2 October 1897 - 'An Afternoon Wedding' by Mary Pocock - Part Two

For part one, click the tag 'an afternoon wedding'.

With regard to the dishes the following list may be useful to choose from: Sandwiches, ham, tongue, potted meat of any kind, with a little mustard (green) and cress, hard-boiled egg, with or without cress, chicken and watercress, shrimps that have been pounded in a mortar with very little nepaul or cayenne pepper, anchovy paste, or potted anchovies, cucumber, mustard and cress, watercress, shred celery, guava or quince jelly, or jam of any kind.

While writing of sandwiches, I would like to remind those who have to provide, that their success depends on the sandwiches being nicely cut and evenly buttered, and most important of all, that the bread of which they are made should be suitable and quite fresh, the general complaint being that the sandwiches "are so dry".

I always use newly-baked tin sandwich-loaves, and after they are made lodge a small plate on top of each pile, then cover with a cloth until wanted. In the course of cutting, the bread loses its newness, but at the same time when put on table, the edges are never curled and hard, as with dry bread. A variety is made by having some of the tiny rolls made for sandwiches; they are an inch wide and about three inches long, they are cut open and what is wished is put on, each making one sandwich. They are convenient and look tempting; the outsides are glazed brown. It is well to have a few dishes of these on table as well as the cut sandwiches.

2 October, 1897 - 'An Afternoon Wedding' by Mary Pocock - Part 1

Part one: general notes and a very detailed suggested table-setting for an average middle- to upper-middle-class wedding party at home. Part two with recipes to follow.
 
Since it has become the fashion to be married in the afternoon, a "breakfast" is seldom given. Twenty years ago the so-called wedding breakfast was the rule, though it then was really a luncheon, being generally served between one and half past one, and frequently commencing with clear soup. I remember about that time a wedding at the Grosvenor Hotel, at which, besides clear soup, two hot entrees were handed. I never saw tea or coffee at a wedding breakfast, but longer ago than that, both of these used to be on table at weddings. Breakfast was then usually at noon, sometimes even earlier. Of course, if the newly married pair were going any distance, it was necessary to leave much earlier in the day than it is now; express trains did not run fifty years ago at the present rate of speed. It was not possible to start for a long journey after afternoon tea with the expectation of ariving at one's destination in time for dinner! The quickness of locomotion I think has had a great deal to do with the change to the more comfortable and convenient arrangement of afternoon weddings, which were made possible by the alteration of the law which fomerly obliged people to be married before noon.

A wedding reception now is much the same in most respects as an ordinary afternoon party. The drawing-room is usually reserved for the display of presents, which are placed with the donors' cards (usually sent with gifts) on them. If there are many presents, they are placed on tables round the room, jewellery, and small articles of value, being put in glass cases. At wedding crushes in town it is necessary to have a detective in the house, for it is impossible that the bride's family should know all the bridegroom's friends, consequently strangers can go in with little risk of detection, and many thefts have been perpetrated in that way. It is only necessary for a well-dressed person to present himself at the door to gain admission to the house.