MARKING THE SILVER
How should the silver be marked? is sometimes asked. Good form demands that if the donor wishes to have his gift marked, it must be engraved with the bride’s maiden initials. Some persons are so thoughtful that they send silver with the request that it be returned after the ceremony by the bride for marking as she sees fit. She then returns it to the firm from which it was bought,—said firm having received an order from the donor to engrave it according to the owner’s wishes.
Still, if silver must be given marked, it is safe to have the initials of the bride put upon it. Even should she die, good taste and conventionality would forbid the use of her silver by the second wife,—should there be one. While on this melancholy side of the subject it would be well to state that when a wife dies, leaving a child, and the husband remarries, her silver is packed away for the child’s use in future years. This is demanded by custom and conventionality. This rule is especially to be regarded if the child be a girl, as she then has a right to the mother’s silver, marked with that mother’s name.
ACKNOWLEDGING GIFTS
A wedding gift is accompanied by the donor’s card,—usually enclosed in a small card-envelope. As soon as possible, the bride-to-be writes a personal letter of thanks. This must be cordial, and in the first person, somewhat in this form:
“425 Cedar Terrace, Milton, Pa.
“My Dear Mrs. Hamilton:
“The beautiful picture sent by Mr. Hamilton and yourself has just arrived, and I hasten to thank you for your kind thought of me. The subject is one of which I am especially fond, and the picture will do much toward making attractive the walls of our little home. It will always serve to remind Mr. Allen and myself of you and Mr. Hamilton.