Page:Book of Etiquette, Volume 1, by Lilian Eichler.djvu/252

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
222
BOOK OF ETIQUETTE

issued in the name of the hostess alone, and the most fashionable stationers are to-day printing cards that leave a blank space for the name of the person to be invited to be written in by the hostess. For instance:

Mrs. Maurice Bronson
requests the pleasure of
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
company on Friday afternoon
May tenth
from four until seven o'clock
Garden PartyHolyoke, West Lake

In society, the formal garden party holds the place of an at-home held out of doors. Thus the following invitation is considered the best form, better even than the form shown above, although either may be used in good taste:

Mrs. Maurice Bronson
At Home
Friday afternoon, May tenth
from four until seven o'clock
Garden PartyHolyoke, West Lake

When the garden party is a small informal affair, the at-home card may be used with the words, "Garden Party, Friday, May the tenth, from four to seven o’clock," written by the hostess in the lower left-hand corner. This method is usually for personal friends only, and it is considered bad form when the garden party is elaborate and formal.

If the guest invited lives in another town, or must come from the city to the country, a small card bearing the