this period that they learn to know each other and find out if they are

suited for a life's partnership.



When a young man goes a-courting it generally means that he has some

particular girl in mind whom he has singled out as the object of his

devotion. A man a-courting is generally on his best behavior, and many a

happily married wife looks back on her courting days as the most

delightful of her life. At that time the woman is the object of a

devotion to which she has as yet conceded nothing. She is still at

liberty to weigh and choose, to compare her lover to other men, while

the knowledge that she is the ultimate girl that some man is trying to

win gives her a pretty sense of self-importance and a feeling that she

has come into the heritage of womanhood.



Whether it is one of the fictions about courtship or not, it is

generally assumed that a young woman is longer in making up her mind

than is the young man. When a man finds the right girl he is pretty apt

to know it, and it is his business then to start out and persuade her to

his point of view. Neither willing nor reluctant is the attitude of

the young girl.





Gifts and Attention.



Just what attention a man is privileged to show a young woman to whom he

is not engaged, and yet to whom he wishes to express his devotion, is a

point a little difficult to define.



If she is a bookish girl she will be pleased with gifts of books or the

suggestion that they may read the same books so they may talk them over

together. She will probably feel complimented if a man discusses with

her his business affairs and the problems that are interesting men in

their life work. When a man begins to call often and regularly on a girl

it is best to have some topic of conversation aside from personalities.



When a man is led to spend more money than he can afford in entertaining

a girl it is a bad preparation for matrimony. Courtship is a time when a

man desires to bring gifts, and it is quite right and fitting that he

should do so within reasonable limits. A girl of refined feelings does

not like to accept valuable presents from a man at this period of their

acquaintance. Flowers, books, music, if the girl plays or sings, and

boxes of candy are always permissible offerings which neither engage the

man who offers them nor the girl who receives them. This is the time

when a man invites a girl to the theater, to concerts and lectures, and

may offer to escort her to church. The pleasure of her society is

supposed to be a full return for the trouble and expense incurred in

showing these small attentions.





The Claims of Companionship.



A man cannot justly complain if a girl accepts similar favors from other

men, for until he has proposed and been accepted he has no claim on her

undivided companionship. An attitude of proprietorship on his part,

particularly if it is exercised in public, is as bad manners as it is

unwise, and a high-spirited girl, although she may find her feelings

becoming engaged, is prone to resent it. It should be remembered that a

man is free to cease his attentions, and until he has finally

surrendered his liberty he should not expect her to devote all her time

to him.



At this period it is a wise man who makes a friend of a girl's mother,

and if he does this he will generally be repaid in a twofold manner. No

matter how willful a girl may be, her mother's opinion of her friends

always has weight with her.



Moreover, what the mother is the girl will in all probability become,

and a man has no better opportunity of learning a girl's mental and

moral qualities than by knowing the woman who bore and reared her.





Engagement and Wedding Rings.



The form and material of the mystic ring of marriage change but

little, and innovations on the plain gold band are rarely successful.

The very broad, flat band is now out of date and replaced by a much

narrower ring, sufficiently thick, however, to stand the usage of a

lifetime. It is generally engraved on the concealed side with the

initials of the giver and the date of the marriage. The gold in the ring

should be as pure as possible, and the color, which depends on the alloy

used, should be unobtrusive, the pale gold being better liked now than

the red gold. Many women never remove their wedding ring after it has

been put on and believe it is bad luck to do so.



There is but one choice for an engagement ring, a solitaire diamond, and

clusters or colored stones are not considered in this connection. As

after the wedding the engagement ring is used as a guard to the wedding

ring, it should be as handsome as possible, and a small, pure stone is a

far better choice than a more showy one that may be a little off in

color or possess a flaw.





Correct Form in Jewelry.



On the wedding day the groom often makes the bride a wedding present of

some piece of jewelry, and if this is to be worn during the ceremony it

should consist of white stones in a thin gold or platinum setting, such

as a pendant, bracelet or pin of pearls and diamonds. If a colored stone

is preferred--and a turquoise, for instance, adds the touch of blue

which is supposed to bring a bride good luck--it should be concealed

inside the dress during the services.



As a memento of the event a groom often presents his ushers with a scarf

pin or watch or cigarette case ornamented with the initials of the bride

and groom, and the bride generally makes a similar present to her

bridesmaids of some dainty piece of jewelry. Whether this takes the form

of a pin, bracelet or one of the novelties that up-to-date jewelers are

always showing, it should be the best of its kind. Imitation stones or

silver gilt have no place as wedding gifts.





Wedding Customs.



There is no time in a woman's life when ceremonies seem so important as

when a wedding in the family is imminent. Whether the wedding is to be a

simple home ceremony or an elaborate church affair followed by a

reception, the formalities which etiquette prescribes for these

functions should be carefully studied and followed. Only by doing so can

there be the proper dignity, and above all the absence of confusion that

should mark the most important episode in the life of a man or woman.



Wedding customs have undergone some changes of late years, mostly in the

direction of simplicity. Meaningless display and ostentation should be

avoided, and, if a girl is marrying into a family much better endowed in

worldly goods than her own, she should have no false pride in insisting

on simple festivities and in preventing her family from incurring

expense that they cannot afford. The entire expenses of a wedding, with

the exception of the clergyman's fee and the carriage which takes the

bride and groom away for their honeymoon, are met by the bride's family,

and there is no worse impropriety than in allowing the groom to meet or

share any of these obligations. Rather than allow this a girl would show

more self-respect in choosing to do away with the social side of the

function and be content with the marriage ceremony read by her clergyman

under his own roof.





Invitations and Announcements.



In the case of a private wedding announcement cards should be mailed the

following day to all relatives and acquaintances of both the contracting

parties.



Evening weddings are no longer the custom, and the fashionable hour is

now high noon, although in many cases three o'clock in the afternoon is

the hour chosen. Whether the wedding is to be followed by a reception or

not, the invitations to it should be sent out not less than two weeks

before the event, and these should be promptly accepted or declined by

those receiving them. The acceptance of a wedding invitation by no means

implies that the recipient is obliged to give a present. These are only

expected of relatives and near friends of the bride and groom, and in

all cases the presents should be addressed and sent to the bride, who

should acknowledge them by a prettily worded note of thanks as soon as

the gifts are received or, at the latest, a few days after the marriage

ceremony.





Silver and Linen.



The usual rule followed in the engraving of silver or the marking of

linen is to use the initials of the bride's maiden name. The question of

duplicate gifts is as annoying to the sender as it is to the young

couple who are ultimately to enjoy the gifts. Theoretically, it is bad

form to exchange a gift after it has been received, but, in truth, this

is often done when a great deal of silver is given by close friends or

members of the family it is a comparatively easy matter to find out what

has already been sent and to learn the bride's wishes in this matter.





Prenuptial Functions.



After the wedding invitations are out it is not customary for a girl to

attend any social functions or to be much seen in public. This gives her

the necessary time to devote to the finishing of her trousseau and for

making any necessary arrangements for the new life she is to take up

after the honeymoon is over. Family dinners are quite proper at this

time, and it is expected of her to give a lunch to her bridesmaids. The

wedding presents may be shown at this occasion, but any more public and

general display of them is now rarely indulged in and is, in fact, not

considered in good taste.



The groom, as a prenuptial celebration, is supposed to give a supper to

his intimate bachelor friends and the men who are to act as ushers at

the marriage ceremony. The ushers are generally recruited from the

friends of the groom rather than those of the bride, but if she has a

grown brother he is always asked to act in this capacity. Ushers, like

bridesmaids, are chosen among the unmarried friends of the young couple,

although a matron of honor is often included in the bridal party.





The Bride's Trousseau.



The bride's trousseau should be finished well before the fortnight

preceding the wedding. Fashions change so quickly now that it is rarely

advisable for a bride to provide gowns for more than a season ahead. If

the check her father furnishes her for her trousseau is a generous one

it is a wise provision to put a part of it aside for later use, and in

so doing she has the equivalent of a wardrobe that will last her for a

year or more.



Custom has decreed that the bride's wedding dress shall be of pure

white, and, as the marriage ceremony is a religious one, whether it

takes place in a church or in a private house, that it shall be made

high in the neck and with long sleeves. Orange blossoms, the natural

flowers, form the trimming to the corsage and a coronet to fasten the

veil. A bride's ornaments include only one gift of white jewelry, pearls

or diamonds, from her future husband, and the bouquet he presents her.



So many awkward moments have been occasioned in wedding ceremonies by

removing the glove that brides are dispensing with wearing gloves at

this time. The bride's appearance is by no means affected by this

custom, and the slipping of the ring on the third finger of the left

hand is made simpler and thereby more graceful. The engagement ring,

which up to the time of the wedding ceremony has been worn on this

finger, afterwards serves as a guard for the wedding ring.





The Bridesmaids.



Millinery is a most important question in discussing a wedding, and we

cannot dismiss the question with the gown worn by the bride. A most

serious consideration is what the bridesmaids are to wear, and this is

generally only settled after long and serious consultation with the

bride.



It is generally agreed that all of these gowns shall be made by the same

dressmaker so that they may conform to the colors and styles decided on,

the gown of the maid or matron of honor differing slightly from the

general scheme. At a church wedding bridesmaids wear hats and carry

baskets or bouquets of flowers, but, if bouquets are carried, they

should be quite unlike the one borne by the bride. It is customary for

the bride to give her bridesmaids some souvenir of the occasion, and it

is expected that the groom provide the gloves and ties for the ushers.





Duties of the Best Man.



The duties of the best man are arduous, and it is indeed wise, as it

is general, for a man to ask his best and most devoted friend to serve

in this capacity. The best man is supposed to relieve the groom of all

the details of the ceremony and to take on his shoulders all the worry

incident to its success as a social function. It is he who purchases the

gloves and ties for the other ushers and sees that they are coached in

their duties; he procures the marriage license, if that is necessary,

and has the ring ready for the groom at the critical moment. After the

ceremony he is supposed to hand the clergyman his fee, and at the same

time be in readiness to conduct the line of bridesmaids and ushers to

their carriages. He must be at the bride's home, in case there is a

wedding reception, before the principal actors in the ceremony are

there. It is he who sends the notices of the event to the newspapers,

and, if there is a formal breakfast with speech-making, it is the best

man who proposes the health of the newly-married pair and replies to the

toast in behalf of the bridesmaids. He is the one member of the wedding

party who sees the happy couple off at the station and bids them the

last farewell as they depart on their honeymoon. This is perhaps the

time and moment when his good sense and social tact is the most needed,

The foolish custom of decorating bridal baggage with white ribbon, and

of throwing a superabundance of old shoes and a rain of rice after the

departing pair, may be mitigated by a little care on his part.