DEAR MISS MANNERS: My daughter is getting married on New Year’s Eve, and wants to list her father’s long-term girlfriend on the program as her stepmother.
I am against this, as they are not married. The wedding is being held in a church, and right off the bat, my daughter is lying in their first sacrament to God.
What is the proper-etiquette way to name a long-term girlfriend on the wedding program? Help. My daughter is upset and won’t talk to me.
GENTLE READER: Your daughter may be upset at having been accused of sacrilege. Whether or not your assessment is theologically accurate, it adds significantly to the emotional pressure of the conversation.
Etiquette recommends a gentler approach. As an enemy of wedding programs (a sacrament is not a theatrical performance), Miss Manners is willing to take the blame for recommending that the offending program be scrapped in its entirety.
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)