Dear otherwise fantastic historical fiction novel: on brides, white, and historical inaccuracies

[juushika]

Dear otherwise fantastic historical fiction novel,

You are set in the 1760s. Queen Victoria wore white on her wedding in 1840, popularizing the color for brides. Therefore I don't think you meant to say:

"Her veil was long," Mrs. Jones told her listeners, "and lace-edged like a bride's." It soothed her to think of it, she found.

"White?" asked the child, from Mrs. Ash's bony knee.

"What else would a bride wear?" Mrs. Jones smiled at her daughter.
—Slammerkin, Emma Donoghue (303)

Because the answer is something along the lines of:

Previously, brides wore their best clothes or the most expensive new clothes they could afford. Gold or gold-threaded dresses became popular with royal brides; the rank-and-file wore dresses that reflected their station. White was one of many choices, pastel shades were also popular.
—"White Wedding" from Wikipedia

Perhaps it wasn't quite so commonplace to Google every third term in 2000, when you were published—but your author is educated (and something of a feminist), and all the rest of your historical aspects have been utterly convincing! Maybe you didn't mean to imply that brides wore entirely white outfits—but you know, it came off that way. And it's a bit of a gaffe to stumble over the assumption that brides wear, and have "always" worn, white. Because, well, they didn't. (And the sooner we dispose of that assumption, the better—but I'll admit that's a personal gripe.)

Otherwise you're a joy, keep going as you've gone, &c,

juushika