Chapter 5

For wedding favors at a wedding breakfast or reception a number of interesting little souvenirs can be inexpensively prepared. For instance, there are wee fans (bought at the doll department) with the date lettered on each; tiny straw baskets that look like the one the flower girl carries and are filled with very small artificial forget-me-nots and rose-buds; airy butterflies of white and pale yellow silk, to be fastened to fine threads above the table in the dining-room, where they flutter realistically over the flowers beneath.

More frivolous are very diminutive bridesmaid's hats, and at the wedding of a bride who is going to travel far away there may be small boats, either real or of cardboard, with a flying flag of matrimony at the masthead.

The old-fashioned posy gift cards with clasped hands are quaint; so are the little nosegays in white paper frills, and every guest will like a box of bride's cake.

TWO SUMMER WEDDINGS

A WILD ROSE WEDDING

A wild-rose wedding which one bride planned was wonderfully attractive. In one corner of the living-room an arch of woven wire was erected, and covered with graceful wild clematis vines and wild roses. On each window-sill stood a jar of wild roses, and the mantel was banked with them.

The two bridesmaids wore pale green dresses, and carried baskets overflowing with wild roses; the maid of honor wore a gown of wild-rose pink, and carried an arm bouquet of wood maidenhair ferns and wild clematis.

The dining-table was decorated effectively. A crystal bowl filled with wild-rose sprays which trailed over the sides and along the table was placed in the center on a mat of hardy sword ferns. From above the middle of the table four garlands of wild clematis were looped down to the edge of the round table and held with bows of green tulle.

Glass dishes of olives and pink, green, and white candies on the table still further carried out the color scheme.

The menu, which was served in buffet style, was pink and white. It consisted of strawberry and pineapple cocktail, with a sprig of green mint in each glass, sliced ham and pressed chicken, potato chips, hot rolls, raspberry ice, white-frosted cakes cut in the shape of bells, pink-frosted cakes in the shape of hearts.

Fruit punch, pink with strawberry juice and green with mint, was served on the rose-bowered porch by a pretty girl in a rose-flowered frock.

A FIELD FLOWER WEDDING

Another country bride used the field flowers for decorating.

Big jars of daisies, buttercups, wild carrot, red clover, and tasseled grasses stood in the corners of all the rooms and filled the empty fireplace.

Four little girls, dressed in white with yellow sashes and hair fillets, carried a daisy chain to form an aisle for the bride and her attendants, and the ceremony took place under a big bell of field daisies.

The bridesmaids wore pale yellow georgette gowns, and carried bouquets of black-eyed Susans, the maid of honor wore old-gold georgette, lightened with white, and carried a loose bunch of daisies and buttercups.

In the center of the dining table a high-handled white-enameled basket held a natural arrangement of sweet white clovers, grasses, and yellow buttercups, and was linked by several streamers of yellow baby ribbon, with four smaller white baskets at the corners which held smaller bouquets of the same flowers. A fluffy yellow bow was tied to the handle of each basket.

The menu was also yellow and white and consisted of hot bouillon, sprinkled with grated hard-boiled egg yolks; chicken jelly salad with mayonnaise; tiny bread and butter sandwiches; frozen custard in ice cups trimmed with white paper petals, so that each individual serving looked like a daisy; small squares of sponge cake, and angel food iced in yellow; yellow and white candies.

The boxes of wedding cake were piled on the hall table, and each one had a wee daisy blossom tied into the knot of white ribbon on top.

OUTDOOR WEDDINGS

AN ORCHARD PAGEANT

There's no wedding quite so picturesque as the outdoor one. Famous is the orchard wedding beneath a blossoming apple tree, where the air is filled with fragrance and the bridal party comes winding through the trees to the trysting place. It needn't be only a poetic fancy, either--it's entirely practical, and if you have a comparatively small house, why not give your guests the beautiful freedom of outdoors instead of cooping them up in the house?

Mark out the path beforehand by mowing the grass in the chosen direction. Select plenty of ushers to conduct the guests to the spot and provide benches and settees for the older folk, who may find it tiring to stand till the wedding party arrives.

There need be no decorations except the natural ones of the orchard; preparations may consist of raking out dead leaves and branches.

A victrola may be arranged in the proper place to furnish the wedding processional--or perhaps some musical friend may be found to play the violin.

The simpler the pageant, the more effective it will be. First may come a tiny flower girl in a white frock, swinging a cretonne flowered sunbonnet from which she tosses apple blossom sprays.

If there are bridesmaids, they should wear the simplest of pink dresses with pink fillets on their hair or else wide straw hats trimmed only with a tiny wreath of flowers.

Possibly the maid of honor may add a note of contrast by wearing forget-me-not blue.

Last of all appear the bride and bridegroom, together, for in an old-fashioned orchard wedding that is less awkward than for the bridegroom to come from some other direction. The bride should wear a simple white gown--formal satin would be out of place.

The wedding breakfast may be served picnic fashion on a long table of boards decked with apple blossoms. Toasts in strawberry punch are in order while an orchestra of robins and bluebirds sing in the apple trees round about--unless the noise drives them away. The little waiting maids should wear white aprons and white caps with an apple blossom sprig stuck in the top.

Following them came a flock of flower children, tiny girls and boys scattering flower petals from the high-handled baskets swinging in their chubby little hands.

Last of all, four abreast, came the bride and bridegroom, with the bride's mother, who gave her away, on the right of the bride, and the best man on the left of the bridegroom. The ribbon girls had accompanied the procession at the proper intervals holding the aisle ribbon, and the last two brought up the rear, winding up the ribbon as they came.

The reception took place immediately afterward on the lawn, and the guests were served with ice-cream and cake wherever they chanced to be by the attentive ribbon girls.

In the back yard at a long table a colored caterer superintended the service.

Altogether it was a most successful wedding and at the same time a fairly easy one to plan since there was no question of overcrowding in the house, although in case of rain it could have been managed there.

A WEDDING ON THE LAWN

A girl who lived in a small town and had a big lawn chose to be married outdoors in August. The blossoming hydrangea hedge in front of the house was made thicker with small evergreen branches stuck down into the ground. One corner of the yard where there was a natural alcove curving in among the shrubs, she picked out for the wedding itself.

The porch was decorated with Japanese lanterns and flowers, and beforehand the guests gathered in groups there or on the lawn.

When it was time for the ceremony, some girl friends of the bride marshalled the guests to the chosen place and then returned to the house to act as ribbon girls. There were about a dozen of them in light summer dresses, and the first couple, holding the ends of long white ribbons, preceded the bridal groups, roping off an aisle across the lawn and among the spectators.

A chorus of young musical friends came first, singing the words and music of Lohengrin.

FALL WEDDINGS

A BLUE AND GOLD WEDDING

September and October weddings are always popular, partly perhaps because of the decorating possibilities of the autumn season.

Goldenrod and wild asters one thinks of for early fall. At one evening home wedding where this blue and gold color scheme was used, the stalks of plumey golden rod seemed to be growing naturally along the stair rail; they were held in place at the uprights.

The rooms were hung with blue and golden globes of lights--in reality paper lanterns--sheltering electric bulbs. The fireplace held masses of goldenrod, and blue jars holding wild asters crowned the mantel, the tables, the piano, and the wide window sills.

The bridesmaids wore gowns of yellow organdy and the maid of honor an aster blue costume.

In the dining-room a dull gilt basket of blue asters occupied the center of the table set for a buffet repast, and a bow of blue and golden tulle fluttered from the handle of the basket.

The favors were tiny kewpie dolls, wearing frilly skirts and caps, some of blue and others of yellow. The blue were for the men, the yellow for the girls.

OAK LEAVES AND COSMOS

When oak leaves begin to glow with tawny splendor, another girl celebrated her wedding. The house was a bower of rich, deep red and brown foliage, and the "bridey" touch came in with the pale pink garden cosmos that was used.

Cosmos made the background for the wedding group, and was arranged in feathery masses wherever it might contrast with the dark oak leaves.

The wedding was in the late afternoon, and after the sunset light had faded the pink candles began to glow rosily under soft pink shades.

The dining-room table was lovely with pink candle-light and pink cosmos as a centerpiece on a mat of oak leaves. There were pink and white candies and raspberry ice was served with the tiniest of pink and white and green _petites fours_.

THREE WINTER WEDDINGS

A CHRISTMAS WEDDING

The first girl lived in a country town and evergreens in the woods near by were plentiful. The wedding was a Christmas one, and took place in the late afternoon. Garlands of graceful ground pine were wound over the banisters in the hall, and draped over the doorways to hang down halfway on each side against the ivory white wood-work. In the living-room, two little Christmas trees, lighted with tiny white candles, formed an alcove where the bridal group could stand.

The table in the dining-room was decorated for a buffet luncheon in holiday red and green. There was a centerpiece of red roses, red silk candle shades shading white candles in clear glass candlesticks, and tiny green Christmas ferns scattered on the white cloth.

The menu had the same color harmony, and consisted of consommé, salted crackers, oyster patties, chicken jelly salad with green mayonnaise, salad rolls, olives, pistachio ice-cream in holly-decked cases, little cakes with green icing and silver bonbons stuck on top, and coffee, with green mints.

A RAINBOW WEDDING

The second bride lived in the city and had a rainbow wedding. The usual green of potted ferns and palms formed the background of decorations, but over the rounded archway which opened into a small alcove a "rainbow" of tulle--rose, pale pink, yellow, green, blue, and lavender--was arranged. Pink and yellow roses with green foliage were supplemented in the living-room by blue and lavender tulle on the vases. The six bridesmaids wore gowns which matched the tulle rainbow and they carried pink roses.

On the table in the dining-room was a bowl of pink roses, and from the table dome a myriad of baby ribbon streamers in the same varied colors came down at six points, and were held in place by six fluffy favor dolls, dressed in tulle to match the six bridesmaids, to whom they were afterward given as souvenirs.

The menu consisted of chicken à la King, small sandwiches, olives, Neapolitan ice-cream, fancy frosted cakes, and coffee.

A COLONIAL WEDDING

The third girl, with a delight for old-fashioned ways, was followed by six maids in quaint Colonial gowns of plain or flowered silk, no two costumes alike, save for soft white lace fichus. Black velvet neckbands, powdered curls, and "nosegays" of small pink carnations in lace paper holders quite carried out the lovely effect.

The old-fashioned rooms were hung with smilax and asparagus fern, and in every window stood a pot of flowering fuchsias.

End of Project Gutenberg's Entertaining Made Easy, by Emily Rose Burt