Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/373

 351 MARRIAGE streamers, and care must be taken not to have these too wide. Two inches and a half to three inches is the best width. Some brides have had their entire bouquet made of orange blossom. There is no loveHer flower, no foli- age more beauti- ful than those of this hymeneal tree. The per- fume, however, is apt to be rather over- powering in its luscious sweet- ness. No such objection could be made to a bouquet com- posed entirely of white heather carried by a bride in com- pliment to the Bridesmaid's bouquet of lilies of the valley, nationality Of choicegreenandwhitefoliage, tied silver her husbaud, a ribbons, long trails of asparagus and lilies q , dropping down. oCOtSman. Photo by Bassatio A U I r 1 S h bride, or any girl marrying an Irishman, hkes to have a bit of shamrock tucked into her bouquet. The '* chosen leaf of ^)ard and chief " is too tiny to be really decorative, but it can be combined cleverly with other flowers and foliage, and yet displayed sufficiently to be recognised by ail. In one cfase its little clinging clusters were tied at intervals to the small, pointed ivy that hung from the bouquet, the effect being happy in the extreme. Widow-brides are not supposed to carry bouquets. They sometimes have a handful of flowers, but more often wear a bunch on the bodice of the gown. But these are never orange blossom. They are always reserved for the spinster - bride. Myrtle blossom, too, is forbidden to the widow- bride, but she may have her sprig of white heather, though denied many things, includ- ing bridesmaids and pages. Her one dame d'hon- neur, or demoi- selle d'honneuf, may wear flowers on her dress, but custom forbids her to carry a bouquet. The bride, however agi- tated she may feel, must not forget to distribute sprays of her bouquet among her bridesmaids and other girl friends. There is an idea that this may lead to other weddings, just as an old super- stition would persuade us that if an un- married girl put a bit of bride-cake under her pillow she will dream of the man who is to be her future husband. But however generous the bride may be with sprays from her bouquet — and the nuptial hour is one of generous feeling — she will always keep one or two for preservation among her most cherished possessions. Bridesmaid's crook of white enamel trimmed pink roses, lilies of the valley choice argritc foliage, tied with silver WEDDIMQ»CAIiES The Art of Choice — The Bride Cuts the Cake — Sending Wedding'Cakc Away i T'he wedding-cake is neither Scotch nor English in origin, but came to us from Germany, one of the most desirable -of our acquisitions from that country. Possibly the very first ever seen in Englafad 'was that made for the marriage of the late Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort. ' c Her Majesty ever after regarded the bride- cake as an essential part of a wedding, and on the occasion of each one of her daughters' marriages commissioned that ancient firm, Bolland, of Chester, to make the cake and adorn it with appropriate emblems and devices. Queen Victoria's example was followed by the late King Edward and his Queen with regard to the marriages of their children, and the weddiilg-cake ordered by them foi the marriage of our present King and Queen, then Duke and Duchess of York, was prob- ably the finest piece of confectionery ever .designed. We' give a picture of it. The .four large panels round the base showed bas-reliefs of the bridegroom's ships, the Thrush and' the Melampus. On the second tier wete the monograms of bride and .bridegroom, *and on the third, dolphins and human figures bearing harps, and clusters of roses,- thistles"; and shamrocks. The white rose of -York," with May blossom (in compli- ment to the bride's pet name) and orange blossoms, composed the floral ornament.