As every mother knows, her proudest moment is not that of her own wedding, but that when she watches her daughter being wed. This is the altar of her dreams. The mother of the bride symbolizes the continuance of tradition, the unity of the family, the onward flow of the race. She will dominate the hour before the ceremony, and she will continue to receive congratulations and good wishes as she presides over the festivity long after the bride and groom have slipped away.
The mother of the bride may therefore wear more elaborate and more colorful jewelry than the bride herself. The bride is adorned for the occasion, her mother is adorned for the guests. The mother may wear, then, important and imposing items: earclips, necklace, ring (not too many rings!), bracelet, and brooch. Equally she may choose among her jewels those that together show to best advantage, diamonds combined with rubies, sapphires, or what she will. Good taste will be her criterion; her desire, to make her daughter as proud as she is happy. There may perhaps also be the suggestion in her costume that, mother though she is, she still possesses freshness, vitality, and youth.
Even at the most formal wedding, however, the mother should not wear a tiara unless it is a treasured heirloom and thus a matter of family tradition.
What has been said of the mother of the bride holds as well—with a touch more of simplicity—for the mother of the groom.
The Wedding Guests
A late afternoon wedding in a church may be followed by a dinner in a hotel or hall or home, nearby; or the formal ceremony at night might be performed in the special room of the hotel at which the dinner is to take place. Usually the movement is directly from the ceremony to the celebration.
In Europe, when days were bright and frontiers uncurtained, there was frequently time allowed after the ceremony for dresses to be changed before the party. More decorative or elaborate gowns were put on, not infrequently picturesque local or national costumes—and livelier jewels. Sometimes this practice is allowed in the United States, especially when an afternoon wedding in June is held outdoors, on the lawn or in the garden.
Then the change should be into brighter colors. Each bridesmaid can again blossom in her own individuality. Gold gleams at the ears, around the neck. Heirlooms and other special pieces may add to one’s adornment. There is open field, now, in anticipation of the next wedding. There is no need to fear outshining the bride; she is already far away, in body and mind, with the man to whom she is giving her richest jewel.
The Newborn
A newborn child should not be presented with an important piece of jewelry, unless this has been specifically left for that occasion by the will of a wealthy grandfather or maiden great-aunt.