Interesting! I would direct you to a Perry County OH web site that has a page of interesting material about old pioneer customs and habits: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~tfisher/fphpart5chap4.htm The part about infairs is near the bottom of the page - you can use your browser's search function to search for "infair" if you don't want to read the entire thing - but the whole thing is interesting. I love the part about how well the horses get into the spirit of the celebration. <grin> I found this by googling the phrase "old wedding customs - infair" and got a lot of hits. Last year I heard a speaker say she had about given up her bookmarks and was mainly using Google to find where she wanted to go. I've almost reached that same place myself. Carole Palmer Webster County KYGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~kywebste/ On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 09:06:02 -0500, you wrote: > Hi folks, > I am forwarding this to you-- first time I had heard of it. It is a response from the Wayne CO., IL mail list. Some person had written in telling a tablecloth was found with a handwritten note saying it was used at his gg grandfather's infair dinner in 1848. The gg grandfather was from Wayne County, IL, so I thought maybe it was something done in that part of the country that I am not familiar with. Below is the response-- I had never heard of it, and it may or may not have been a custom here in Dubois CO with all the German immigrants. It may have been a prevalent in areas with a high number of Brittish Isles immigrants. > It doesn't say whether the married couple was present, but since the honeymoon thing seems to be from the 1900's, the married couple most likely was present. Scroll on down and have a nice day. Helen Zuber Keusch > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Randall McDaniel" <spacegeezer@msn.com> > To: <ILWAYNE@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 10:24 PM > Subject: Re: [ILWAYNE] Infair Dinner > > > "Infare- alternately known as "infair" or "enfair" (from an old Scottish or Middle English custom). In a tradition dating back to the early 1800s, the bride's family gave a bridal feast the day of the wedding and the groom's family hosted a > wedding breakfast the day after. This breakfast was called an "infare." > It provided an occasion for family, wedding party, and out-of-town guests to visit and review the previous day's festivities. Travelers then departed, taking with them the warmth of hospitality. The rehearsal dinner is today's version of the infare. Many people may have never heard of the term infare, yet are quite familiar with the tradition. In the 1880s, it was an American custom for the bridegroom's parents to host an infare, or a feast, on the day following the wedding. Today, this custom has evolved into a Sunday brunch intended to give out-of-town guests more opportunity to visit with > family, friends, and other wedding guests before returning home." > > Randy McDaniel > Webster, Texas > > Researching the following families from Wayne County: McDaniel, Nichols, > Richardson > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to KYWEBSTE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message