The church selected for the wedding is usually the one which the bride and her family attend. If this is not large enough to hold the guests, another belonging to the same denomination is sometimes preferred. If the groom lives in the same town as the bride, he calls upon the clergyman and secures his services for the time when the ceremony is to be performed. If the fiancé lives at a distance, it may be more convenient to have the arrangement made by the bride’s family. In either event the groom pays the clergyman’s fee. This varies in amount with the former’s means and with the scale on which the whole affair is conducted. Since the question is left to his honor as a gentleman, he should surely reimburse the minister in a manner suited to his own dignity and to that of the occasion. It is in the worst possible taste to lavish money on decorating the sacred office in a resplendent manner and then repay its hospitality by handing its official head a small and wholly inadequate sum. For a large and handsome wedding the organist receives twenty-five dollars and the clergyman should be given fifty dollars. If the bridegroom is a rich man, he sometimes doubles this sum. For a small and quiet wedding, the fee would vary from ten to twenty-five dollars. Five dollars is said to be the minimum. The fee is inclosed in an envelope and handed to the best man. It may consist of gold, new bank-bills, or a check. The last-named has obvious advantages, for an absent-minded best man sometimes forgets to give the missive to the clergyman. Gold pieces are often preferred, however, since the old English custom prescribed that the groom should lay these and the wedding-ring on the open prayer-book held by the clergyman. The bridegroom also pays for the ring. If the wedding is to take place at church, he provides the conveyance which will take him and the best man there, bringing the latter to the bride’s house for the reception or breakfast. Should the weather be bad or the distance so great as to call for carriages for the ushers, he provides these also, as well as the carriage in which he and the bride start on their honeymoon trip. He has no other expenses connected with the wedding, except the bouquets, souvenirs, etc., spoken of elsewhere.
Knowledge
Good Form for All Occasions — Part 49
2026-11-16 04:46:37 · The Daily Ledger
Tags
WorldBusinessTechnologyScienceHealthCultureTravelSportsPoliticsEnvironmentEducationOpinion