Tea at Trianon: The Absolute Rudest Things You Can Do at a Wedding

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

The Absolute Rudest Things You Can Do at a Wedding

One reason I am fascinated with etiquette is that I am aware that my own manners are not always what they should be. I am certainly guilty of the second faux pas. From Elle Decor:

1. You arrive too early.
Yes, being punctual is polite, but arriving to the ceremony more than 30 minutes early can get in the way of final touches and ultimately cause more stress for the couple. "It's better to wait in your car than go into the venue and risk stressing out the bride by seeing her before the ceremony," says the founder of Perfectly Posh Events, Holly Patton Olsen.
2. Or you arrive too late.

The general rule of thumb for arriving to the ceremony is that you should be in your seat 10 minutes before it is supposed to start. "Walking in as the bride (or groom) is walking down the aisle is incredibly rude and ruins video and photos that are being taken," shares Brand Hamerstone, owner of All Events Planned. (Read more.)