Dear Edith, Is it appropriate to open gifts before the wedding and do we send thank you notes now or do we have to wait to send thank you notes until after the wedding?

ANSWER: By all means open your wedding gifts before the wedding and send immediate thank you notes as soon a possible. Friends will appreciate being informed sooner rather than later that their gifts have been received, and it relieves you from writing that many more notes after the honeymoon. If there is space to do so, some people display their wedding gifts at home for family and friends to admire before the wedding.

Dear Edith, I am trying to decide whether or not to include a card inside the invitation that tells where my fiancé and I have registered for gifts. I have seen this done, but all my friends tell me this is poor etiquette.

ANSWERS: Your friends are correct when they tell you that including a card inside a wedding invitation is indeed poor etiquette! One never mentions gifts on a wedding invitation. I know that as a convenience stores give out cards stating where you are registered, but these cards need only be passed out by immediate family members, when friends ask where you are registered. On the other hand, one may inform guests on the invitation to a bridal shower where the bride is registered.

Dear Edith, In what order to the bridesmaids walk down the aisle?

ANSWER: Bridesmaids walk down the aisle  according to their height, followed by the maid of honor, then the flower girl, who the precedes the bride.

Dear Edith, What is the origin of the garter toss?

ANSWER: The garter toss originated in olden times when guests used to rip off pieces of the bride’s gown as a good luck souvenier and in self defense the bride threw her garter to the crowd.  Today many couples eliminate the garter toss completely.

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