Part 21 (1/2)
=Going in to Supper= is arranged as far as possible on the following lines, if precedence does not prevent its being carried out. The players at each table who are partners when supper is served go in together. The host leads the way with his partner, and all follow, the hostess and her partner going last.
=Cards should be left= within a week or ten days after a reception.
A married lady should leave one of her own and two of her husband's cards.
A widow should leave one of her own cards.
A bachelor or widower should leave two of his cards. (See Chapter III.)
CHAPTER XVI
WEDDINGS AND WEDDING LUNCHEONS
=Afternoon Weddings= are invariably solemnised at 2.30 o'clock. Only very quiet weddings take place in the morning hours. Formerly, it was only the few who were in a position to obtain special licences who could have afternoon weddings.
=Marriage by ”Banns”= is greatly in favour in general society. The banns must be published three consecutive weeks previous to the marriage in the parish in which the bridegroom resides, and also in that in which the bride resides, and both should reside fifteen days in their respective parishes previous to the banns being published.
=Marriages by Licence.=--When a marriage is solemnised by licence the cost, with fees and stamps, amounts to 2. This should be obtained at the Faculty Office, or at the Vicar-General's Office, Doctors' Commons, and is available at any church in the parish where one of the parties has resided for fifteen days previous to the application being made for the licence, either in town or country.
When the licence is obtained in the country through a clerical surrogate the cost varies, according to the diocese, from 1 15_s._ to 2 12_s._ 6_d._
=Special Licences= can only be obtained from the Archbishop of Canterbury, after application at the Faculty Office, and an especial reason must be given for the application, and one that will meet with the Archbishop's approval.
The fees for a special marriage licence average 29 5_s._ 6_d._
=The Fees= to the officiating clergymen vary considerably, according to the position and means of the bridegroom, from 1 1_s._ to 5 5_s._, as the inclination of the bridegroom may dictate.
The fee to the verger is subject to a like variation, commencing at 2_s._ 6_d._
All fees relating to a marriage should be defrayed by the bridegroom, and paid by him, or by the best man on his behalf, in the vestry of the church, previous to the ceremony; immediately after it, or some days earlier.
=The Etiquette observed at Weddings= is invariably the same whether the wedding takes place in the morning or in the afternoon, or whether it is a grand wedding or a comparatively small one, whether the guests number two hundred or whether they number twenty.
=The Invitations= should be issued from three weeks to a fortnight before the wedding-day.
The wedding luncheon or wedding reception should be given by the parents of the bride or by her nearest relative, and the invitations should be issued in the names of both parents.
The invitations should be issued in notes printed in ink; they are now seldom printed in silver. The form should be as follows: ”Mr. and Mrs.
---- request the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. ----'s company at the marriage of their daughter Helen with Mr. John S----, at St. Peter's Church, Hanover Square, on Tuesday, May 8th, at 2.30 o'clock, and afterwards at ---- Square. R.S.V.P.”
If a stepdaughter, it should be ”at the marriage of Mrs. A----'s daughter Helen B----.”