Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, United States. Beverly Hills is surrounded by the cities of West Hollywood. Sometimes referred to as "90210," one of its primary ZIP codes, it is home to many celebrities, several hotels, the Rodeo Drive shopping district. A Spanish ranch where lima beans were grown, Beverly Hills was incorporated in 1914 by a group of investors who had failed to find oil, but found water instead and decided to develop it into a town. By 2013, its population had grown to 34,658. Gaspar de Portolá arrived in the area that would become Beverly Hills on August 3, 1769, travelling along native trails which followed the present-day route of Wilshire Boulevard; the area was settled by Maria Rita Quinteros de Valdez and her husband in 1828. They called their 4,500 acres of property the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. In 1854, she sold the ranch to Benjamin Davis Henry Hancock. By the 1880s, the ranch had been subdivided into parcels of 75 acres and was being bought up by anglos from Los Angeles and the East coast.
Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker used it for farming lima beans. At this point, the area was known as the Denker Ranch. By 1888, Denker and Hammel were planning to build a town called Morocco on their holdings. In 1900, Burton E. Green, Charles A. Canfield, Max Whittier, Frank H. Buck, Henry E. Huntington, William G. Kerckhoff, William F. Herrin, W. S. Porter, Frank H. Balch, formed the Amalgamated Oil Company, bought the Hammel and Denker ranch, began looking for oil, they did not find enough to exploit commercially by the standards of the time, though. In 1906, they reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company, renamed the property "Beverly Hills," subdivided it, began selling lots; the development was named "Beverly Hills" after Beverly Farms in Beverly and because of the hills in the area. The first house in the subdivision was built in 1907. Beverly Hills was one of many all-white planned communities started in the Los Angeles area around this time. Restrictive covenants prohibited non-whites from owning or renting property unless they were employed as servants by white residents.
It was forbidden to sell or rent property to Jews in Beverly Hills. Burton Green began construction on The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1911; the hotel was finished in 1912. The visitors drawn by the hotel were inclined to purchase land in Beverly Hills, by 1914 the subdivision had a high enough population to incorporate as an independent city; that same year, the Rodeo Land and Water Company decided to separate its water business from its real estate business. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission was split off from the land company and incorporated in September 1914, buying all of the utilities-related assets from the Rodeo Land and Water Company. In 1919, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford bought land on Summit Drive and built a mansion, finished in 1921 and nicknamed "Pickfair" by the press; the glamour associated with Fairbanks and Pickford as well as other movie stars who built mansions in the city contributed to its growing appeal. By the early 1920s the population of Beverly Hills had grown enough to make the water supply a political issue.
In 1923 the usual solution, annexation to the city of Los Angeles, was proposed. There was considerable opposition to annexation among such famous residents as Pickford, Will Rogers and Rudolph Valentino; the Beverly Hills Utility Commission, opposed to annexation as well, managed to force the city into a special election and the plan was defeated 337 to 507. In 1925, Beverly Hills approved a bond issue to buy 385 acres for a new campus for UCLA; the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Venice issued bonds to help pay for the new campus. In 1928, the Beverly Wilshire Apartment Hotel opened on Wilshire Boulevard between El Camino and Rodeo drives, part of the old Beverly Hills Speedway; that same year oilman Edward L. Doheny finished construction of Greystone Mansion, a 55-room mansion meant as a wedding present for his son Edward L. Doheny, Jr; the house is now owned by the city of Beverly Hills. In the early 1930s, Santa Monica Park was renamed Beverly Gardens and was extended to span the entire two-mile length of Santa Monica Boulevard through the city.
The Electric Fountain marks the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Wilshire Blvd. with a small sculpture at the top of a Tongva kneeling in prayer. In April 1931, the new Italian Renaissance-style Beverly Hills City Hall was opened. In the early 1940s, black actors and businessmen had begun to move into Beverly Hills, despite the covenants allowing only whites to live in the city. A neighborhood improvement association attempted to enforce the covenant in court; the defendants included such luminaries as Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers, Ethel Waters. Among the white residents supporting the lawsuit against blacks was silent film star Harold Lloyd; the NAACP participated in the defense, successful. In his decision, federal judge Thurmond Clarke said that it was time that "members of the Negro race are accorded, without reservations or evasions, the full rights guaranteed to them under the 14th amendment." The United States Supreme Court declared restrictive covenants unenforceable in 1948 in Shelley v. Kraemer.
A group of Jewish residents of Beverly Hills filed an amicus brief in this case. In 1956, Paul Trousdale purchased the grounds of the Doheny Ranch and developed it into the Trousdale Estates, convincing the city of Beverly Hills to annex it; the neighborhood has been home to Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Curtis, Ray Charles
Flower girl
The phrase flower girl is used to refer to a young female who scatters flower petals down the aisle during a wedding procession. However, the term can be used to refer to girls who sell flowers, such as the fictional character Eliza Doolittle. In a traditional wedding procession, flower girls are members of the bride or groom's extended families or a friend of either family and are three to ten years old. In a wedding procession a flower girl walks down the aisle with her partner the ring bearer or page boy. A flower girl walks in front of the bride during the wedding procession and scatters flower petals on the floor before the bride walks down the aisle, but some venues do not allow the scattering of petals, her outfit resembles a smaller version of the bride's wedding dress. Traditionally, a flower girl's clothing was provided by the families of the groom; some couples want a flower girl in the wedding party to enhance the aisle with flower petals. She symbolically leads the bride forward, from childhood to adulthood and from innocence to her roles of wife and mother.
The flower girl follows the maid of honor, may carry wrapped candies, confetti, a single bloom, a ball of flowers, or bubbles instead of flower petals. The flower girl may symbolize the bride as a child in her innocence, as she is a young girl dressed to the bride, she may symbolize wishes for fertility for the couple and the forming of their new family. Centuries ago, couples married for political reasons rather than love. In some cultures, marriages were arranged by parents. In these arranged marriages, the bride and groom did not meet before the wedding. Since procreation was the primary purpose of arranged marriages, fertility was a concern for the newlyweds. To symbolize the blessings of fertility and prosperity for the couple, flower girls carried sheaves of wheat and bouquets of herbs. In the present-day U. S. these historical fertility symbols have been replaced by flowers or flower petals. In the Roman Empire, flower girls were young virgins who carried a sheaf of wheat during the wedding ceremony.
During the Renaissance flower girls carried strands of garlic, based on the belief that garlic repelled evil spirits and bad luck. In the Elizabethan era, wedding guests would scatter flower petals from the bride's home to the church. Flower girls followed musicians in the wedding procession, carrying a gilded rosemary branch and a silver bride's cup adorned with ribbons; the cup was filled with flower petals or rosemary leaves, as an alternative to a basket. Other alternatives included a small bunch of rosemary sprigs used as a sweet posy or a small floral bouquet, incorporating sprigs of fresh rosemary; the Victorian flower girl most resembles the modern one. Victorian-era flower girls were traditionally dressed in white with a sash of colored satin or silk, her dress made of muslin, was intentionally simple to allow future use. The Victorian flower girl carried an ornate basket of fresh blooms or sometimes a floral hoop, its shape echoing that of the wedding ring and symbolizing that love has no end.
In the Western Europe, the tradition of child attendants in weddings was not limited to the flower girl and ring bearer but extended to the entire wedding party. This tradition is seen in royal and society weddings and weddings around the world, where several flower girls are common. Flower child Innocent Flower Girl article on TV Tropes
The Hogan Family
The Hogan Family is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from March 1, 1986, to May 7, 1990, on CBS from September 15, 1990, until July 20, 1991. It was produced by Miller-Boyett Productions, along with Tal Productions, Inc. and in association with Lorimar Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures, Lorimar Television. The show was titled Valerie and starred Valerie Harper as a mother trying to juggle her career with raising her three sons by her absent airline pilot husband. Harper was written out of the series after the second season because of a dispute with the show's producers. Sandy Duncan joined the cast as the boys' aunt, who became their surrogate mom. During the show's third season, the series was known as Valerie's Family: The Hogans, as The Hogan Family. Valerie Harper as Valerie Hogan Jason Bateman as David Hogan Danny Ponce as Willie Hogan Jeremy Licht as Mark Hogan Josh Taylor as Michael Hogan Sandy Duncan as Sandy Hogan Christine Ebersole as Barbara Goodwin Judith Kahan as Annie Steck Edie McClurg as Mrs. Patty Poole Tom Hodges as Rich Steve Witting as Burt Weems Willard Scott as Peter Poole Angela Lee as Brenda Josie Bissett as Cara John Hillerman as Lloyd Hogan Originally, the show was known as Valerie and its stories revolved around Valerie Hogan, who lived in Oak Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, struggled with everyday problems raising her three sons during her airline pilot husband Michael's long absences due to his demanding work schedule.
She contended with the regular uproar caused by girl-crazy and sometimes narcissistic 16-year-old David and his 12-year-old fraternal twin brothers and jockish Willie, brainy Mark —whose spotless academic and behavioral record at school came to be pierced by occasional bursts of rebellion. Valerie worked as the buyer for an auction house and was matched in wit and charm by her best friend, Barbara Goodwin; the family dog, died in a season-one story line. In season two and producer/husband Tony Cacciotti had increasing creative control over the show, the candy-coated tinges of storytelling were replaced by realistic humor. Barbara was written out of the show, the close friend/cohort role became occupied by neighbor Annie Steck, mother of a teenage daughter Rebecca. Another neighbor, busybody Patty Poole, began appearing as did David's friend Rich. A jock with a big-man-on-campus attitude, Rich was known for calling David "Hogie". Valerie had switched careers, now working as a freelance graphic artist, so she could be more available to her sons.
Like most American sitcoms in the 1980s, the series sometimes dealt with moral conflicts, but not in a heavy-handed fashion. In the episode "Bad Timing", which first aired February 7, 1987, David and a former girlfriend debate whether to have sex; the episode featured the first use of the word condom on a prime time television program. Parental advisory warnings were issued in ads for the episode and NBC placed an advisory warning before the episode aired stating that parents may want to watch the episode with their children; because of the episode's subject matter, some of NBC's affiliates either aired the show outside of prime time or refused to air it at all. The episode was released to home video for teachers and health educators to use as a tool to promote safe sex. After a modest start in the ratings, countered by critical success, Valerie had begun to show growth in the Nielsens by the end of the 1986–87 season, its most significant ratings jump occurred after its moving to Mondays at 8:30/7:30c in March 1987, following ALF.
NBC renewed the series for a third season in May. In light of the show's success and Cacciotti approached their producers and NBC about per-episode salary increases and a larger cut of future syndication revenue; when all of the couple's requests were refused and Cacciotti walked out on Valerie. Harper had prior history in this situation, as she staged a walking out in 1975 following the first season of her hit series Rhoda, which resulted in a pay increase; the couple continued to negotiate with Miller-Boyett Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures and NBC during the next few months as the behind-the-scenes struggle became well publicized. NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff, unhappy with the feud, publicly stated that he would replace Harper with another actress if the fighting did not cease. Tartikoff suggested Sandy Duncan as a replacement to Miller and Boyett, who both sided with the network chief in this possible casting decision. Duncan had signed a contract with NBC for a starring vehicle, Tartikoff felt that this would be the best opportunity for her to make use of it.
The announcement was unprecedented at the time. There was never a show that had a lead actor or actress fired from a show named after him or her, with the series continuing with a different star. Harper and Cacciotti felt Tartikoff was trying to spite them with this attempt of a threat and criticized his notion that marquee st
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network, a flagship property of Walt Disney Television, a subsidiary of the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, California on Riverside Drive, directly across the street from Walt Disney Studios and adjacent to the Roy E. Disney Animation Building, But the network's second corporate headquarters and News headquarters remains in New York City, New York at their broadcast center on 77 West 66th Street in Lincoln Square in Upper West Side Manhattan. Since 2007, when ABC Radio was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations exclusively to television; the fifth-oldest major broadcasting network in the world and the youngest of the Big Three television networks, ABC is nicknamed as "The Alphabet Network", as its initialism represents the first three letters of the English alphabet, in order. ABC launched as a radio network on October 12, 1943, serving as the successor to the NBC Blue Network, purchased by Edward J. Noble.
It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS and NBC. In the mid-1950s, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, a chain of movie theaters that operated as a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Leonard Goldenson, the head of UPT, made the new television network profitable by helping develop and greenlight many successful series. In the 1980s, after purchasing an 80 percent interest in cable sports channel ESPN, the network's corporate parent, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. merged with Capital Cities Communications, owner of several print publications, television and radio stations. In 1996, most of Capital Cities/ABC's assets were purchased by The Walt Disney Company; the television network has eight owned-and-operated and over 232 affiliated television stations throughout the United States and its territories. Some of the ABC-affiliated stations can be seen in Canada via pay-television providers, certain other affiliates can be received over-the-air in areas within the Canada–United States border.
ABC News provides news and features content for select radio stations owned by Citadel Broadcasting, which purchased the ABC Radio properties in 2007. In the 1930s, radio in the United States was dominated by three companies: the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Mutual Broadcasting System, the National Broadcasting Company; the last was owned by electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation of America, which owned two radio networks that each ran different varieties of programming, NBC Blue and NBC Red. The NBC Blue Network was created in 1927 for the primary purpose of testing new programs on markets of lesser importance than those served by NBC Red, which served the major cities, to test drama series. In 1934, Mutual filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission regarding its difficulties in establishing new stations, in a radio market, being saturated by NBC and CBS. In 1938, the FCC began a series of investigations into the practices of radio networks and published its report on the broadcasting of network radio programs in 1940.
The report recommended that RCA give up control of either NBC NBC Blue. At that time, the NBC Red Network was the principal radio network in the United States and, according to the FCC, RCA was using NBC Blue to eliminate any hint of competition. Having no power over the networks themselves, the FCC established a regulation forbidding licenses to be issued for radio stations if they were affiliated with a network which owned multiple networks that provided content of public interest. Once Mutual's appeals against the FCC were rejected, RCA decided to sell NBC Blue in 1941, gave the mandate to do so to Mark Woods. RCA converted the NBC Blue Network into an independent subsidiary, formally divorcing the operations of NBC Red and NBC Blue on January 8, 1942, with the Blue Network being referred to on-air as either "Blue" or "Blue Network"; the newly separated NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their respective corporate assets. Between 1942 and 1943, Woods offered to sell the entire NBC Blue Network, a package that included leases on landlines, three pending television licenses, 60 affiliates, four operations facilities, contracts with actors, the brand associated with the Blue Network.
Investment firm Dillon, Read & Co. offered $7.5 million to purchase the network, but the offer was rejected by Woods and RCA president David Sarnoff. Edward J. Noble, the owner of Life Savers candy, drugstore chain Rexall and New York City radio station WMCA, purchased the network for $8 million. Due to FCC ownership rules, the transaction, to include the purchase of three RCA stations by Noble, would require him to resell his station with the FCC's approval; the Commission authorized the transaction on October 12, 1943. Soon afterward, the Blue Network was purchased by the new company Noble founded, the American Broadcasting System. Noble subsequently acquired the rights to the American Broadcasting Company name from George B. Storer in 1944. Meanwhile, in August 1944, the West Coast division of the Blue Network, which owned San Francisco radio station KGO, bought Los Angeles station KECA f
The Eric Andre Show
The Eric Andre Show is an American surreal comedy television series on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. The show premiered in the United States on May 20, 2012, is a parody of low-budget public-access talk shows; the series is co-hosted by comedian Hannibal Buress. As of February 2018, all episodes have been directed by Andrew Barchilon. Gary Anthony Williams served as the announcer in the first season, being replaced by Tom Kane in the second season and Robert Smith from the third season onwards. A total of 40 episodes have aired over the course of four seasons. On December 31, 2012, The Eric Andre Show aired a 45-minute live New Year's special, titled The Eric Andre New Year's Eve Spooktacular. A second special, named "Eric Andre Does Paris", aired on February 18, 2018. There are plans for a fifth season; every opening of the show starts with an announcer saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's The Eric Andre Show!" before Andre destroys the backdrop and various furnishings as the opening song is played by the stage band.
As Andre sits, exhausted, a new backdrop and furnishings are pushed into place by stagehands and the music stops. Andre may perform a monologue, incorporating black comedy and surrealism. While Andre struggles to perform, his monologue may turn critical and aggressive as Buress provides derisive commentary; the show will typically be a mix of celebrity interviews and short sketches, candid camera footage, non sequiturs focused on Andre's absurd behavior in extemporaneous settings. At the end, a performer of some type plays over the ending credits. Ending performances are parodies of amateur acts common to public access television, while other times are musicians playing their music except with heavy twists, such as powerviolence band Trash Talk playing while wearing volume sensitive shock collars. Mac DeMarco once played while Andre initiated a segment styled after Japanese game shows titled "Attack DeMarco!", where numerous samurais entered the stage and began tormenting DeMarco. Guest stars appear throughout the show, with a number of them being faked with impersonators or random people, including Jerry Seinfeld, Russell Brand, George Clooney, The Hulk, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jay-Z.
From season two onwards, more actual celebrities appeared, including musicians, actors, or 1980s/1990s television stars, although other guests have appeared, including fashion designer Lauren Conrad, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, animation legend John Kricfalusi, adult film actress Asa Akira. The show was influenced by Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a series which aired on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Andre had said that prior to shooting the first season, he rewatched several episodes of it to "absorb as much Space Ghost as could". Andre asked many questions to Adult Swim executive Mike Lazzo, the show's creator, according to Andre, had no interest in the old show. Other influences include Chris Farley’s talk show host character from Saturday Night Live, "The Merv Griffin Show" episode of Seinfeld, Jiminy Glick, Tom Green, Da Ali G Show and Conan O'Brien; the look of the show, according to co-director Andrew Barchilon was intended to mimic "this iconic feeling that drove back to Letterman and back to Carson.”
Regarding the tone of the show, co-director Kitao Sakurai eschewed labelling the show as a spoof, saying in 2012: "I think implies that we’re 100% dependent on the material that other, legitimate talk shows supply, that we’re just living off of that. I think it's more of an alternate reality talk show rather than a spoof. I think that the interviews that we have with real people and celebrities have their own value that goes beyond spoof." Andre described himself as being "flat broke" and "scraping by doing commercials and random stand-up," including performing as a caveman for Geico, when he produced the pilot for The Eric Andre Show, known as Da-eyre-eyk-awn-drei-shoe. The pilot was directed by Andrew Barchilon and Kitao Sakurai, it was filmed "over a few days" in an abandoned bodega in Brooklyn in 2009: After filming some man on the street segments, Andre ran out of money and couldn't afford an editor. Knowing that it would be too difficult to explain how to edit the "slop pile of footage," Andre took on the task himself, spending a year learning Final Cut.
The pilot was sent to "a bunch of networks" where it was rejected on at least one occasion for "look a little cheap and public access-y." Keith Crofford of Adult Swim said in 2013 that, on seeing the pilot, making the show "was pretty much a no-brainer from there." Season 1 was filmed over the course of ten days, with the opening sequences all filmed together over two and a half days at the end of the shoot. At least twenty desks were broken while filming the first season and despite the desk being constructed of drywall to make it easier to break, Andre did suffer injuries during the seasons production. Filming of the first season of the show saw Andre receive a large amount of creative freedom, but The Eric Andre Show did receive notes from "Standards and Production" at Adult Swim regarding suicide, drug use and insulting specific deities: Andre commented that "I can curse out God, but I can
Orange, California
Orange is a city located in Orange County, California. It is 3 miles north of the county seat, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before 1920. While many other cities in the region demolished such houses in the 1960s, Orange decided to preserve them; the small city of Villa Park is surrounded by the city of Orange. The population was 139,812 as of 2014. Members of the Tongva and Juaneño/Luiseño ethnic group long inhabited this area. After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolá, an expedition out of San Blas, Mexico, led by Father Junípero Serra, named the area Vallejo de Santa Ana. On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the area's first permanent European settlement in Alta California, New Spain. In 1801, the Spanish Empire granted 62,500 acres to José Antonio Yorba, which he named Rancho San Antonio. Yorba's great rancho included the lands where the cities of Olive, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach stand today.
Smaller ranchos evolved from this large rancho, including the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. Don Juan Pablo Grijalva, a retired known Spanish soldier and the area's first landowner, was granted permission in 1809 by the Spanish colonial government to establish a rancho in "the place of the Arroyo de Santiago." After the Mexican–American War, Alta California was ceded to the United States by México with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, though many Californios lost titles to their lands in the aftermath, Grijalva's descendants retained ownership through marriages to Anglo-Americans. Since at least 1864, Los Angeles attorneys Alfred Chapman and Andrew Glassell together and separately, held about 5,400 acres along both sides of the Santiago Creek. Water was the key factor for the location of their townsite. Glassell needed a spot he could irrigate, bringing water down from the Santa Ana Canyon and the quality of the soil may have influenced his choice; the community was named Richland, but in 1873 Richland got a new name.
In the book, "Orange, The City'Round The Plaza" by local historian Phil Brigandi, it states, "In 1873 the town had grown large enough to require a post office, so an application was sent to Washington. It was refused, however, as there was a Richland, California in Sacramento County. Undaunted, the Richlanders proposed a new name – Orange." The small town was incorporated on April 1888, under the general laws of the state of California. Orange was the only city in Orange County to be planned and built around a plaza, earned it the nickname Plaza City. Orange was the first developed town site to be served by the California Southern Railroad when the nation's second transcontinental rail line reached Orange County; the town experienced its first growth spurt during the last decade of the 19th century, thanks to ever-increasing demands for California-grown citrus fruits, a period some refer to as the "Orange Era." Southern California's real estate "boom" of 1886–1888, fueled by railroad rate wars contributed to a marked increase in population.
Like most cities in Orange County, agriculture formed the backbone of the local economy, growth thereafter was slow and steady until the 1950s, when a second real estate boom spurred development. Inspired by the development of a region-wide freeway system which connected Los Angeles' urban center with outlying areas like Orange, large tracts of housing were developed from the 1950s to the early 1970s, this continues today, albeit at a much slower pace, at the eastern edge of the city; the city has a total area of 25.2 square miles, 24.8 square miles of, land and 0.4 square miles of, water. The total area is 1.75% water. Southern California is well known for year-round pleasant weather: – On average, the warmest month is August. – The highest recorded temperature was 113 °F in June 2016. – On average, the coolest month is December. – The lowest recorded temperature was 29 °F in December 1990. – The maximum average precipitation occurs in January. The period of April through November is warm to hot and dry with average high temperatures of 74 to 84 °F and lows of 52 to 64 °F.
Due to the moderating effect of the ocean, temperatures are cooler than more inland areas of Orange County, where temperatures exceed 90 °F and reach 100 °F. The period of November through March is somewhat rainy; the Orange County area is subject to the phenomena typical of a microclimate. As such, the temperatures can vary as much as 18 °F between inland areas and the coast, with a temperature gradient of over 1 °F per mile from the coast inland. California has a weather phenomenon called "June Gloom" or "May Gray," which sometimes brings overcast or foggy skies in the morning on the coast, but gives way to sunny skies by noon, during late spring and early summer; the Orange County area averages 15 in of precipitation annually, which occurs during the winter and spring with light rain showers, but sometimes as heavy rainfall and thunderstorms. Coastal Torrance receives less rainfall, while the mountains receive more. Snowfall is rare in the city basin, but the mountains within city limits receive snowfall every winter.
Old Towne, Orange Historic District
Bridesmaid
The bridesmaids are members of the bride's party in a wedding. A bridesmaid is a young woman, a close friend or relative, she attends to the bride on the day of a marriage ceremony. Traditionally, bridesmaids were chosen from unwed young women of marriageable age; the principal bridesmaid, if one is so designated, may be called the chief bridesmaid or maid of honor if she is unmarried, or the matron of honor if she is married. A junior bridesmaid is a girl, too young to be married, but, included as an honorary bridesmaid. In the United States only the maid/matron of honor and the best man are the official witnesses for the wedding license. There is more than one bridesmaid: in modern times the bride chooses how many to ask. No person of status went out unattended, the size of the retinue was calculated to be appropriate to the family's social status. A large group of bridesmaids provided an opportunity for showing off the family's social status and wealth. Today, the number of bridesmaids in a wedding party is dependent on many variables, including a bride's preferences, the size of her family, the number of attendants her partner would like to have as well.
The male equivalent is the groomsman known in British English as an usher. In some cultures, such as in Norway, the Netherlands and Victorian Britain, it has been customary for bridesmaids to be small girls rather than grown women, they may carry flowers during the wedding procession and pose with the married couple in bridal photos. In modern English-speaking countries, this role is separate from that of the bridesmaid, the small child performing it is known as a flower girl. In the UK there is a National Bridesmaid’s Day held on 25th March every year to celebrate bridesmaids. Although many exceed the minimum, the bridesmaids' required duties are limited, they are required to assist the bride on the day of the wedding. Bridesmaids in Europe and North America are asked to assist the bride with planning the wedding and a wedding reception. In modern times, a bridesmaid participates in planning wedding-related events, such as a bridal shower or bachelorette party, if there are any. These, are optional activities.
If it is customary in the bride's area to have a bridesmaids luncheon it is hosted, therefore organized and paid for, by the bride. A junior bridesmaid has no responsibilities beyond attending the wedding; the duties and costs of being a bridesmaid are parsed out between a bride and her attendants in a variety of ways. Since modern bridesmaids, unlike their historical counterparts, can no longer rely on having their clothes and travel expenses paid for by the bride's family, are sometimes told they must pay for parties that the bride wants to have before the wedding, it has become customary for the bride to present the bridesmaids with gifts as a sign of gratitude for the support and financial commitment that comes with their roles, it has become customary for women who are invited to serve as bridesmaids to first ask about the amount of time and money that the bride expects from them before accepting this position, to decline or resign if this is more than they will be able to give. In some American weddings, each bridesmaid may be asked to spend US $1,700 or more, with travel to destination weddings and pre-wedding parties being the biggest expense.
In the United Kingdom, the term "maid of honour" referred to the female attendant of a queen. The term bridesmaid is used for all bridal attendants in the UK. However, when the attendant is married, or is a mature woman, the term matron of honour is used; the influence of American English has led to the chief bridesmaid sometimes being called the maid of honour. In North America, a wedding party might include several bridesmaids, but the maid of honor is the title and position held by the bride's chief attendant her closest friend or sister. In modern-day weddings some brides opt to choose a long-time male friend or brother as their head attendant, using the title best man or man of honor; the activities of the principal bridesmaid may be as many or as varied as she allows the bride to impose upon her. Her only required duty is to participate in the wedding ceremony. However, she is asked for help with the logistics of the wedding as an event, such as addressing invitations, for her help as a friend, such as attending the bride as she shops for her wedding dress.
Aside from being the bride’s right hand, the maid of honor is responsible for leading the rest of the bridal party through the planning of any pre-wedding events. For example, the principal bridesmaid will be the one to make the arrangements for the bridal shower, including invitations, decorations and any games or activities that will be played, he or she will be in charge of planning the bachelorette party, including any travel or lodging accommodations that must be arranged. On the day of the wedding, her principal duty is to provide emotional support, she might assist the bride with dressing and, if needed, help the bride manage her veil, a bouquet, a prayer book, or the train of her wedding dress during the day. In a double-ring wedding, the chief bridesmaid is entrusted with the groom's wedding ring until it is needed during the ceremon
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