20 Vintage Celebrity Wedding Day Photos
The best Old Hollywood wedding photos from stars including Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor
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Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher at their weddingWhen it comes to glamour and romance, it's hard to beat Old Hollywood weddings — many of which benefited from the magic of studio costume and set designers. Vintage Hollywood was filled with elaborate nuptials between the likes of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher and, just a few years later, Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor. The details of each ceremony were as photogenic as the guests, from the venue to the cake to the gown.
Not all brides wore white and not all of their love stories lasted, but these bygone weddings live on as signs of the times and trends. Take a look back at some of Hollywood's classic couples and what it looked like when they walked down the aisle.
Julie Andrews and Tony Walton
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Julie Andrews weds Tony WaltonThe Mary Poppins star married her first husband, award-winning set designer Tony Walton, in 1959, when she was 23 years old. The wedding took place at St Mary's Oatlands Church in the English county of Surrey, where both the bride and groom were born.
According to Tatler, Walton – who died at age 87 in 2022 – designed Andrews' high-neck, long-sleeve gown and her Cartier wedding band. The two divorced a decade later, but remained good friends until the end.
Shirley Temple and John Agar
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Shirley Temple marries John AgarThe child superstar was only 17 when she donned a satin gown for her wedding to John Agar in 1945. Having served in the Navy, Agar wore his military uniform at their Hollywood ceremony at the Wilshire Methodist Church. (The marriage lasted four years.)
Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer
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Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer on their wedding dayIn 1954, Hepburn married Broadway and film star Mel Ferrer, whom she met just eight months before their wedding in Switzerland. She wore a tea-length gown with a high collar and billowy sleeves. The romantic dress was designed by Pierre Balmain, founder and namesake of the French fashion house.
Despite their whirlwind romance, Hepburn and Ferrer stayed married for 14 years, during which time they welcomed their son, Sean.
Josephine Baker and Jo Bouillon
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Josephine Baker weds Jo BouillonThe French-American entertainer married her fourth husband, composer Jo Bouillon, on her 41st birthday in 1947. Their ceremony was held at Baker's home, a castle in southwestern France called Château des Milandes. They remained together for 14 years before divorcing in 1961.
Angela Lansbury and Peter Shaw
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Angela Lansbury marries Peter ShawLansbury wore florals from head to toe at her 1949 wedding to second husband Peter Shaw, to whom she remained married until his death in 2003. The Murder, She Wrote actress – who died at age 96 in 2022 – matched her flowery headband to the pattern of her v-neck dress. Even their wedding cake was topped with a bouquet!
Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli
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Vincente Minnelli and Judy GarlandIn 1945, Garland married filmmaker Vincente Minnelli, the second of her five husbands. The glamorous Hollywood duo met on the set of their Oscar-nominated Christmas musical Meet Me in St. Louis and remained together until their 1951 divorce. Nearly a year after their wedding, Garland and Minnelli welcomed their daughter Liza Minnelli .
Elizabeth Taylor and Conrad Hilton Jr.
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Elizabeth TaylorIn 1950, an 18-year-old Taylor married Conrad Hilton Jr. (her first of eight weddings to seven different husbands, one of whom she wed twice). The actress wore a princess-style gown with a full veil at their Beverly Hills ceremony. According to Vogue, her pearl-encrusted dress was inspired by the one she wore in the film Father of the Bride. In 2013, the elaborate number was auctioned for just over $155,000, per The Independent.
Brigitte Bardot and Jacques Charrier
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Brigitte Bardot and Jacques CharrierBardot married her second husband, Jacques Charrier, in a gingham buttoned dress. She and Charrier, whom she met while they were costarring in the 1959 French flick Babette Goes to War, walked down the aisle in Louveciennes, France. Their summer ceremony took place just a few months before their film premiered in Europe that September.
Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher
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Debbie Reynolds and Eddie FisherThe Singing' in the Rain star looked lovely in lace at her 1955 wedding to Eddie Fisher. After their wedding in New York's Catskill Mountains, the two performers welcomed two kids, Todd and Carrie Fisher. Reynolds and Fisher remained married until 1959, when they split due to Fisher's extramarital affair with Elizabeth Taylor.
Diana Ross and Arne Naess
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Diana RossThe Supremes frontwoman wed her second husband, Norwegian businessman Arne Naess Jr., in 1986, one year after they met. Ross wowed at their Switzerland ceremony in a silky dress layered with intricate lace sleeves and a matching cape. They remained together until their divorce in 2000; Ross shares two of her five kids with Naess.
Raquel Welch and Patrick Curtis
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Raquel Welch and Patrick CurtisBefitting her bombshell status, Raquel Welch wore a crocheted minidress to marry Patrick Curtis at City Hall in Paris.
Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles
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Rita Hayworth and Orson WellesHayworth buttoned up in a chic suit for her wedding to Orson Welles in 1943. According to The Hollywood Reporter, their quick nuptials at the Santa Monica Courthouse took place during the actress' lunch break while she was starring in the musical Cover Girl.
Ginger Rogers and Lew Ayres
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Ginger Rogers and Lew AyresIn 1934, Rogers married fellow actor Lew Ayres, her second husband, at age 23. The Oscar-winning performer donned a hat to match her floor-length Chantilly lace gown.
Bette Davis and William Grant Sherry
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Bette Davis and William Grant SherryDavis and her third husband cut their decadent wedding cake in Riverside, California in 1945. The Oscar-winning star wore a checked dress suit and brimmed hat on the occasion.
Aretha Franklin and Glynn Turman
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Aretha FranklinThe singer's white outfit matched her second husband's hat and her son's white tuxedo at their wedding ceremony in Detroit. They were married in 1978 at Franklin's father's New Bethel Baptist Church.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono
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John Lennon and Yoko OnoLennon and Ono both wore white to get married in Gibraltar in 1969. The bride wore a mini skirt while her Beatle husband looked suave in a white blazer and turtleneck. According to Rolling Stone, Lennon smoked a cigarette during their short ceremony.
Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner
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Frank Sinatra and Ava GardnerSinatra and Gardner got hitched in November 1951 with a Philadelphia ceremony, marking his second and her third marriage. The movie star bride passed on classic white attire and wore a two-tone cocktail dress with a string of pearls around her neck.
James Dougherty and Marilyn Monroe
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James Dougherty and Marilyn MonroeBefore she became an international icon and sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe married her high school sweetheart, James Dougherty, just after her 16th birthday in 1942. The starlet-to-be was clad in a long-sleeve lacy number that matched her veil, her extravagant bouquet and her groom's white tux.
The duo stayed together for only four years before splitting in 1946 due to Dougherty's disapproval of her career trajectory.
Nancy Kwan and Peter Pock
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Nancy Kwan and Peter PockKwan looked darling in a cardigan and headband at her first wedding in 1962. The actress and her ski instructor paramour Peter Pock tied the knot in London and stayed together until 1968.
John Wayne and Josephine Saenz
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John Wayne and Josephine SaenzThe western film star married his first wife, Josephine Saenz, in 1933. Their floral-studded ceremony took place at Loretta Young's home in L.A. after she and Wayne costarred in the 1931 drama Three Girls Lost.
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