Black Wedding the Last Word in Ceremonies

1917

Even Blasé New York Sits Up and Takes Notice of Ebony-hued Marriage of Man-Milliner and Model

BY GEORGE MARTIN

NEW YORK, Jan. 22.—A black wedding, one of the most remarkable ceremonies ever performed in this country and one which made even blasé New York sit up and stare, was celebrated at the Church of St. Vincent de Paul, here, Monday.

It was completely black and the first wedding of its kind ever planned made the little fashion model, Eleanor Klinger, the bride of Ora Cne, designer.

From the limousine in which they threaded their way among the skyscrapers to the little church in 23rd street, to the handles on the silver service at their wedding breakfast, everything down to the most minute detail, was coal black.

Even the serving men were black; and everyone with any part in the ceremony wore black, including black gloves.

As the big black car whirled up to the curb at 9 o'clock, the driver who had a black mustache, twisted the black handle on the door and out popped the little bride and groom. They were dressed in black from head to foot. Cne, a handsome, stocky young fellow, a little below medium height, wore a single-breasted black broadcloth, cut business style and fitting close.

His collar was black and his string tie and his black silk shirt blended into his black vest.

The little bride, tripping across the sidewalk with her soon-to-be, wore black silk slippers, a black silk dress sparingly overlaid with black chiffon. Her wedding veil was a broad strip of black silk edged and overlaid with black tulle, ending in large bows.

This wedding veil and train are detachable, so, as the bridegroom explained, "it can be used either for mourning or evening."

The bride's corsage bouquet was of black pansies.

After the ceremony Mr. and Mrs. Cne sped to their black wedding breakfast at the Cne appartment in Forty-third street. There Cne's black valet served black coffee, black bread, black butter (dyed), black bass, black raisins and blackberries.

The breakfast room was in black and white, with ebony furniture and black rugs. The silver service, from coffee set to teaspoons, was fitted with dull finished ebony handles. The porcelain service was black with an edging of white.

Cne — and his bride will begin a tour of the large cities of the country with their visit to Philadelphia Friday where Cne will address the Teachers' Institute of Domestic Science. Later they will go to Fort Wayne, Ind., Cne's home town, and to Omaha, Minneapolis, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and later on the west coast.

—The La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, La Crosse, Wisconsin, January 22, 1917, page 5.

Note: The sentence "it can be used either for mourning or evening" might have a typo in it, but it makes a great pun, whether Cne meant it that way or not. Probably not.