Show H HELEN E HAY H MARRIED Brilliant Society Weddingin Washington A NOTABLE SOCIAL EVENT Eldest Daughter of the Secretary of State and Payne Whitney Son of ExSecretary of the Navy Whitney Are Married at tho Church of the Covenant in the National Capital OnoThousand Guests Witness the Ono Guets Winess te Floral Decorations on CeremoflyPIrttl comtons Magnificent Scale Washington Feb6 Helen Hay eldest daughter ot Secretary of Stale John Hay and Payne Whitney oC New York son of exSecretary oC the Navy Whitney were married today at noon at tho Church of the Covenant The wedding wag the most notable social event of the season in Washington bong bo-ng celebrated by the presence of the highest officials in the land IncluJhijr ho President and his Cabinet and of what Is recognized aa the best of New York and New England society The Hay family has been in mourn ng since the death of Adelbcrt Hay but for this one day the mourning was put aside and the wedding was celebrated cele-brated with all the pomp that would have characterized it J otherwise PROMINENT GUESTS For several days past the guests have been gathering and preparations I have been making for the wedding The grooms father exSecretary William C Whitney came to Washington with a party of distinguished friends including in-cluding Sir Edward Colebrooke T Barney Mrs Barney and Mr and Mrs Gerald Paget while Payne Whitney about the bridegroom had gathered him at the Arlington a large number of his college chums and friends MANY BEAUTIFUL PRESENTS Presents almost without number have bee pouring Into the Hay home for the last fortnight and it is be leved their number exceeds 400 man being article t of almost priceless worth But Il has not been possible owing to the reticence of the family to obtain a complete list of these presents though I Ils known that they Include houses I and lands a yacht and Jewels and articles of vertu and art Without number num-ber jcrHANDSOME HANDSOME DECORATIONS The church where the ceremony was performed was elaborately and artls Ically decorated With flowers and and before greens Back of the pulpit ore the organ tall graceful palms formed n great bower of dark green and beneath be-neath like n miniature Niagara great sprays of Easter lilies trailed to the ground Candelabra twice o tall asa as-a man stopd at either corner of the ulnlt platform eaoh bearing twelve 1gh ts Down the centre aisle was a beautiful ful brldnl path made up of lilies attached at-tached t the pews on either side The walls of the church were festooned with Southern smilax topped off with great masses of Easter lilies caught up by bows of wide white ribbon ONE THOUSAND WITNESSES The church waa crowded Its seating capacity is only GOO which promised badly for the thousand persons invited In-vited I was believed that official Washington could not be accommodated accommo-dated even in a small measure so the Invitations were limited to friends of the contracting families the only exception ex-ception being In the case of the diplomatic diplo-matic body Even here it was mot possible to Include In the Invitations thc entire diplomatic list and the elect were tho heads of legations and their ladles alone So In the case of the United States Congress the persons invited Ited were those who were on personal relations with the Hay and Whitney families BACHELOR FRIENDS OF GROOM The ushers were all bachelor friends of the bridegroom namely Henry Clews Jr Frederick Kcruerhan John N Waterbury Jr Milton S Barger Sovernour Morris of New York James N Wadsworth of Geneseo N Y Hugh D Scott of Philadelphia and Major Charles L McCawley U S M C of Washington Mr Whitneys best man was Eugene Hale Jr son of the senior Senator from Maine BRIDES COSTUME The bride was assisted by two maids Ice wn < her staler Alice way ana jjorotny Whitney the 15yearold sister of the bridegroom They were prettily gowned In gray crepe de chine made over white silk and wore great picture hats of white felt with large white ostrich plumes The bride wore neither Jewels nor lace and her toilet was one of extreme ex-treme simplicity consisting of a gown of plain white satin completed by a tulle veil caught In place by a coroncl o orange blousoms MUSICAL PROGRAMME A beautiful feature of the wedding was the musical programme which had been arranged by the Hay sisters Four of the six numbers were selections selec-tions from Wagner The music follows The Pilgrim Chorus and The Evening Star from Tannhauser The Proccsalonnl I March of the Master Mas-ter Singers and the prize song from Die Singrs ersI1ger Wedding March by Dudley Buck The Swan Song Elsa Entering the Cathedral Sng El Cthcdml and the Introduction tothird act and wedding music from Lohengrin and 0 march MidSummer Nights Dream by Mendelssohn PRESIDENT ARRIVES EARLY Half an hour before noon the church was well filled with gueats and as the hour of 12 approached not n seat was vacant Admission was by ticket only President Roosevelt came early with Mrs Roosevelt and his daughter Alice On cither side of tho Presidential party werq the relatives and Immediate friends of the bride and groom and close beyond were tho members of the Presidents Cabinet Tho diplomatic corps were seated In the center of the church the place of honor being held by Lord Pauncefote the British Embas sador with the ladles of his family Minister Wu and his wife were promt font figures in the diplomatic body Which Included tho heads or charges or every one of embassies and missions to Washington BRIDAL PARTY ARRIVES The organist was softly playing the prize song from Die MeIstersinger ag I the hour of 12 struck Immediately the soft notes gave way to tho refrain oC the Lohengrin wedding march and the I bridal party entered the church and moved down tho aisle Miss llav leaned upon tho arm of her father and her maids followed closely The little party J was preceded by the lte the platform where the bridegroom with his best man stood In waiting Di Tunis Hamlln read the service and the responses were made in low but firm volceo by both bride and groom frm WEDDING BREAKFAST The carriages of the bridal party were driven directly to the Hay residence where an elaborate wedding breakfast had been spread The piiPHfn wpr limited much more closely than In the admissions to the church and besides the President with Mrs Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt the faces at the table were those of members mem-bers of the Hay and Whitney families allege chums of the groom and Jntl mate frlendq of the bride The house wa artistically dccoiatcd with flOwers and plants Mr and Mrs Whitney left In a private car on a short wedding tour during the afternoon and it is I believed their destination was Thomaavllle Ga |