Chrystine and Joe's wedding

So this week I have the great honor of featuring my first real medieval wedding with the historically inspired Joe and Chrystine. The photographer is Jen Sulak of Pink Light Images www.pinklightimages.com. To accompagny their stunning pictures, Chrystine wrote a couple of words about the day to me:

Where:

Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, Texas.

Why a medieval theme?

"We chose a medieval theme because we love going to faire multiple weekends every year; it's something neither of us did much of before our relationship, but that grew on us together. We also knew that we didn't want to do something "traditional." Initially, our families didn't really get it, but eventually many of them decided to dress in costume, and they all really enjoyed our day."

Did you consider historical authenticy?
 "We weren't concerned with being historically authentic, really, but were more concerned with enjoying ourselves. We chose our clothes based on what we liked (they just happened to match... another sign that it's meant to be ;)) and we chose our ceremony wording in the same way. It sounded good and rang true to us, so we went with it!"

A proud mom and dad who came in awsome comstumes

The bridal gown:

 "As a little girl I remember drawing dresses with long bell sleeves and pointed bodices. I achieved that look (or at least a part of it) by wearing a bodice over a dress that I found and loved. The dress actually had decorative buttons down the sleeves rather than bells, but I LOVED it!!! I wore flowers in my hair that matched the celtic trim on the dress, and my normal faire shoes."

Tell us a bit about the ceremony:
"The arch bishop that was officiating our ceremony provided us with a 35 page document of ceremony wording choices. We chose a somewhat traditional medieval Christian text, because it was the most true to our thoughts and beliefs about marriage despite the fact that neither of us are practicing Christians. My ten-year-old daughter walked me down the aisle to live harp music and agreed to share me with my husband-to-be. I'd already been married once, and didn't feel that anyone needed to give me away, but certainly felt that my little girl would like to share me with her step-dad- She was more than happy to do the honors. After that our ceremony was really pretty short, but it was touching and I wouldn't have chosen anything else for us. It was perfect.

Tell us a bit about your party:

 "We had a pavillion at the faire for family and friends to gather after the ceremony, where everyone could eat, drink and be merry. We providded beverages and cake (everyone was on their own for food), and a champagne toast during which we announced that we'd just found out that we were expecting (we'd been planning for six month, but no one knew)!!!"´

What was your greatest challenge in planning the wedding?

I think the greatest challenge we had was communicating with the wedding coordinator about what was included and what we needed to provide. We chose an untraditional package, even for faire, and it was somewhat difficult to get everything priced out. Despite that, everything turned out perfect the day of the wedding, and we are thrilled with our choice to marry at a faire.



The daughter of the bride in a magical dress

What was your greatest/funniest moment?

 "I think the funniest moment actually happened during the ceremony. When discussing vow wording with the arch bishop, he recommended that most brides like to romeove a few choice words from the medieval text we had chosen: the honor and obey part and the part where the bride vows to be bonny and buxom at bed and at board. I chose to remove honor and obey but left bonny and buxom thinking that if more brides would make this vow, more marriages might stay together! I wondered who at the ceremony would really be paying attention to the wording and catch what I was vowing to -- my mother cracked up!!!"

The crazy beautiful cake from Renaissance Production

Any advice or vendors you would like to share with future medieval brides?

"I would love to recommend our photographer Jen Sulak of Pink Light Images. She was wonderful, ever-present, and yet knew how not to suffocate :) We absolutely adore the pictures she took and are thrilled with the memories we'll have forever because of her work. We also ordered a cake from Renaissance Productions, and not only did it taste great, but it looked beautiful!!!"