GIFTS TO BRIDESMAIDS
It is customary for the bride to give her bridesmaids some little gift. This may be a stick-pin or brooch bearing the intertwined initials of the bridal pair. This pin is usually worn by the recipient at the wedding.
The bride and the bridegroom with the bridesmaids stand together at the end of the drawing-room to receive the guests. An usher meets each guest at his, or her arrival, and offering his arm, escorts the newcomer to the bridal pair, asking for the name as he does so. This name he repeats distinctly on reaching the bride, who extends her hand in greeting, and receives congratulations. The bridegroom is then congratulated, and the guest straightway makes room for the next comer.
One is often asked what should be said to the newly-married pair,—what form congratulations should take, and so on. Stilted phrases are at all times to be avoided, and the greeting should be as simple and straightforward as possible. It is good form to wish the bride happiness, while the bridegroom is congratulated. Thus one says to the bride, “I hope you will be very happy,—and I am sure you will.” And to the bridegroom one may say,—“You do not need to be told how much you are to be congratulated, for you know it already. Still I do want to say that I congratulate you from my heart.”
A pretty custom followed by some brides is that of turning, when half-way up the stairs, after the reception or breakfast is over, untying the ribbon fastening the bouquet together, and scattering the flowers thus released among the men waiting in the hall below. This disposes of the wedding bouquet which one has not the heart to throw away, and yet which one can not keep satisfactorily.
DISPLAYING GIFTS
If gifts are displayed at a reception, it should be in an upper room, and all cards should be removed. The bride may keep a list of her presents and of the donors, but to display cards gives an opportunity for invidious comparisons. More and more the custom of showing gifts, except to intimate friends in private, is going out.