Grandmother, how old were you when you married Grandfather?

I was twenty-one. We had a beautiful wedding, with more than two hundred guests. Big weddings were fashionable in those days.      

What kind of dress did you wear?  

Oh... it was a white lace dress. And I wore a long white veil.   

If I ever get married, I think I'll wear pink, the same color as my nail polish!  

CULTURAL BACKGROUND

Big weddings, of Grandmother's day as well as today, are usually church weddings. In the United States, it is not necessary to have both a religious and a civil ceremony. One will suffice, because the religious ceremony includes the requirements of the civil law: the couple must secure a license issued by the state. The actual wedding ceremony may be performed either by the state or a clergyman. It is traditional for the bride to wear white. If it is a formal wedding, her gown will be long, with a veil and perhaps also a "train." Large weddings also have several bridesmaids and a maid or matron of honor, usually the friends and sisters of the bride. The bridegroom will have a "best man" and as many groomsmen as the bride has bridesmaids. Friends of the bride and bridegroom and of their parents are invited to the wedding ceremony, which is usually followed by a reception at which refreshments are served and an elaborate white wedding cake is cut. The tendency today is toward smaller, more intimate weddings, chiefly perhaps because of the high cost of a big wedding, which traditionally is borne entirely by the father of the bride.

Source: English Teaching Forum - Author: Julia Dobson

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