The Daily Dispatch: January 31, 1865., [Electronic resource]

Life in New York.

‘ "There is no inaction in matrimonial circles. The clergy were never more occupied in uniting people, forming unions rather than dissolving them, than they are at the present day. Then the weddings are got up in such splendid style, and the presents are so costly, that the friends of candidates for connubial bliss are kept painfully excited in bestowing costly gifts. Some weddings recently came off in the circle of my observation that were in splendid style and munificent in presents received. India shawls, worth eight hundred or one thousand dollars, were common; sets of pearls, and ear ornaments, costing fifteen hundred dollars, and suppers at receptions upon which two thousand dollars were expended, are not rare events even among those not in the wealthiest circle. But when that point is reached, the expense is almost fabulous, and the toilets and presents only such as might be expected among European nobility. The daughter of an estimable clergyman near Madison square was recently married to a son of the member of an old and wealthy banking-house. The presents alone to the sweet bride are said to have reached, in cost, the region of fifty thousand dollars. To be married, therefore, even out of the "charmed circle" of the opulent, involves fearful outlays and expenditures, which modest men absolutely shrink from. Cannot a society be got up to reduce bridal expenses?"

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