Black and white full-page illustration of the marriage of Charles S. Stratton to Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump on February 10, 1863. The ceremony took place at Grace Church on Broadway in New York City. The print appeared in the February 21, 1863, issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Stratton was better known by his stage name, "Gen.Tom Thumb," and his bride as "Lavinia Warren" and "The Queen of Beauty." From the age of 5 Stratton became a celebrity performer employed by P. T. Barnum. His marriage to Warren, also a little person performer, was a highly promoted and celebrated event orchestrated by Barnum. Since the four members of the wedding party were all little people, it was dubbed "The Fairy Wedding." The cathedral setting in the illustration creates a striking contrast with the small stature of the couple at the alter, making their vows. The view, from the back of the altar, shows four clergymen including the minister who officiated at the wedding; the bridal party (consisting of groomsman George Washington Morrison Nutt, Stratton, Warren, and Warren's younger sister, Minnie); and looks beyond the altar toward the the rows of pews filled with guests, and behind them, an enormous stained glass window. The arched "framing" of the picture echoes the architecture of the cathedral ceiling. The wedding took place only two months after the couple met and fell in love at Barnum's American Museum. Charles had just turned 25 years old, and Lavinia was 21 when they married. P. T. Barnum's promotion of the whirlwind "fairytale" romance culminated in a wedding and grand reception that was a major social event on a scale with modern celebrity weddings. Media coverage of the event even pushed the news of the American Civil War off the front pages for a short time. Merchandising items, especially photographs of the couple and prints of the wedding party as well as other novelties, were highly sought after by the public, who clamored for souvenirs of the joyful occasion. The couple remained devoted to one another and toured and performed throughout the country and around the world. Stratton died of a stroke at age 45, on July 15, 1883. Lavinia remarried in 1885, and died in 1919.
