Etiquette for Widows and Widowers

A widow never makes wedding calls after re-marrying. Those who receive the cards, do the visiting.– Gilded age mourning attire for women in the United States and the United Kingdom was black, in keeping with Queen Victoria’s mode of dress after the death of her beloved, Prince Albert.

It is not usual to invite guests to the marriage of a widow. If a widower marries a young girl, the etiquette is the same as that of a first marriage. A widow must marry in the morning early, without show, and has only her witnesses and those of her intended. Her dress must be plain, of quiet color; black, however, is not admissible. On leaving church, the bride invites to breakfast the witnesses who have formed the party, but no other guests are invited to this repast. 

On the fifteenth day after the marriage, cards are sent bearing the new address of the married pair. A widow never makes wedding calls after re-marrying. Those who receive the cards, do the visiting. There is a month allowed for the return of the cards and the visits. When a single lady marries, after having passed the usual age for marriage, the ceremony should be simple and unobtrusive. – Demorest’s Monthly, 1877

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