[PW] Womanless Wedding

[Bill Davis]

My thanks to all who responded to my query about the "Womanless 
Wedding."     Apparently the "mock wedding" is a custom that is almost as 
old as custom of weddings (or older, if you count the first wedding 
rehersal for the first wedding).  As an aside, the word "bridal" apparently 
had its origins in the "Bride-Ale," a drink concocted for for the 
festivities.  It's not hard to imagine a rowdy bunch who started with the 
libations and decided they needed a "Bride" and "Groom" to justify their 
celebrations.  The women had no doubt wisely absented themselves, so the 
men just had to "make do."

As for the expression "Womanless Wedding,"  WorldCat has an item with that 
title from 1918, the earliest I've heard of so far.  I imagine it is a 
pamphlet on how to stage one, with a proposed script.  WorldCat also cites 
a Master Thesis:  "The womanless wedding : an American folk drama," by Jane 
Xenia Harris Woodside (1987).  That'd be the place to look if I wanted to 
pursue the question further.

Thanks Again,

Bill Davis