Perfect Behavior: A Guide for Ladies and Gentlemen in All Social Crises

This discovery had— and still has— a remarkable effect upon the celebration of the marriage rite. Gradually there grew up around the wedding a number of customs. With the Haig brothers’ discovery of Scotch whiskey began, as a matter of course, the institution of the “bachelor dinner.” “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and exactly twelve years after the first “bachelor dinner” came the discovery of bicarbonate of soda. From that time down to the present day the history of the etiquette of weddings has been that of an increasing number of intricate forms and ceremonies, each age having added its particular bit of ritual. The modern wedding may be said to be, therefore, almost an “Outline of History” itself.