heritage in their ceremonies. Today, bridal crowns can still be rented for use on the special day.

Some visitors may be opposed to the crown as sexist, but I think that era has past. Other may think it would be more appropriate for the museum to display an older crown, rather than a modern interpretation from the 20th century, but that would be difficult for the museum to acquire.


I could not find any information about facility rentals at the museum, but given its space and onsite kitchen, it would be easy for the museum to host weddings.  Brides holding the ceremony at the museum could even rent the crown for use, but that may also cause problems for the museum given the value of the object and that fact that it was a gift.