Womanless wedding

A womanless wedding is a traditional community ritual performance, popular in the United States in the early 19th century. In this comic ritual, males would act out all roles of a traditional wedding party – including those of bridesmaids, flower girls, and the mother of the bride – while dressed in gowns and dresses. The event often raised money for charities, civic organizations, and churches.

The performances were so popular that scripts were developed around the idea, and the do-it-yourself theatrical productions were passed along from city to city. Some of the stagings included impersonations of notable Americans, such as Henry Ford and Charlie Chaplin.

Womanless weddings began in the American South, but spread throughout the United States. Southern towns were already staging burlesque shows, and womanless weddings gave another opportunity to raise funds in the form of an admission fee. Womanless weddings traditionally raised funds for causes and organizations, such as a North Carolina womanless wedding which was attended by more than 1000 people to raise funds for the Parent Teacher Association.

...
Wikipedia