Bride's trousseau

“ The ushers are generally recruited from the
friends of the groom rather than those of the bride, but if she has a
grown brother he is always asked to act in this capacity. Ushers, like
bridesmaids, are chosen among the unmarried friends of the young couple,
although a matron of honor is often included in the bridal party.
The Bride's Trousseau.
The bride's trousseau should be finished well before the fortnight
preceding the wedding. Fashions change so quickly now that it is rarely
advisable for a bride to provide gowns for more than a season ahead. ”

“ No money is given to the bride’s father by the bridegroom, nor does the daughter receive a dowry, but she is supplied with a large trousseau, which is packed in handsome marriage chests with brass clamps and decorations. There is no betrothal ceremony, and after the arrangement has been made the marriage may be delayed for weeks or even months. ”

“ It is gratifying to note that the trousseau of to-day does not contain such frilly, useless things as did the trousseaux of our grandmothers' time. Linens boast deep folds of the material and neat hemstitching instead of huge borders and inserts of lace. Underthings are made and bought with a regard for wear and utility, rather than merely to be pretty to look at. The entire outfit shows a tendency to be more useful and less ornamental. ”

“ Then, of course, there are the crisp, neat, becoming little frocks for the morning-at-home. But she should not make the mistake, which is all too common to brides, of getting several times as much as she needs.
Other details, such as hose, shoes and hats are best decided by the bride herself. In fact, the entire trousseau must be determined by the bride in proportion to such important considerations as her means, the length of the honeymoon, and the distance of the trip she expects to make. ”

“ Here we find the tiniest girls, some of them as young as five years, working on bridal finery—each one striving to outdo the other in beauty and elaboration of work. Each finished article is laid carefully away in a huge chest, until such time as a suitor appears. In days gone by, the bridegroom had the privilege of examining the trousseau and deciding whether or not it was complete, and often his choice rested upon the worth of the bride's outfit. ”

“ Mildred's--I remember hearing Vere speak of it last year--which would meet your wishes, I think, if Lady Peters and Madaline consent."
"I am sure they will consent," put in Lord Arleigh hopefully.
"There is another thing to be thought of," said the duchess--"a trousseau for the fair young bride."
"Yes, I know. She will have every fancy gratified after our marriage, but there will not be time for much preparations before it."
"Let me be fairy godmother," said the duchess. "In three weeks from to-day I engage to have such a trousseau as has rarely been seen. ”

“ Duff-Scott. She will be sure to want you in the evening. You need not take much, you know—just enough for a week or two. She will be only too delighted to look after your clothes while you are away, and"—with a smile—"we'll buy the trousseau in Paris on our way home. I am credibly informed that Paris is the proper place to go to for the trousseau of a lady of quality."
"Trousseaus are nonsense," said Elizabeth, who perfectly understood his motives for this proposition, "in these days of rapidly changing fashions, unless the bride cannot trust her husband to give her enough pocket money." ”

“ But we have forgotten to mention one circumstance, which, nevertheless, ought not to be omitted; it was, that in one of the rooms he crossed, the trousseau of the bride-elect was exposed to view; consisting of cases of diamonds, cashmere shawls, Valenciennes laces, English veils, and, in fact, all those tempting things, the bare mention of which makes the hearts of young girls bound with joy, and which is called the corbeille. ”

“ Both mamma and Mimotchka quite wore themselves out over the trousseau. The bridegroom hurried on the wedding, [Pg 79] and it was impossible to keep so highly respected a man waiting as if he were a mere boy! Besides, mamma had had too much worry with the first fiancé not to wish to strike while the iron was hot.
The chief things in the trousseau—the linen, furs, and silver—were already there. The princess's coronet only had to be taken off. But some of the dresses had to be altered, and some new ones made besides. ”

“ As it was she jumped at it, and, as a token of peace, let down her sleeve.
"I can provide my trousseau in two days. I will marry him the day he arrives, if he turns out to be all you have represented him. But if he does not—" And she again bared her arm, significantly, to the shoulder. ”

“ In our own civil-marriage ceremonies, where the dualism does not usually appear, the responses of the parties, the "Yes," "I do," or "I will," are nothing more than the survival of the ancient private betrothal, now recognized by law as the only essential parts of the nuptial ceremony; while the wedding ring is merely a duplicate of the betrothal or engagement ring, both being the survival of the arrha and, therefore, of the ancient purchase price of the bride. ”

“ Death is forgotten in her new bliss.
The bridegroom comes in, pale and unsmiling—worn and haggard beyond the power of words to tell. Trix, weeping incessantly, stands near, her mother and Mr. Darrell are at one side of the bed. Nellie is bridesmaid. What a strange, sad, solemn wedding it is! The clergyman takes out his book and begins—bride and bridegroom clasp hands, her radiant eyes never leave his face. Her faint replies flutter on her lips—there is an indescribable sadness in his. The ring is on her finger—at last she is what she should have been from the first—Charley's wife. ”

“ Wearing these, they enter the house, the bridegroom leading the bride. Their relations then exhort them to be constant to each other, and behave well towards them. A feast follows, and the night is spent in dancing and drinking. Next day, the bride’s parents are sent away with a present of a pair of cows or bulls as jholla tonka. The remarriage of widows is allowed, and a younger brother usually marries the widow of his elder brother. Divorce is permitted, and, when a husband separates from his wife, he gives her a new cloth and a bullock as compensation. A divorced woman may remarry. ”

“ Though of the highest and most vital importance, the bridegroom never seems quite so much to the fore as the bride. It is probably a mere matter of clothes. He is expected to have the ring in readiness, to provide a conveyance to take himself and the best man to the scene of the ceremony, and, above all, to be in good time, waiting in proud anticipation for the bride's arrival. ”

“ Grey is no longer the compulsory shade for a widow's wedding frock. Any light, delicate colour may be worn; but a woman has only one white wedding and one bridal veil in her life. The widow is not supposed to make a display over her wedding. An air of somewhat chastened joy is considered more suitable. Instead of bridesmaids she has one lady attendant who should be in her place in church before the bride arrives, and be ready to move to her side when required, to take the gloves and bouquet (which should not be composed of purely white flowers, nor is orange blossom permissible) . ”

“ It is customary for a widow to remove the engagement ring and wedding ring of her first husband before the day of her second wedding. The sight of them cannot be in any way pleasant to her new husband, and they may be a source of sorrowful memory to her. ”

“ There is food and drink for all. When the procession is formed the bride walks last, clad in a gorgeous costume which also may be hired. There are both bridesmaids and bride-leaders, the latter being married women who lend their moral support to the bride. The couple kneel in the church under a sort of canopy made out of shawls and scarves held up by the bridesmaids. After the ceremony an amount of eating, drinking, and dancing go on that we can hardly imagine. The bridegroom has a last sort of romp with his bachelor friends, and has to be wrested from them by the married men. ”

“ The bride was young and beautiful, the bridegroom stern and old,—
But the silken rein was hung with pearls, the housings bright with gold. ”

“ A bride's ornaments include only one gift of white jewelry, pearls
or diamonds, from her future husband, and the bouquet he presents her.
So many awkward moments have been occasioned in wedding ceremonies by
removing the glove that brides are dispensing with wearing gloves at
this time. The bride's appearance is by no means affected by this
custom, and the slipping of the ring on the third finger of the left
hand is made simpler and thereby more graceful. ”

“ "Well, what I mean is that I shouldn't mind being a bride at a wedding, if I could be one without having a husband. ”

“ The head-gear is a white kerchief, or square veil, lightly placed upon the elaborately-plaited tresses, and the ends falling loosely upon the shoulders, which are, as usual, so studiously covered as to afford but a glimpse of the comely rounded throat, whose dark, clear skin sets off the rows of pearls by which it is encircled. At the church they are met by the bridegroom, with his friends and relatives; and after the religious ceremony and nuptial benediction, the whole party adjourn to the bride's new residence, where the wedding-feast is held. ”

“ I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. ”

“ It was a very proper wedding. The bride was elegantly dressed—the two bridemaids were duly inferior—her father gave her away—her mother stood with salts in her hand expecting to be agitated—her aunt tried to cry — and the service was impressively read by Dr. ”

“ She might come in to bride-bed: and he laughed,
As one that wist not well of wise love's craft,
And bade all bridal things be as she would.
Yet of his gentleness he gat not good;
For clothed and covered with the nuptial dark
Soft like a bride came Brangwain to King Mark,
And to the queen came Tristram; and the night
Fled, and ere danger of detective light
From the king sleeping Brangwain slid away,
And where had lain her handmaid Iseult lay.
And the king waking saw beside his head
That face yet passion-coloured, amorous red
From lips not his, and all that strange hair shed
Across the tissued pillows, fold on fold, ”

“ The bride wore a dress of that peculiar sort of calico known as "furniture prints," without trimming or ornaments of any kind. Whether it was cut "bias" or with "gores," I'm sorry to say I do not know, dress-making being as much of an occult science to me as divination. ”

“ A bride and bridegroom, surrounded by all the appliances of wealth, hurried through the day by the whirl of society, filling their solitary moments with hastily-snatched caresses, are prepared for their future life together as the novice is prepared for the cloister—by experiencing its utmost contrast. ”

“ As our dear Husband, in wooing His kirk, received many a black stroke, [61] so His bride, in wooing Him, gets many blows, and in this wooing there are strokes upon both sides. ”

“ Maud Muller looked and sighed: "Ah me!
That I the Judge's bride might be!
"He would dress me up in silks so fine,
And praise and toast me at his wine. ”

“ She says a wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth. ”

“ Separation never comes from His side. He is always ready for communion with a prepared heart, and in this happy communion the bride becomes ever fairer, and more like to her Lord. She is being progressively changed into His image, from one degree of glory to another, through the wondrous working of the Holy Spirit, until the Bridegroom can declare:—
Thou art all fair, My love;
And there is no spot on thee.
And now she is fit for service, and to it the Bridegroom woos her; she will not now misrepresent Him: [42] —
Come with Me from Lebanon, My bride,
With Me from Lebanon; ”

“ but, when widows exclaim loudly against second marriages, I would always lay a wager that the man, if not the wedding-day, is absolutely fixed on." ”

“ "My dear, the truth must be spoken. I declare I don't think I ever saw a young woman so improvident as you are. When are you to begin to think about getting married if you don't do it now?"
"I shall never begin to think about it, till I buy my wedding clothes." ”

“ A young bride is like a plucked flower; but a guilty wife is like a flower that had been walked over. ”

“ 82 We are to play the game of death to-night, my bride and I. The night is black, the clouds in the sky are capricious, and the waves are raving at sea. We have left our bed of dreams, flung open the door and come out, my bride and I. We sit upon a swing, and the storm winds give us a wild push from behind. My bride starts up with fear and delight, she trembles and clings to my breast. Long have I served her tenderly. I made for her a bed of flowers and I closed the doors to shut out the rude light from her eyes. ”

“ The husband in the middle ages was loved by the wife for his very severity. His humble Griselda recognised in him the right of the paternal rod. The bride of William the Conqueror, having been beaten by him, knew him by this token for her lord and husband. ”