A society wedding

by Kimberly Keagan
January 10, 2023

St. Patrick's Cathedral, 1901

Society weddings weren't just for the society columns. The marriage of Miss Elkins and Mr. Bruner hit the front page of several papers, including The World, on November 16, 1893.

St. Patrick’s Thronged with a Brilliant Assemblage
"The great auditorium of St. Patrick’s Cathedral was filled with distinguished people this morning, who gathered to witness the marriage of Miss Elizabeth Elkins, daughter of ex-Secretary of War Stephen B. Elkins,  to Edwin E. Bruner, who is a nephew of the late E.S. Jaffray."

St. Patrick's Cathedral was the dream of Archbishop John Hughes and, for the first twenty years, was dubbed "Hughes' Folly" because he built it on land in a thinly populated area considered outside the city. The cornerstone of the Gothic Revival Catholic cathedral, designed by architect James Renwick, was laid in 1858. War and lack of funding delayed its opening for twenty-one years.

The Bruner-Elkins wedding was officiated by Cardinal Gibbons who came in from Baltimore. The newspapers pointed out that he wore a new and magnificent cape of silver fabric. Guests included Andrew Carnegie and his family.

"The altar and sanctuary were tastefully decorated by Florist Bogart, of Sixth avenue. Tall and beautiful palms were grouped in the sanctuary, and there were white chrysanthemums everywhere."

And just like today, the most talked about part of any wedding was what the bride is wearing.

"At 11:15 the bridal party reached the Fifth avenue entrance to the Cathedral, and five minutes later, to the music of Meyerbeer’s coronation march, the party passed up the aisle, a pretty procession.”
 
"The bride […] wore a gown of white satin, perfectly plain except that it had a very long train and was edged with dark brown fur. She wore a long and flowing veil of white tulle and carried orange blossoms.” She was “followed by the maids, the maid of honor and two others being in gowns of very pale green satin trimmed with black velvet, and the demi-trains edged with fur; the other three were gowned in the palest pink, and all wore black hats with black ostrich feathers."

Like most weddings of that day, the ceremony took place in the morning and was followed by a "breakfast," which actually took place around noon.

“The wedding party were driven directly to the New Netherlands Hotel, where there was a wedding breakfast in the banquet hall, on the parlor floor. The breakfast was eaten standing. The guests were 125 in number, and the breakfast was followed by a reception, the whole of the magnificently appointed parlor floor being given up to the reception.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Bruner will go on a two-weeks’ wedding journey, and when they return will take up their residence at the New Netherlands.”

The Hotel New Netherlands on Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, 1901

The New Netherlands Hotel was designed by William H. Hume for William Waldorf Astor. Built in 1892-1893, it was 234 feet high and 17 stories—the tallest hotel in the world at that time. The structure was among the first steel-framed buildings in the city and was well-known for drawing the fashionable crowd...like the Bruners.

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