MARRIAGES IN THE FASHIONABLE WORLD
by Anon
The Young Englishwoman (March 1875)
The marriage of the Earl of Onslow and the Hon. Florence Coulston Gardner, eldest daughter of Lord and Lady Gardner, was solemnised on the 3rd at St. George's, Hanover Square. The Bishop of Winchester and the Rev. G. Bowles, rector of Clandon, officiated. The bride wore a long sweeping dress of white silk, the front breadth being of satin, made with intricate plaitings and trails of white flowers, point d’Alençon, and crape lissé. The veil was tulle; ornaments, diamonds. She was accompanied by six bridesmaids, two of them little children. They were all dressed alike in light blue Japanese silk, made with plissé flounces, and sleeveless jackets of cashmere of the same shade. The bonnets were blue tulle with pendant veils, and wreaths of white, blue, and pink hyacinth. They all had gold lockets, with a true lover’s knot and monogram in enamel, presented by the bridegroom. Among the noticeable costumes were a rich white silk dress, and dolman trimmed with swansdown, the white bonnet having a profusion of swansdown; a mauve silk, trimmed with velvet and point lace, the latter being carried across the front breadth and a mouse-coloured silk, richly trimmed with velvet of the same shade, and introduced as a violin back and on the front of the bodice; the bonnet was of the same mixture exactly. Grey fur was also used as a trimming on this dress. Lord Elliot acted as best man. The wedding party adjourned to Dover Street, Piccadilly, where the breakfast was served. Among the company were Viscount Midleton, Lord Elliot, Lady Anna Loftus, Mrs. Onslow, Sir Baldwin and Hon. Lady Leighton, Lady Marian Springfield, Gen. and Mrs. Gardiner, etc. Early in the afternoon, the bride and bridegroom left town for Dover, en route for the Continent. The wedding gifts were very numerous.
The marriage of Capt. the Hon. F. J. A. Chichester (20th Hussars) and Lady M. Steward, fourth surviving daughter of the Earl of Galloway, was solemnised on the 4th, at St. Peter’s, Eaton Square. Two large white bouquets were placed on the altar, and the earlier part of the service was performed in the body of the church, the conclusion in the chancel, and here a very eloquent address was delivered on marriage. The bride’s dress was a very rich white silk, made with treble box-plaitings, down the back of which were long bows at intervals; the front had a tunic formed of stripes of pearl embroidery, a Valenciennes lace veil covering the whole. The bridesmaids wore long plain white silk skirts, bordered with a gathered band of the same; over this were tunics of soft figured white silk, having dark blue velvet trimming; the bodices were of blue figured silk, with violin backs and sleeves of velvet; the hats white silk, blue velvet trimmings, and feathers. The dresses worn by the very numerous guests were exceptionally rich and fashionable. The young ladies wore cashmere dresses mostly, and hats turned up in front. The married ladies were all in rich silk or velvet. One costume consisted of a plain skirt of black velvet, with a habit-like bodice trimmed with white lace; a plain skirt of ruby velvet with rich point d’Alençon about it, with this a white cashmere shawl and white bonnet were worn. A light flame-coloured silk had a satin-striped tunic of the same shade, and a profusion of deep lace about the skirt; hat of black velvet, lace, and trimmings to match the dress completed the costume, with which was a black velvet sash, very richly embroidered in coloured silk. A very handsome silk of two shades of petunia was worn with a bonnet to match, and lace shawl. All the dresses were made without trimming on the back, save, perhaps, bows down the treble box-plaits, the front either froncé, or generally arranged in horizontal plaits, with plissé flouncing by way of trimming. A rich silk in two shades of green was made in this way, as were many others. Chiné silk as back breadths, with fronts of coloured silk were also very general, and all of the bonnets seemed of the round hat shape, turned up in front.
The marriage of Mr. S. G. Stopford Sackville, M. P. for North Hants, and Miss Edith Frances Rashleigh only child of the late William and the Hon. Mrs. Rashleigh, of Menabilly and Point Neptune, Cornwall, was solemnised on the 4th, at St. George’s, Hanover Square. Among the dresses worn by the guests, we particularly noticed a long peach-coloured silk, and bonnet of the same shade; a rich black velvet trimmed with bugle and lace; a lavender silk, with grenat trimming; a very handsome Indian shawl worn with a dark blue silk dress and bonnet; a red mauve silk and velvet costume with a bonnet of a lighter shade trimmed with long ostrich feathers of the two colours; a long, sweeping train of smoke-coloured silk, the front elaborately trimmed with old lace, and a bonnet to match, worn with a black velvet jacket trimmed with ermine; a rich brown silk of two shades was made with a violin back of the darker and a front breadth of the darker; the lighter making the back breadths. The bride wore a magnificent white satin dress, trimmed with heavy plaitings round the skirt, a wreath of white flowers, and a rich lace veil. There were seven bridesmaids. Three little girls of exactly the same height walked up the church behind the bride. They wore short flounced blue silk skirts, white cashmere tunics, and sleeveless jackets bound with brown fur, and sash round hats, with blue ribbon bows, the hair tied with blue bows. The four elder ones were in long grenat silk skirts, deep white costume tunics gracefully draped, sleeveless bodice of the same, and grenat silk sleeves in Henry II style, having puffings of white, felt hats and velvet and feathers. The bridal procession was quite unique, the contrast between the three little bridesmaids in blue and white, and the four elder ones in grenat and white, being so marked.
A numerous and fashionable company assembled on the 4th at the Oratory, Brompton, on the occasion of the marriage of Mr. Philip John Canning Howard, only son of Mr. Philip Henry Howard, F.S.A., of Corby Castle (sometime M..P. for Carlisle), to Miss Alice Clare Maxwell, youngest daughter of the late Hon. Peter Maxwell. The Duke of Norfolk, Lady Petre and Hon. Misses Petre, Lady Dormer, Lady Chichester and Misses Chichester, Colonel Butler Bowden, Hon. Joseph Maxwell Scott, Hon. H. and Mrs. Petre and Miss Petre, and a host of friends and relatives were present. The bride on reaching the Oratory was accompanied by her eight bridesmaids - Hon. Winifride Maxwell, Miss Howard and Miss Agnes Howard of Corby, Hon. Bertha Clifford, Miss Rosamund Petre, Miss Fleming, Miss Juliana Maxwell, and Miss Constance Weld. The bride wore a dress of white satin duchesse, trimmed with old Brussels lace flounces (the gift of the Hon. Mrs. Constable Maxwell), crèpe lissé and orange flowers, and a wreath of orange flowers and tulle veil, which was fixed to her hair by diamond-mounted pins. Her jewels were a necklace of diamonds (an heirloom of the Howards of Corby), and diamond earrings, and in the front of her bodice a choice spray of the finest diamonds. The bridesmaids were dressed alike in pale maize poult de soie, made with drawn fronts, plaited flounces, and the skirts arranged at the back with large bows and plaits, and the bodices trimmed with primroses and violets. Each young lady wore a wreath of primroses and violets, from which depended long tulle veils, and also carried bouquets of violets and primroses. Each bridesmaid wore a jewel, the gift of the bridegroom, with monogram in enamel in the shape of a cross. The marriage rite was celebrated by the Hon. And Right. Rev. Dr. Clifford, Bishop of Clifton, assisted by the Rev. Canon Vavasour and the Rev. Father Ryami, O.S.B. On leaving the Oratory, the wedding party proceeded to 14, Queensberry-place, South Kensington, to breakfast; and afterwards, the young wedded couple took their departure, amidst a shower of old satin shoes and rice, for Folkestone, on their way to Paris, where they will make a brief séjour on their way to Biarritz, where they purpose to spend the honeymoon. The bridal presents amounted to upwards of 200 in number.