Several generations of one family are celebrating the wedding of a young sailor and his wife. Alexander Stanhope Forbes set the scene in a local inn, and used non-professional models.Forbes was the leader of a group of painters who settled in the Cornish fishing village of Newlyn. They were attracted by the quality of the Cornish light and the survival of traditional life there. This painting reflects many of the Newlyn School’s aims. It was sold to Henry Tate, and with the profits Forbes was able to marry the artist Elizabeth Armstrong.