By Carole Owens
Two daughters of the Berkshires, Nathalie Sedgwick and Emily Sloane, were married on the same day, April 5, 1899, but the events, like the families, were very different. Nathalie’s family, the Sedgwicks, were leaders of society in Stockbridge, although they were poor by Gilded Age standards. Emily was the daughter of Emily Vanderbilt Sloane of Elm Court, who was an heiress and leader of society in Lenox.
The difference in the tenor and cost of the two events was clear the day before the weddings. In the afternoon, Nathalie tore an unwanted flounce of lace from her gown and stitched it up herself. That evening, she danced with her groom, Bainbridge Colby, at the Casino (a place for socializing, not gambling) on Main Street in Stockbridge. At her family’s mansion in New York, Emily hosted a luncheon and formal unveiling of her 200 wedding gifts. In the evening, she attended a formal dinner in her honor, and her groom, John Henry Hammond, enjoyed a bachelor party at the University Club.
On the day of the wedding, Nathalie’s gifts—glasses and plates, salvers, vases, and a silver box from a rich uncle—sat on a table downstairs in the Sedgwick house on Main Street, watched over by the family dog. Emily’s gifts included a diamond necklace and tiara; ruby and diamond pendant; and a pearl, diamond, and turquoise cluster pin. They were watched over by liveried footmen. Nathalie’s gown was sewn in Stockbridge by a local seamstress. Emily’s gown was made in Paris by couturier Charles Worth, and every detail—from “the deep flounces of the rarest quality lace” to the “richest satin”—was reported on the society page of the New York Times. Both brides did select orange blossoms to fasten to their tulle veils, and both ceremonies began at 12 o’clock.
In New York, carriages lined the street in front of the church for Emily’s wedding—some with people to attend, others to gawk. The New York Times reported, “In order to prevent crowding in the streets, a force of ten police officers will be stationed to keep the crowd back from the canopy.” In Stockbridge, Nathalie lived only paces from St. Paul’s Church. Still, in accordance with the importance of the occasion, she rode to church in a carriage borrowed from the rector. The local paper reported, “In the church at twelve, all the village waited; the grocer, the butcher, and the dressmaker, and some good old Boston names.” The church organ struck up the traditional wedding march as Nathalie appeared in the doorway, preceded down the aisle by one flower girl. In New York, an hour-long musical program played by a small orchestra preceded Emily’s arrival. As the great doors of the church swung open, fourteen bridesmaids and groomsmen walked ahead of the bride to three wedding marches.
The newly married Nathalie Sedgwick Colby had a wedding breakfast catered by Delmonico’s of New York “as it was a present from a cousin.” It was served on the lawn of the Sedgwick house. Emily Sloane Hammond returned to 2 West 52nd Street and greeted her guests under a mammoth bell of lilies and ferns. Guests were served breakfast in the picture gallery. The menu included filet de boeuf à la créole and pommes hollandaise. After a Virginia reel on the lawn, Mr. and Mrs. Bainbridge Colby drove themselves to the train station and boarded a train for their honeymoon in Canada. Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Hammond arrived at Grand Central Station with coachman and footman in livery. There, they boarded a private railroad car for Lenox. They honeymooned at Elm Court.
Given these events, it makes sense that Joseph Hodges Choate—the New York lawyer for whom Naumkeag was built—once said, “In Lenox, one is estimated; in Stockbridge, one is esteemed.”
