Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-11
A NARROW GOLD BAND
The Shackles With Which Cupid
Binds His Captives.
WEDDINGS AND PRES ENTS.
Why Marriages Occur I'm the spring and
Eall-How engagements Are Made
The Proper Hour for Wedding Bells
- Ring.
Written for TIE EVENING star

- the high contracting parties; but as there
h no pleasure without pain SO is q Wedding
not an unalloyed pleasure to the poor young
men who are friends of the bride and have to
make her costly presents. 1t was a man of
this kind who came out of a prominent
jewelers. establishment on Pennsylvania ave-
nne the other day with sorrow very painfully
Depicted on his countenance.
Yes" he said to the friend whom he met on
the street, Il had to buy bit of jewelry for
Miss -, who is going to marry -. That
makes the fourth wedding present I've bought
within q week. Why is it, / wonder, that peo-
pie always get married in lump that way?"
FALL AND SPRING WEDDINGS.
IL il true that marriages are pretty frequent
in the spring. but the fall seems to be the favor
lite season. The reason is simple enough. A
young man and a young woman having an
elective affinity for each other meet at the be-
ginning of .'the season" After that they see
one another constantly, II they choose. BY
meeting at other peoples houses, at balls. din
ners and such affairs, there is none of the de-
hberate and embarrassing evidence of his bud
ding intentions that constant calling at her
house involves. He may call upon her oc-
casionally. but he manages to meet her on neu-
trail ground every day. Then. as the season
advances, his attentions become more marked.
Lent comes and with 1t his serious counting be-
gins. and by spring the engagement IS an
nounced During the summer they bill and
coo and when the leaves begin to fall they
turn to the city and get married. No proceed
ings can be more regular. Or they must meet
~ f. summer resort He follows her to town
and proposes late in the fall. they are engaged
all winter and the wedding comes off early in
the spring.
THE UNPLEASANT THINGS
Now, while weddings are doubtless pro-
ductive of happiness in many cases. the cere-
monies attending them are not by any means
pleasant to go through with. The bride doesn't
mind IL so much. She has her beautiful gown
to show of and if she looks pretty. and she
generally does, she gathers courage from the
admiring looks Of the audience; and, more
over, the gentler sex are not at heart such ar
rant towards rs men are, but the anticipation
of the otdeal almost drives the groom crazy
before the wedding. and his horror of his con-
spacuous position almost makes him faint dur
ing the service and leaves him limp and weak
after 1t Is all over. There is no more painful
sight than to see him standing up III the chan
Gel of the church waiting for the bride. Every
eye Is liked upon him. Nobody is admiring
hun. His best man has cast him loose upon an
world. Perhaps he waits two
minutes, and they seem to him two centuries
of horrors. he imagines every calamity
having befallen the bride. he is conscious that
one of his cuffs is too long and that the other
isn't visible at all he is his cravat Is riding
mp behind and when finally the lady comes and
stands beside him. he stammers out his re-
sponseJ in inaudible. grief-stricken tones. He
certainly ought to be happy afterward. as he
has been through misery enough to last him
good many years.
THE WEDDING PRESENT.
A certain epigrammatical society man was
asked what sort Of present to make bride
and groom.
Always give the man something that caters
to his vices, was the reply. and always give
the bride something that tickles her vanity"
II cannot be denied that a silver travelling
flask or a handsome cigar case acceptable
gifts TO most men. and 1t Is equally true that a
woman never objects to tasteful jewelry. but
they are not offended If they receive things
that are useful well as ornament tai; but
present that is simply useful is inappropriate.
There is a certain old gentleman who made a
groom present Of dozen sugar-cured hams
and the bride gift of a ton of coal. He knew
that the couple was going to housekeeping and
were the most necessary IN 3 house, but he
carried his idea too far.
THE GROOM CAN BE oMMITTED.
IL isn't necessary to give the groom any
present at all He is q mere side show. The
grand circus is the bride. For every present
the groom gets he has to make one There are
bis ushers. who have to be supplied with scarf
pms. and he must buy their cravats and gloves
too, and each of the brides maids must have q
piece of jewelry and their flowers must be sent
them, and the bride herself must wear some
fine gems. which the newspapers can
describe as 1.-The gift of the groom"
YOUNG BESEDICr's VIEWS.
A young married man was recently discuss
ing with q friend the cost of getting married.
He was not ayerse to matrimony at all and
pleasantly remarked that the question of
whether or not marriage was failure seemed
to him an idle one, since those who we're SIN
gle knew nothing about 1t and those who were
married were afraid to tell anything about it,
and. as for himself, he did not agree with So
crates that ''whichever you do you will wish
you had done the other, " but he could not DENY
that IL cost pretty big bunch Of money to get
married according to the usual fashionable pro-
gram. His own expenses had been no more
than most men incur. He mad had six ushers
al his wedding and best man, and had been
married IN the day time. Not being rich he
had given them inexpensive pins that cost $40
each and gloves and crayats that cost So each
This made a little over 500 alone The for
get-me-not pins that the brides maids had from
him stood him in Sl20, and their bououets, for
he had been married when flowers we're out of
season, were &l2 dozen for the roses and had
est $50 more. He had presented the bride
with modest row OF pearls for the neck and
they had cost 500. He had given the clergy
when he counted up the total. including incl
dental expenses, he found that his days amuse-
ment bad cost him nearly $1,000.
WHEN TO BE MARRIED.
Shall be married by day or shall be mar
ried by night This is question upon which
there is much difference of opinion. The pre-
ponderance of fashionable opinion would seem
TO be IN favor OF the day wedding aud il must
be said IN It's favor that the crowd from the
streets, which is not invited does not modest
you and come Hooking IN to see the show as 10
does when you are married when everybody is
Idle IN the evening. But, on the other hand
many men who may be invited to your wedding
are too busy to attend it In the middle of the
day, and the wedding breakfast with its heavy
aocomPanlments Of food and drink, units your
guests for further labor that day: whereas the
same Refreshments as a supper may be carried
70 bed aud their i'll effects counteracted by
slumber. II is only fair to disclose the origin
OF the morning wedding. however disagreeable
the thought of Its origin may be. Like SO
many Of our fashions II Is English and people
used to be married in Finland before the after
noon because the groom. to say nothing OF his
guests, was generally helplessly drunk before
] O'Clock. IL is undenable that the evening
wedding u prettier and more convenient to US
sober Americans, but then the people who are
most concerned are not the audience but the
actors in the drama
How ENGAGEMENTS ARE MADE.
The world is flooded with statistics OF mar
riages, deaths and divorces. Then why have
We no statistics of proposals? The engagement
Of pretty Miss = and young = was, as
every one knows, forced upon them by Dame
Rumor. Il was noised abroad that they were
engaged when they were not The matter
occurred TO them in a serious light for the first