The Night They Invented Champagne -

Home
>
Marriage & Wedding
>
The Night They Invented Champagne

The Night They Invented Champagne

In the dim past of the last century, good time girls like Marilyn Monroe always celebrated their moments of victory with a glass of bubbly.

'I'm marrying a millionaire,' she'd thrill. 'Let's have champagne!'

Corks would pop, and the golden liquid would swirl and fizz into those wide, saucer-shaped glasses. Well-manicured fingers would spread elegantly around the bowl, the wine sparkling invitingly through the hollow stem.

Then with a suddenness of an express train passing a station, the saucer-shaped glass disappeared. And a whole tradition of romance went with it.

For the saucer-shaped champagne glass wasn't just another glass. It was designed as a special symbol of its own. Its inspiration was the legendary beauty of a woman's breast. Some say that famous breast belonged to Madame de Pompadour. Not only was the lady fond of all things beautiful which only the affection of king could give her, but she wasn't beyond commissioning a special plate or two with her very own designs.

Another name suggested for the shape of the glass is Marie Antionette. Beautiful enough, and tragic enough. But those fond of anything really ancient are pretty certain that there was never a breast deserving of fame so much as that of Helen of Troy.

However, while no one agrees on the name of the beautiful woman who inspired the shape of the glass, everyone pretty well agrees on the bodily part it resembles.

As to be expected, the manufacturing wizard who gave the glass its birth was a Frenchmen. And it was the French royalty who realised its full potential.

At a brunch, or a high tea, while drinking their champagne, the ladies would pass the tort or the angel cake. 'Oh, my dear,' they would cry, 'do try the sponge cake with the champagne. Have you ever tasted anything so delicious?' And they would dip their cake or pastry into the bubbles before popping the champagne-impregnated morsel into their mouth. Lovers, in particular, loved to feed each other on this heavenly fare.

Then along came the wine buffs. With no romance in their souls, just their long noses and cultivated palates, they went into a scientific huddle. Taking a tape measure they first measured the perimeter of the saucer-shaped glass and then the tulip-shaped glass, and shook their heads in dismay.

The surface of the saucer-bowl glass is so wide, they complained. What a waste of bubbles and aroma.

They cared little about how generous and giving the rounded curves of the saucer-shaped glass looked. And they cared even less about the charm of the saucer-shaped glass when the bride and groom toasted each other with their two hands intertwined.

Their focus was on keeping the aroma and the bubbles in the glass for as long as possible.

As if a true lover of champagne would take more than a minute or two to drink the lot!

Vlady is an Australian Civil Marriage Celebrant. She is the author of "Complete Book of Australian Weddings", "The Small Organisation Handbook" and "Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzle?".

She is a member of Civil Marriage Celebrants of Queensland, and Celebrant Training Association. She is also a member of Australian Authors, and Romance Writers of Australia Association.

You can visit Vlady at her website http://www.vlady-celebrant.com

In The News:

Marriage is a sometime sacred thing (With apology to Gershwin's ...
OpEdNews, PA - 8 hours ago
If someone was found to have a wedding date that was a Friday, everyone knew what had happened. Like it or not the guy had to "man-up". ...

Salon
Love and marriage
Salon - 13 hours ago
Kym's sister, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt, of "Mad Men"), is about to be married, and Kym is granted a leave to attend the wedding. She shows up in her slouchy ...

Times Now.tv
Chiranjeevi in row after supporting
Indian Express, India - 23 hours ago
However, Praja Rajyam Party spokesman P Prabhakar said the actor had attended the wedding only as a guest and he had no role in the marriage. ...
Hyderabad: Kidnapping Case Registered against Chiranjeevi Daijiworld.com
Praja Rajyam not keen on alliances now Hindu
all 33 news articles

Washington Post
This shotgun wedding is a sacrifice at altar of power
Irish Independent, Ireland - Sep 5, 2008
But he must know in his heart that railroading them into marriage is a mistake. Not to mention a cynical public relations exercise. ...
Video: Raw Video: McCain Embraces Palin's Daughter AssociatedPress
Bringing Up Baby Hartford Courant
Levi Johnston has a Bristol Palin tattoo Osoblog
New Republic - UK Expressall 1,793 news articles

Same-sex marriage expo to be held on Sunday
The Desert Sun, CA - 20 hours ago
With about two dozen vendors from disc jockeys to invitation artists to dress designers, a same-sex wedding expo held in Palm Springs on Sunday will help ...
Same-sex couples get advice for the big day The Desert Sun
all 2 news articles

Times Now.tv
Case on Chiru over inter-caste wedding
Howrah News Service, India - 10 hours ago
6: The police has booked Praja Rajyam chief and actor Chiranjeevi for kidnapping in connection with the marriage of an upper-caste young woman with a dalit ...
'Politician' Chiru caught in controversy Times Now.tv
Cops slap kidnap case against Chiru Times of India
Inter-caste wedding: Woman backs Chiru Howrah News Service
all 5 news articles

Calcutta Telegraph
My big fat Bong wedding
Calcutta Telegraph, India - 8 hours ago
The desire often liberates the marriage from family residences, staid â€œmarriage housesâ€ and community halls into five-star properties and open spaces, ...

Cargill and Ford unite in marriage
Kilgore News Herald, USA - 9 hours ago
Keeping with tradition, she carried the handkerchief that her sister carried in her wedding, which was originally both of their baptismal bonnets. ...

Public Display
Washington Post, United States - 18 hours ago
... is on his second marriage or that Michelle Obama had a demanding career or that Palin's daughter is facing what used to be called a shotgun wedding. ...

Girls gone wild
Standard, Kenya - Sep 5, 2008
With careful planning though, it is possible to have your dream wedding and not start your marriage as paupers. ... Read more I do not mean to steal Claraâ€™s ...

marriage wedding - Google News

The Night They Invented Champagne

Marriage & Wedding