Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) a police station cell.

1872		J.D. McCabe Lights & Shadows 180: Attached to the Station House [...] is the prison [...] It contains fifty-two cells [...] Four of these [...] are somewhat larger than the others, and are humorously called by the force ‘Bridal chambers’.
1889		Great Falls Trib. (MT) 26 Jan. 1/4: The prisoner [...] was well received at the jail [...] in the cell in the place reserved for him. It is called the bridal chamber, being the cell set apart for female prisoners. In this cage [he] will remain under death watch.
1909		Dly Capital Jrnl (Salem, OR) 16 Aug. 5/4: The officer then locked Arstell up in what is called the ‘bridal chamber’, a cell in the west end of the row.
1936		(ref. to 1920s) L. Duncan Over the Wall 28: A dick nabbed me with some swag, collared me, took me to the can, booked me, and slammed me in the bridal chamber.

2. (US tramp) a very cheap lodging house.

1913		Day Book (Chicago) 10 Dec. 4/2: Whenever more men apply for lodging than the ‘Municipal’ can possibly jam in, the overflow is sent to the Palace Hotel, run by the Salvation Army [...] When you get there you’re put in the ‘Bridal Chamber’, which is another name for a concrete floor .
1930		‘Dean Stiff’ Milk and Honey Route 200: Bridal chamber – Flop house where the guests lie on the floor.
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 17: Bridal-chamber – a flophouse where the guests sleep on the floor.