Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-11-06

Hotels In Which Bridal Parties
Spend the Honeymoon.
New York SUM-

Spend the Honeymoon.
New York SUM-
The practice of newly-wedded cou-
pies going to a hotel Immediately after
the marriage ceremony has become so
common as to have almost superseded
the old-time wedding tour. Nowadays
a public marriage in upper New York
is not considered complete until the
couple have been driven to the nearest
fashionable hotel, and have passed at
least a week within its walls. This is
especially true of what are known as
evening weddings-thOse held in some
notable churches, and followed by a
crowded reception in the brides home.
After the last congratulations have
been exchanged, the bride and the
bridegroom thread their way through
the throne of black-attired men and
beAounced and bejewelled ladies under
the arched way, which the thoughtful
master Of the ceremonies has proyid-
ed, until they reach their coach. In
banging the door the head usher takes
care to utter in a stage whisper, Drive
to the Pennsylvania depot" or the
Grand Central, as the case may be,
and the throng return, imagining hat
the honeymoon is to be spent in Phil
adelphia or Boston. The carriage has
gone hardly a block before down goes
the window, and the driver reins in
his horses as he hears:
Where did they tell you to go?"
"To the Pennsylvania depot, sorr."
Pennsylvania Depot Pshaw! Drive
to the Buckingham
And to the Buckingham they are
whirled accordingly. For years this
clever little deception has been prac-
ticed by young bridal couples, without
any one except the p%roprietors and the
coachmen being in the secret. Of
late. however, the practice has become
so popular and so widely known that
the affeetation of a wedding journey is
only kept up for the sake Of appear
ances. philadelphia" and Boston"
in the vocabulary of Hymen, have
come to mean "Winsor' and Buck
/ ingham."
The extent to which the ''hotel
| honeymoon has waxed and waned
8 during the past autumn exceeds every
t thing before known. Every evening
carriages containing young men and
| maidens newly mated are driven to the
: ladies entrance of these two houses,
and the parlors and corridors are filed
+, with the fash of glittering toilets and
e the music ofmerry voices. One ofthe
s proprietors assured reporter in strict
t confidence yesterday that they we're
fairly overrun with wedding parties.
all desiring the richest and the most
deliberately furnished apartments,
n without regard to previous engage
b ments or present needs. The bridal
y suits proper of the Buckingham, al
though limited in number, are ele-
S gantly and tastefully furnished. The
d floors are covered with the richest Of
;, Turkey carpets; the ceilings are fres-
coed in the most elaborate style, pre-
! senting beautiful contrasts Of shade
= and color; the walls are literally COW
cred with massive paintings and en-
cravings, and the furniture, in blue
and gold, is arranged with the taste of
an artist. Marble mantel- pieces are
= adorned with antique bronzes, alter.
nately with elegant what-nots loaded
with costly bFio-a-brac. Polished
b mirrors reflect the golden tint Of the
walls, mingled with the richer sun.
. light stealing through the partly closed
it windows, The subdued hum of traf
n FIG in the street alone breaks the
silence.
+ 1T almost tempts one to get mar.
n ried, eh2' the host remarks, with {
smile. Then he adds, in a quite, mat
ter-of-fact way: "This suite wa
g vacated, only, yesterday by a younl
couple from Madison avenue. A wed
ding party from Brooklyn have en-
e gagel them by telegraph, and will b,
ii here tonight
~ Passing from the drawingsroQm to
r dainty boudoir, IN which everything
Te that the most exaeting taste could de
lp mand is supplied in abundance, tn
" d9gF Of the bedroom is opened. III
bedstead exquisitely carved in natura
* wood, with high arched back and 10,
t. foot boards in graceful moulding
Or stands in the center Of the floor. tn
lie handicapped lavatorics, the batl
the paintings and pictures, and ID
Of heavy cut-glass chandelier are charac
a teTized by the same degree of eleganc
n aRd refinement,
a This is only one Of a number {
rs suits. There are others which 1 migl
&c show you were they not occupied
D. Concerning the habits Of their newl
welded guests, tho hotel proprietor
UT say very little. Bashhl couples ordt
so their meals in their rooms; otheI
II boldly face the leyelled stares Of I'll
ed full dining-rOom, When there al
from a half dozen 10 a dozen coupl,
be in the house at the same time they b,
b come e~mboldeled, and act as uncol
ls cernedly as the gusts of maturer year
Where tho couple are young and hant
ial some they receive more or less attol
m ton, widows and wid0wers new
of matched being left almost entirely
he themselves. When an old gentlema
of7O years appears, as is now frequen
nd ly tho case with a blooming your
'er wife 10 or 80 years his junior, there
II qdiet amusement oil around. In II