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Marriage ceremonial
Useful details about the etiquette of both civil and religious marriages in the 1880s (none of which I'm actually using, at the moment anyway):
Le contrat / Le mariage religieux
Note the corbeille de mariage, which is effectively a trousseau presented by the bridegroom to his intended bride (including antique lace and family jewels). In refined families, the wedding-gifts should not be displayed.
The contract is signed first by the young pair, then by the mother of the bride, then by the two fathers followed by everyone else in age order. This can include any celebrity whose signature on the contract the families might covet ;-p
The fiancée should be dressed as a young girl, without any of her newly-acquired finery (the latter is for her future role as wife). If the notary in charge of the contract wishes to kiss her hand, she should obtain a glance of permission from her mother and fiancé first -- which they are expected to accord as part of the ritual!
The invitations to the religious ceremony are sent out the day after the signing of the contract.
I note that under the Code Napoleon it is not actually possible to be 'left at the altar', since the young couple are in fact already legally married before they reach the church! (Although not, by the sound of things, bedded.)
Some rude comments about the supposed habit of the English squire of arriving at the church in hunting dress, having been in full pursuit of the fox all morning -- cette excentricité bien anglaise :-P
Swords get in the way!
If the husband holds a military rank, he should wear his dress uniform. However, when the bride walks down the aisle, which side of her father she stands on will depend on whether the latter is wearing a sword or not... and everybody else (the bride's mother on the arm of the bridegroom's father, etc.) has to follow suit, whether or not the other cavaliers are in uniform.
The entire party drives to the church in a procession of carriages from the house of the bride -- first the bride and her parents, then the bridegroom and his parents, then everyone else, ensuring as far as possible that every carriage contains guests from both families. However, unmarried girls should not be allowed to share a vehicle -- even in pairs -- with men to whom they are not related.
The poêle is held over the heads of the couple during the ceremony by the youngest of the pageboys attending the bride, who are admonished -- presumably from bitter experience! - not to mess up the coiffure of either party in the process ;-p
Le contrat / Le mariage religieux
Note the corbeille de mariage, which is effectively a trousseau presented by the bridegroom to his intended bride (including antique lace and family jewels). In refined families, the wedding-gifts should not be displayed.
The contract is signed first by the young pair, then by the mother of the bride, then by the two fathers followed by everyone else in age order. This can include any celebrity whose signature on the contract the families might covet ;-p
The fiancée should be dressed as a young girl, without any of her newly-acquired finery (the latter is for her future role as wife). If the notary in charge of the contract wishes to kiss her hand, she should obtain a glance of permission from her mother and fiancé first -- which they are expected to accord as part of the ritual!
The invitations to the religious ceremony are sent out the day after the signing of the contract.
I note that under the Code Napoleon it is not actually possible to be 'left at the altar', since the young couple are in fact already legally married before they reach the church! (Although not, by the sound of things, bedded.)
Some rude comments about the supposed habit of the English squire of arriving at the church in hunting dress, having been in full pursuit of the fox all morning -- cette excentricité bien anglaise :-P
Swords get in the way!
If the husband holds a military rank, he should wear his dress uniform. However, when the bride walks down the aisle, which side of her father she stands on will depend on whether the latter is wearing a sword or not... and everybody else (the bride's mother on the arm of the bridegroom's father, etc.) has to follow suit, whether or not the other cavaliers are in uniform.
The entire party drives to the church in a procession of carriages from the house of the bride -- first the bride and her parents, then the bridegroom and his parents, then everyone else, ensuring as far as possible that every carriage contains guests from both families. However, unmarried girls should not be allowed to share a vehicle -- even in pairs -- with men to whom they are not related.
The poêle is held over the heads of the couple during the ceremony by the youngest of the pageboys attending the bride, who are admonished -- presumably from bitter experience! - not to mess up the coiffure of either party in the process ;-p