Etiquette Trends of 1891

“A plain round cake for the bridal party alone...” took the place of  the “remarkable structure” known as the bridal cake, which had become the societal norm, from one first look at Great Britain’s Queen Victoria’s wedding cake, to right up until that point in 1891.

New “Fashions” in Etiquette

A plain round cake for the bridal party alone takes the place nowadays of the remarkable structure once thought necessary, and known as the bridal cake. The bride eats it, and somewhere in it is the pretty ring which is to bring luck to one of the bridesmaids. A newer and approved fashion of foretelling their matrimonial fortune is to pass around to the maids, on a silver salver, a number of tiny white cakes, one of which contains the magic ring. 

Another new fancy is to have the bride’s bouquet formed of as many separate clusters as there are bridesmaids. Just before she leaves the room, after the reception, for the purpose of donning her traveling costume, the bride divides the bouquet, tossing a bunch to each bridesmaid, and the girl who catches the first is supposed to marry within the year. 

It is more than ever the fashion to send out cards by mail announcing a baby’s birth. These consist of a little card on which is engraved the infant’s name, with the date of birth just underneath, and the mother’s card inclosed in the same envelope. – Los Angeles Herald, 1891

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia