UNPUNCTUAL BRIDES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24773, 25 November 1941, Page 3

UNPUNCTUAL BRIDES

AUCKLAND EXPERIENCES "THAT WRETCHED MAKE-UP" "That wretched make-up" was how an Auckland clergyman described one of the reasons for the unpunctuality of brides. He said that on several occasions when brides at whose wedding he was to officiate had arrived as much as half an hour late, the reason was traced to the fact that the girl, emotionally unstrung, had burst into tears in the car on the way to the church and had actually returned to her home to repair her ravaged makeup.

Not all Auckland brides (the New Zealand Herald says) follow the "silly tradition "—the term used recently by a Sydney clergyman—of being late for their wedding. Nevertheless, there have in the past been a large proportion who have followed this deplorable habit and many Auckland clergymen are feeling apprehensive, particularly with the approach of Christmas, the popular time for weddings. Some ministers are likely to be engaged for a series of weddings in the one day, possibly at half-hourly intervals and it lias frequently happened in the past on such occasions that the unpunctuality of one bride has upset the entire programme of the weddings following. Bridesmaids and guests have had to wait in the church porch while the preceding wedding was being solemnised, the bridegroom has had to be spirited away for the time being, and the bride, if punctual, has had to wait in her car. Weddings are not legal in New Zealand after 8 o'clock at night, and a minister recalled one occasion when, owing to the unpunctuality of a bride due at 7 p.m., the girl to be married at 7.30 had to have the ceremony, which takes about 20 minutes, rushed through so that the vows could be taken and the ring be on her finger before 8 o'clock.

Another reason attributed by a minister to unpunctuality was the lastminute rush in the completion of the bridal gown. Frequently, he said, this has not been finished on the morning of the wedding day and the lastminute fitting, sewing and pressing by the dressmaker has been carried out in a frenzied rush almost at the wedding hour. One young girl at whose wedding this minister officiated arrived at the church with her frock carefully pinned in places, but she at least was punctual.

Taxis are, of course, sometimes late, but here again brides occasionally deserve censure, for if a taxi had contracted to convey two different wedding groups to the church the unpunctuality of the first bride frequently makes him late for the second. To combat this deplorable habit on the part of brides one Auckland minister has adopted with notable success the policy of interviewing the bride beforehand and impressing upon her the necessity of being punctual. He points out to each young woman the very real anguish suffered by the bridegroom when she is late and also reminds her of the curtesy due to the wedding guests i-nd to all others concerned in the ceremony. In this minister's case his little homily to intending brides has been most satisfactory and he recalled a recent occasion when he had to perform six weddings at half-hourly intervals, each one of which was commenced on time.

The general opinion to-day seems to be that unpunctuality on the part of brides is due more to material factors than to the following of an ancient tradition, but whichever is the case it is one which can be easily remedied.