Notes About Weddings.
When a honeymoon follows, the old customs are still maintained. The father, mother and intimate friends kiss the bride, and, as the happy pair drive off, a shower of satin slippers and rice follows them. If one slipper alights on the top of the carriage, luck is assured to them forever.
Many brides nowadays prefer to be married in traveling dress and hat, and leave immediately without congratulations.
Wedding-cake is no longer sent about. It is neatly packed in boxes; each guest takes one, if she likes, on leaving the house.
Wedding-favors of white ribbon and artificial flowers are used in England, but not to any great extent in America. Here the groom wears a boutonnière of natural flowers.
A widow should never be accompanied by bridesmaids, or wear a veil or orange-blossoms. She should wear a colored silk and a bonnet, and be attended by her father, brother or some near friend. It is proper for her to remove her first wedding-ring, as the wearing of that cannot but be painful to the bridegroom. If married at home, she may wear a light silk and be bonnetless.
It is an exploded idea that of allowing every one to kiss the bride. Only near relatives have this privilege.
Wedding tours are no longer considered obligatory nor is the seclusion of the honeymoon demanded by fashionable society.