Gifts at the second wedding will not be as elaborate as those at the first wedding. However, each gift must be acknowledged with a cordial note of thanks. In fact, all the etiquette of the first wedding is observed, except that it is on a much simpler scale.
As for the man who marries for the second time, he, too, follows the original dictates of wedding etiquette, and eliminates only the farewell bachelor dinner. Here also the ceremony and reception is on a considerably less extravagant style.
SEEKING ADVICE
The girl or woman who is about to be married can always get helpful suggestions from her friends who have been married or have witnessed fashionable weddings. The minister in charge is especially qualified to give you a great deal of important advice, and one should never hesitate to consult him. In his official capacity he has doubtless served at many weddings, many of them well-nigh perfect, some of them marred by the very blunders that he can teach you to avoid.
WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES
There is something strangely beautiful and poetic in the celebration of a wedding anniversary. It arouses slumbering sentiments and mellows old memories into a throbbing happiness. Here are the wedding anniversaries that are usually celebrated in our better society:
- The Paper Wedding—first year.
- The Wooden Wedding—fifth year.
- The Tin Wedding—tenth year.
- The Leather Wedding—twelfth year.
- The Crystal Wedding—fifteenth year.
- The China Wedding—twentieth year.
- The Silver Wedding—twenty-fifth year.
- The Ivory Wedding—thirtieth year.
- The Woolen Wedding—fortieth year.
- The Silk Wedding—forty-fifth year.
- The Golden Wedding—fiftieth year.
- The Diamond Wedding—seventy-fifth year.
Although many families celebrate all of these anniversaries, it is more generally the fashion to disregard all those that come before the quarter-century mark. The first anniversary to be celebrated is usually the silver wedding. The most favored way of doing this is to have a dinner party or a reception. Sometimes, especially when there are young unmarried daughters, a dance is given and a dinner follows later.
THE SILVER WEDDING
Cards for the silver wedding reception should be printed on white or silver-gray paper. They may be printed in silver or black. They may be worded in the usual "at home" form, or may be in this form: