sible for
having everything in order.

It is no longer good form for a bride to be late at her own wedding.
Now, when the invitation says "seven o'clock" it is expected that the
ceremony will begin at that hour precisely, accidents aside.

The organist is engaged by some one interested in making the
arrangements, and is supposed to be in his place for a half-hour or so
before the hour of the ceremony; and while the guests are assembling he
discourses music appropriate to the occasion--a rambling, meditative
_pot-pourri_ of sweet and pathetic sentimental songs being a popular
and effective choice. In churches having a vested choir it is possible
to secure very beautiful effects in the musical adjuncts, the
processional adding greatly to the grace and dignity of the ceremonial.

The sexton, or his deputy, stands at the door, salver in hand, to
receive the admission cards as people enter the church. The invited
guests are met at the foot of the centre aisle by the ushers. An usher
offers his arm to a lady and conducts her to a seat, the friends of the
bride being seated at the left and the friends of the groom at the
right of the middle aisle. When, as often happens, the groom is "from
a distance," and few of his far-away acquaintances can be present, this
separation of guests is not observed.

At the appointed hour, the clergyman appears at the altar rail; the
groom, accompanied by his best man, emerges from the vestry, and takes
his place at the right, awaiting the arrival of the bride. At this
instant, the organist stops dreaming, wakes up, and starts boldly into
the wedding march, as the bridal party move up the aisle, in the
following order: First, the ushers, in pairs, then the bridesmaids,
also in pairs. Sometimes a little "maid of honor," carrying flowers,
precedes the bride. The bride, leaning on the arm of her father, comes
last. The ushers and the bridesmaids separate as they reach the altar,
and go to the right and to the left. At the altar the groom receives
the bride from her father's hand. The latter steps back a few paces,
but remains near enough to "give away the bride." When this point in
the ceremony has been passed, the father quietly joins the mother in
the front pew.

If the processional has been the "Lohengrin" march, it is thought by
many to be very effective for the organist, all through the ceremony,
to continue on the swell organ a dreamy _sotto voce_ improvisation, in
the course