Exploring the curious folklore and fashions of weddings through Ryedale's history

There could be something old, something new, something borrowed or blue, and with a sixpence in your shoe for prosperity and luck. Or in Ryedale, as one custom suggests, a tie on the church gate which stays locked until the happy couple can part with some pennies.

Claire Midgley is searching for stories, fashions, and the customs of those who have lived here. There may be forgotten boxes, filled with flowers or lace, that can feature in an exhibition to open at Easter.

"We are appealing for people in our community to tell us their stories of weddings, and their family stories," she said. "It's about going back and connecting the dots. Who wore this dress? When, where was it made? They are all so different.

"Weddings are a part of how families are connected," she added. "You start to realise that, if you've ever found a box in the loft, perfectly preserved with a wedding dress or a flower and a little bit of tissue. It evokes so many memories."

The museum, which secured its own license in lockdown, has since hosted 20 weddings. In sharing each day, curators were inspired to delve deeper. They are now searching for stories, dresses, or traditions such as tin cans on a wedding car.

Ms Midgley said that in Ryedale brides would often be presented with a small cake, to take a bite and then throw the rest over their heads. In doing so, custom dictates, the bride secures a future for her marriage whereby she and her husband would always have enough, with something to spare.

There are dresses from the museum's own archives, and more submitted. Volunteers, meanwhile, are scouring ancestry sites to find any "missing details". Ms Midgley has been collecting oral histories, visiting people to hear their stories.

One dress is in the palest shade of green, hand embroidered in Art-Nouveau style by the bride's own hand for her wedding. Annie Newton, a housemaid in Glaisdale, would have been skilled in needlework. Aged 30 when she married in 1919, the dress was donated to the museum after her death in 1972 – and saved from a dog’s bed lining.

Then there are the dresses of Mary Skilbeck with sister Mabel as bridesmaid, from The White Horse at Beadlam, where father Edmund was licensee in the 1930s. Both will be on display with matching straw hats, including Mary's silk dress in shades of beige, orange and green. For while white wedding dresses may now be popular, many in the collection are in colour, and there is also one in a dark purple.

"It's all about trying to capture the essence of people's wedding days,” said Ms Midgley.

People can contribute through the museum's website by January 20, for the exhibition that opens at Easter and will run through 2023.