Dress of the Month - April

This month I wanted to show you some modern-medieval alternatives, dresses you might choose if you want a medieval wedding, but a "proper wedding gown". When looking for this kind of dress think: simple, A-line/empire, fitted, (color, sleeves, a scoop/off the shoulder/sqaure neckline).

The red dress has no sleeves like most wedding gowns today, but the tight fit, the belt and the vibrant color makes it suitable for a medieval wedding. The shiny fabric also likens the valuable silk that was so sought after by the wealthy a 1000-500 years ago.

The picture above is a Maggie Sottero dress, modern, because it's white strapless and draped. But the slim silhuette fits the early medieval dresses, and the sparcling belt of crystals could act as an equivalent to the girdle belt.

This dress has the scoop neckline, a little bit of sleeves and an empire waist which became popular later in the Middle Ages.

The danish princess Mary wore a dress on her wedding day that could act as a modern medieval gown. It was designed by Uffe Frank and had a very simple, elegant silhuette. I like the ivory color, because it reminds me ever so slightly of gold. The details of the skirt are fun and the sleeves gives it that virtuous feeling that many medieval gowns had.

Finally if you cannot find a sleeved dress, you can always buy a small jacket to match:

This was a bit of an unusual post from me, I rarely write about modern dresses, but I am trying to make the blog as versatile as possible, and spreading the medieval madness to all of you. Good luck finding the right dress, whether it be medieval or not :)

Jewelry Designer Emily Armenta

I came across Emily Armenta when searching for medieval inspired jewelry for weddings. The designs has a timelessness to them that apeals to me and small elements that leads the mind to bygone days of knights and maidens. She draws inspiration from Spanish poets like Lorca and Antonio Machado and says of her collection The Old World: "I awakened to a vision of jewelry as a galería, a passageway, which connects the past to the present."

Earrings

 Rings

She also has a collection for men: Romero, with cuff links, rings and leather cuffs

I had such a hard time choosing which pictures to show you, and then I didn't even get to the bangles and necklesses. It's a pricy choice, but if you want to shower yourself in medieval luxury, I think this is a pretty nice way. ;)

Rainy medieval wedding savior

What to do when then big day arrives and the beautiful outside photo location you chose is a nature's shower? Most medieval ceremonies takes place outside also, and it will probably be hard to convince the guests to remain seated in 45 minutes while slowly getting soaked. At least you can just smile, put on these fleur de lis rain boots on, take your weapon shield umbrella and go dancing through it!

I had to show you these two cute safety nets for the big day:

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At least you can move through the rain in modern medievalness without getting the feet or the hair wet. And with the spring unfolding rainy days are very likely :)

Here Comes the Bride

Traditionally Wagner's Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride), is played when the bride enters the church. I think it's a beautiful tune but I have considered what it will sound like outside a church in the idyllic setting for our ceremony. I never actually been a fan of organ music and I would like something that sounds a little more like a medieval wedding. So I found Enaid who made this wonderful album Avalon - a Celtic Legend. Especially one of their songs appeals to me. It's cheerful, light and I could see myself walking towards the love of my life to it: Road to Camelot.

There's also a song on the album called The Wedding you might want to listen to. The most important for the entry song is that you like it, don't choose it just because it's medieval. :)

Placemats for the kids - a DIY project

This was made by an incredible creative bride, Liz, for her wedding in 2010. While at the local fast food place, she came up with an idea for the kids at her medieval inspired wedding. So she designed a placemat with small tasks like, colering, crossword puzzle, maze and word search with an overall medieval theme:

I really love the idea and it will give the kikds an opportunity to play along with the theme. There's also a couple of tic tac toe game and a connect the dots. They kan make their own shield too. It's easy to make something similar yourself, and if you like the idea just get going. :)

Jason and Sheila's Medieval Wedding

This wonderful wedding was first featured on the OffBeatBride blog, but I have to show you some pictures as well, because this is truly a romantic wedding with a medieval theme carried out in such sweet details. The photographer is the amasing Kari Bellamy (London, UK).

The wedding was held a bright july day in 2011. The forest was their church and  the High Corner Inn their banquet hall. With the bride's corset and silver crown the medieval gets a twist of elves and renaissance, but the overall feel is wonderful.

They held a pagan ceremony in a circle of freinds with a cord to symbolicly bind them together, hand and soul.

The forest photoshot is one of the softest and sweetest I have ever seen. They both look so happy and at peace. The woods are a great place to take medieval wedding pictures. It's natural, and the light falls in a delightful way when trees are there to part it.

The bride was dressed in white and blue, and with a celtic touch, that also can be seen in the groom's outfit.The English Costume Company provided the decorations and costumes and just look at the outcome:

The room was pretty modern, but with the wooden beams and the flowers it had the romantic medieval feel. The tables were set with ivy clad candelabras and small purple favor pouches.

There's a lot of joy emminating from the happy crowd of guests and with maypole dancing, love and cake who can blame them :-)

Looks like a magical wedding and I hope the bride and groom had that day of medieval wonders that they planned for.

Dress of the Month - March

This month I want to show you the ultimate royal dress, the rekonstruktion of a gown made for Queen Margrethe the 1. of Denmark. The original dress was made in the beginning of the 15th century and was kept in a closet near the queen's tomb in the Roskilde Cathedral. In 1659 it was stolen during the war by Sweedish soldiers and can be seen today in Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden.

The rekonstruction on a model

The dress is made with gold brocade, the most exquisite medieval taylors had to offer. Just look at it! It might have been tradition to have a gold dress when you were extremely rich, because I have read a wedding budget from a wealthy danish nobleman that mentions a golden dress as a part of the bridal clothes (along with 11 other dresses). The golden fabric is embroided with silk silver thread.

The brocade used for the rekontruction dress.

It might not be inexpensive if you want to attempt to make one yourself, but it would no doubt look like a fairy tale dress and be the ultimate medieval princess gown. :-)