_Will be at home after the twentieth of November at Forty-four East Fiftieth Street, New York_
Or special reception days may be mentioned, as:
The cards and all the other expenses of the wedding, with a few exceptions mentioned elsewhere, are paid for by the bride’s family.
A home wedding is of necessity a simpler affair than one celebrated at church. According to the good old custom, the clergyman came in first, a place being arranged for him at the head of the room facing the company. The bride and groom then entered arm-in-arm, taking up their position in front of the minister. At the conclusion of the ceremony the latter withdrew to one side and the newly married couple took his place, turning around to receive the congratulations of relatives and friends, those nearest and dearest greeting them first. It has been found convenient, however, to mark off with white ribbon an aisle down which the bride and groom pass. Young girls may hold the four ends, or these may be fastened. The cortège is sometimes a miniature copy of that seen in the church ceremonial. Thus the ushers may lead the procession, a bridesmaid or two entering next, the bride leaning on her father’s arm following them. With this arrangement the groom and best man enter a little beforehand, standing at the left of the clergyman. If the giving away of the bride is to be omitted, the procession may consist of the ushers, the best man, a bridesmaid, and the bride and groom, entering in the order named. There are often no bridesmaids at a house wedding.
The old marriage ceremony is so beautiful, so hallowed by tradition and sentiment, that we are inclined to cling to it, although some of its features are archaic remains of an older civilization. Now that so many women are independent citizens, earning their own living and, in many countries of Europe, as well as in ten States of our Union, voting and holding public office, it seems incongruous to have them “given away in marriage.” Even in conservative England the question of dropping the word “obey” from the service is now being agitated by no lesser personages than the bishops of the Established Church! We read that one of these dignitaries withdrew his motion to this effect because he saw that the ecclesiastical body was not yet ready to pass it.