Womanless Weddings Were Trendy in the 1930s & 1940s

The sham nuptials often raised money for churches, charitable causes or civic organizations. They usually featured men in gowns and dresses playing the roles of everyone in a wedding party — including bridesmaids, flower girls and the mother of the bride — at the comic events. Brides sometimes had beards or moustaches; flower girls were portrayed by grown men.

"Participants dressed as women — and even some dressed as men — took liberty to 'ham it up,' kissing audience members of both genders, flashing garter belts, adjusting whatever passed as breasts and, in general, just being naughty," North Carolina State University historian Craig Thompson Friend in his 2009 book Southern Masculinity.

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