Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-08-27
DUTCH WEDDING WAYS.

philadelphia Record.
|
DUTCH WEDDING WAYS.
Strange Old Customs That Do Not
Lose Interest.
In America girl Is only called a
bride after the wedding, while in Hol-
land she Is bride no longer when the
wedding Is over. A girl becomes a
bride in Holland two or three weeks
before the wedding day, or as soon as
she and her intended have signed the
register at the town hall, signifying
their purpose Of getting married on a
certain day. Their names are then
printed and put up for public inspec-
tion outside the town hail. This is an
equivalent. to reading the banns In
England and is done for the same rea-
son-to give any one objecting to the
union a chance to say so.
Meanwhile when the young couple
have gone off quietly to sign their
names the brides mother and the rest
of her relatives decorate the house with
| green plants and flowers, so that when
the bride and bridegroom" for such
they then are, return the whole place
shall present festive appearance. All
this generally takes place after din
ncr, which in Holland is partaken of
a 6. p. m., so 1t is just tea time, or
about o'clock when the young people
come back.
The tea tray is set out with the very
best china in the drawing room and lit
tie dishes full of bridal sugars''-su-
CARED almonds and other special
sweets. These Druid suikers." or "brid-
al sweets" have to be kept on hand
during the whole bridal period and are
offered to an visitors. 1t Is considered
| rude to refuse to partake of them.
These sweets are a very ancient insti-
tuition, but gradually they have become
of finer quality, losing some Of their
original particularly. For instance,
the smoothly coated sugar almonds
were meant to symbolic the bride,
while the roughly coated almonds rep
resented the bridegroom.
Formerly it was the general custom,
and 1t still is so in some towns and
Villages, that on the day Of becoming
a bride the girl should send lace. paper
bags tied with green and white ribbon
and full of bridal sugars to all her re-
lations and friends. The maid servants
Of the house take these bags around in
baskets decorated with green bows of
ribbon, and at every house where they
present the gift they receive a small
gratuity for themselves. The same kind
of bridal sugar" in silver paper bags
or in goid Taper bags, tied with silver
and gold cord, are presented by silver
and golden wedding couples to their
friends and relatives.
| Every one who receives bridal sugars
or an invitation to one of the many
parties-either evening or dinner-giv-
en- during the bridal period by the par
ents of bride and bridegroom must, ac-
cording to custom, give wedding pres
ent to the young couple. All these
presents are timed to arrive before the
grand reception, which is generally
held at the brides parents house on
the Sunday preceding the wedding.
The presents, which are always very
numerous and often consist of costly
silver and crystal articles, are arrang-
| ed in one Of the rooms on long tables
| and the bouquets and baskets Of flow
| ers that are often even more numer-
Gus than the presents are placed in all
the rooms where the reception is held
and the presents are displayed.
In the largest room a bower Of palms
and towering plants have been formed
and there the bride and bridegroom sit
| side by side on a sofa or stand up to
| receive their guests. The near rela-
tives of the bride stand in row by the
| bridegroom's side and his nearest rel
atives stand in a row next to the
bride, and all guests are formally pre-
sented to the parents of the young
| couple and are then led off by the
bridemaids ito see the presents" The
| bridesmaids or the little brothers and
sisters or cousins of the couple offer
bridal sugars" to the guests and wait
ers or the man servants of the family
bring around trays with the bridal re-
| freshment, "hippocras," or brides
| tears''-a kind Of liqueur-althOugh
nowadays more generally port and
! sherry are served.
Such a reception generally lasts from
| until o'clock p. m. The bride dOns
| her wedding dress, with the wreath of
orange blossoms in her hair. The only
part of her wedding finery she does
| not wear is the veil, which she puts on
| only for the marriage ceremony at the
town hall and in the church. The
| bridegroom and male relatives wear
evening dress for the reception, and
| also for the wedding ceremony, which
always takes place between II a. m,
| and 2 p. m.
All weddings are not celebrated in
| church; very often the ceremony at
the town hall is considered sufficient.
No marriage Is legal that has not taken
place before the civil authorities at the
town hall, and no clergyman or priest
may consecrate a marriage that has
not been thus carried out. The religi-
Gus ceremony is therefore looked upon