The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1895-08-30
MONEY FOR MARRYING.
A Great Deal Necessary for an
Up-to-Date Ceremony.
1t Costs Like the Mischief to Belong to
the Swell Set and Keep Up with
the Fsshions-Some of the
Requirements.

10 get married NOWADAYS consistent
~ with the regulations of fashion is
very expensive, even for ordinary folks
who desire to keep up appearances. If
you do not believe it. just do the sum
IN arithmetic for yourself. writes a New
York correspondent of the St. Louis
GlObe-DemOcrat.
There II the church to begin with.
The fee for opening the sacred editice
Is one hundred dollars. If you want
the choir to sing you must pay one
hundred dollars in addition. The
clergyman's honorarium is extra.
What il shall be you are at liberty to
determine, but it is hardly considered
proper to give less than twenty-five
dollars, whereas one hundred dollars is
by no means excessive. At the church,
as well as at the house, YOU must have
awnings, and the price for these will
be forty dollars.
Flowers are very important item.
The altar has to be decorated, and Won
cannot make any kind of show for less
than two hundred and fifty dollars.
For fifty dollars you can only get
few palms. Palms come high because
of the risk. If the weather turns cold
and they are chilled. they will die, and
a palm of decent size. Obviously, the
bridesmaids require bouquets, and for
each of these you can hardly get off
for less than twenty-five dollars. The
posies are more apt to come to fifty
dollars each at a season when fine roses
cost two and three dollars each.
Then there are the bridesmaids
gowns. 1t is expected that they shall
be furnished, and they will cost at
least one hundred dollars each. OF
course, they are not made SO much to
please the wearer as to satisfy the re
quirementS of the occasion and the
taste OF the bride. 1t can hardly be eX-
pected that a bridesmaid shall go To
such expense for a frock to be worn
perhaps only once. and which is for the
benefit of somebody else. Thus. as
mere matter of common sense. it has
come To be regarded as the proper
thing that these toilets shall be sup
piled. Necessarily, they are all alike.
If there is a maid of honor she must
have a dress, too
bride NAV be married in travel
ing dress, but for a really swell wed
ding she must have d special gown.
which Will hardly cost less than two
hundred and fifty dollars. DreSSmakers
charge extra prices for articles of COS
tune furnished for weddings, by the
way. OF incidental expenses there i
no end. In New York there il only
one woman who knows how to arrange
a brides veil properly 1t l. her special
ty, and she charges accordingly. In
fact, she does very little else beside go
ing from one house to another and pin
ming brides wells 1t Il a business that
requires high degree of skill. Unless
tulle is handled by skillful fingers, it Is
very unbecoming- To adjust the
wreath of orange blosSoms-alwav
artificial. because real orange blossoms
quickly fade and have too strong an
odor-is an art in itself. 1t must be
put on just so, else it is ugly.
Fashion requires that the bridegroom
shall give to each bridesmaid pin or
bracelet, and to each usher scarf-pin
or some such remembrance. 1t goes
without saying that the best man and
the maid of honor are not left out.
These must be handsome, and fifty dol
lars each is not too much To pay for
them. When he was married To Miss
Gould, Count Castellane gave To each
of the ushers and bridesmaids pin the
design of which was a and G. tied
together in true lovers knot. The &
was in rubieS. the knot was of dia-
monds and the was in sapphires.
Thus were united the national colors
of France-red. white and blue. In
the above account no mention has been
made of the cost of the reception at the
house of the bride. 1t is expected that
the drawing-rOoms and dining-room
shall be profusely decorated with flow
erS. and in this way five hundred dol
lars does not go very far. Then there
is the spread" which may run up to
almost any price. Among the Incl
dentalS are invitations, which are not
cheap when one thousand or SO of them
have to be sent out. On the whole, it
is costly business to get married in
these daXS.