Holstein & Trusler
CAPVT II · Chapter the Second

The Order of the Day

ORDO·DIEI

Two places, one afternoon, and a deliberately short interval between them, so that nobody is obliged to kill three hours in a parking lot. What follows is the plan; the hours are still being settled with the church.

The Ceremony
Indianola Church of Christ. Come a little early; the pews fill from the back, as they always do.
[TIME]
The Removal to the Garden
A short drive to [THE HOUSE].2 Directions on the lodging page.
[TIME]
The Bar Opens
Wine, beer, and spirits, from this hour until the lights come up.
[TIME]
Dinner, Briskly
Served so that you may go back for more, and so that we may get to the dancing.
[TIME]
The Dancing
The whole object of the enterprise. Tell us on the reply card what will get you out there.
[TIME]
Mutatio Vestis · The Change of Costume
The groom, whose field is Roman history, assumes the toga.3 Guests minded to do likewise are warmly encouraged and entirely on their own for materials.
[TIME]
Last Call
Please do not drive. See the lodging page, or let us find you a ride.
[TIME]
The Attire
Garden party.1 A summer afternoon on grass: linen, florals, a good hat if you own one. Heels at your own peril.
Coming from Away
Fly into John Glenn Columbus International (CMH). Rooms are held at [HOTEL] under [BLOCK NAME] until [DATE]. Book the block
1 “Garden party attire” is a term of art with no governing authority. The groom, whose field is history, notes that the phrase enters English usage in the 1860s alongside the garden party itself, and that no guest has ever been turned away from one for guessing wrong. Wear linen.
2 The house is rented and the address is forthcoming. We are aware that this is the least helpful sentence on the page, and it will be the first thing corrected.
3 The toga was the formal dress of the Roman male citizen — foreigners and exiles were barred from wearing one — and it was so unwieldy that putting it on generally required help. The Romans themselves avoided it whenever they decently could: Suetonius has Augustus, disgusted by a crowd of citizens in dark cloaks, quote Virgil on the gens togata and instruct the aediles to admit nobody to the Forum without one, and Juvenal writes that across much of Italy a man puts on a toga only when he is dead. The groom knows all of this and intends to proceed regardless.