Wedding Extravaganza

The extravagance of weddings is a popular topic. We blame it on modern commercialism. But then, what excuse could President Ulysses S Grant have for the money he spent on his daughter's wedding?

For the occasion the East Room which was chosen for the wedding ceremony, was resplendent and aromatic with flowers and greenery. From the ceiling, suspended on floral ropes, dominated a giant wedding bell composed completely of flowers. Never before, in the history of White House entertainment, were the decorations so lavish, and the atmosphere so laden with perfume.

200 guests sat in the State Dining Room at the White House, their hunger assuaged by a seven-course wedding breakfast. The savoury part of the fare included chicken, woodcock, snipe and crab. For the dessert there was the ever popular strawberry and cream and cake. Punch was laid on, of course, possibly based on Mrs Grant's favourite recipe.

When food was eaten, wine was drunk, and good wishes were exhausted, Nellie and Algernon slipped into a Pullman carriage groaning under the decorative weight of flowers and flags.

Nellie, of course, stole the show. She was attended by eight bridesmaids dressed in white, four carrying pink bouquets, the other four blue. Algernon, showing himself a sensitive guy at a time when men were men and women had babies, chose also to carry a bouquet. His was pink and white.

The wedding dress chosen by Nellie was of white satin, fashionably bustled in the back, and trimmed with lace, orange blossoms and miniature oranges. Yes, I did say miniature oranges. What I'm not sure about is whether they came from grafted miniature orange trees, or bonsai trees.

Suffice it to say, that the dress alone cost $5,000. And that was in the year 1874. President Ulysses S Grant had decided, like so many other people, that spending money on a wedding was as a good an excuse as any. Especially if you have the money.

Vlady, an Australian Civil Marriage Celebrant, is an author of "The Complete Book of Australian Weddings", "The Small Organsiation Handbook" and an ebook "Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzle?" which you can see on her website http://www.vlady-celebrant.com

In The News:
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table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec/04/na-governor-talks-politics-marriage/cid=1276890264ei=pbM4Sa3BG6qi9gTDxOGYCQusg=AFQjCNEQdqJNiVpmB12L5ylc0ubEyS8JzwGovernor Talks Politics, bMarriage/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTampa Tribune,nbsp;FLnbsp;-/font nobr23 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By CATHERINE DOLINSKI Gay rights activists are planning to demonstrate outside your bwedding/b and reception to protest the gay bmarriage/b ban that passed in b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.wedlok.com/lasvegaswedding/ask_wedding_goddess/ask_the_wedding_goddess_are_wedding_jitters_normal-110419.htmlcid=0ei=pbM4Sa3BG6qi9gTDxOGYCQusg=AFQjCNGbHGU5teQQFQjyJ4JF4MayvVyBzAAsk the bWedding/b Goddess: Are bWedding/b Jitters Normal?/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWedlok.com,nbsp;NVnbsp;-/font nobr3 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1If your first bmarriage/b is over, then there is no going back. Even if you still have love for your ex, that does not mean you are still in love with him. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php%3Fid%3D14812019cid=1277495021ei=pbM4Sa3BG6qi9gTDxOGYCQusg=AFQjCNG7a8rAyMtSNvt1qV0rYY_nFBGXsgimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=lB8EvJliisAJimgurl=im.sify.com/images/dec2008/weddingfunctions_b.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Sify/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php%3Fid%3D14812019cid=1277495021ei=pbM4Sa3BG6qi9gTDxOGYCQusg=AFQjCNG7a8rAyMtSNvt1qV0rYY_nFBGXsgPunjab sets new rules for bwedding/b functions/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSify,nbsp;Indianbsp;-/font nobr16 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The state has nearly 1000 bmarriage/b palaces and banquet halls. These are used not only by Punjab residents but also a large number of Non-Resident Indians b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp%3Fnewsid%3D1211595cid=1277495021ei=pbM4Sa3BG6qi9gTDxOGYCQusg=AFQjCNG1PkEnCdg1edRDZsTz8FS_S-Sd2gPunjab sets new rules for weddings/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily News Analysis/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1277495021hl=ennobrall 8 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec/03/crist-yet-pick-wedding-bands/life/cid=1277260565ei=pbM4Sa3BG6qi9gTDxOGYCQusg=AFQjCNEGZ3bEqXrhLgVWtuOVgL-jrybdjQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=Q4rfpMUbO8kJimgurl=media2.tbo.com/mediamanager/2008/dec/03/1558_1203crist2.orig-max-640x640.jpg width=67 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Tampa Tribune/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/tampacalling/2008/12/03/why-impact-florida-will-demonstrate-outside-of-governor-crists-wedding-and-feel-perfectly-alright-about-it/cid=1277260565ei=pbM4Sa3BG6qi9gTDxOGYCQusg=AFQjCNGIA96uYH9mp3JARRCdrsOz9oVC4gWhy Impact Florida will demonstrate outside of Governor Crist’s b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCreative Loafing Tampa,nbsp;FLnbsp;-/font nobrDec 3, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1We are not opposing or trying to stop the bwedding/b. (That would be pretty silly since Impact Florida is explicitly and enthusiastically pro-bmarriage/b. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp%3FS%3D9456669%26nav%3Dmenu577_2_1cid=1277260565ei=pbM4Sa3BG6qi9gTDxOGYCQusg=AFQjCNErhrC52OabShxztS2svxB5SFw1xQCrist says he has #39;no jitters#39; about his bwedding/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWWSB ABC 7/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.panhandleparade.com/index.php/mbb/article/crist_wedding_protest/mbb7712300/cid=1277260565ei=pbM4Sa3BG6qi9gTDxOGYCQusg=AFQjCNGmMnwYIQPEpD8n7JDucHQX6MuWhgCrist bWedding/b Protest/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWMBB-TV/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1277260565hl=ennobrall 18 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
marriage wedding - Google News


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