The Sword

1290 AD, a woman with a sword
from the Royal Armouries Manuscript 

For a long time I have been focusing on the medieval bride, but with every bride comes a groom, and certainly he must have had some influence on such a theme. So an entry on a primarily male accessory, the sword is in order. And although it was the exception rather than the rule, women did at times carry arms as well.

The middle ages weres a time of war, and so there was numerous weapons in the average arsenal. War is among the great motivaters for new technology. Professional armies ermerged i the Middle Ages, much like the effecient romans a 1000 years earlier.

The sword came in many variations in medieval times.
Such as the broad sword, that had 2 edges meant for cutting as oposed to stabing. It was the tool of the knights and very expensive. They can be made both for one and two hands.
The falchion sword wich was short and with a single edge. It was a cheap and low quality sword, meant for cutting and slicing.
The great sword is huge and also with two edges. It was meant to be wielded with two hands and could weigh around 4,5 kg / 10 pounds. It required a great amount of training to wield properly.
Longswords had an incredible reach and thrusting capacity and was also meant for two hands.

Broadsword

Falchion sword

Greatsword

A sword were (and is) not a cheap choice for a groom, but it does gives a man a certain something. In the Bronze Age a warship could be bought with 10 bronze swords so you can understand the value of this weapon. If you are having the wedding at a medieval festival or reenactment museum, you might be able to borrow one. And once again I will remind you that you need a permission to carry that kind of weapon.

(Source: Middle-ages.org.uk)

The Landshut Wedding Festival

Every fourth year a festival Landshuter Hochzeit takes place in Bravaria, Germany reenacting the wedding in 1475 AD between George of Bavaria to Princess Hedwig (Jadwiga) of Poland. It entails days of celebration and entertainment along with loads of medieval food and beverages. The impressive wedding procession invades the streets decorated with banners and flowers for the ocasion.
I just want to bombard you with the amasing pictures from this festival. Some of them are from the official website, others by estrangelo edessa:

Bride and groom

Medieval festivals can be amasing to attend, and when it is build around a wedding I simply have to post about it :)
The bride Jadwiga was 18 years old when she traveled to her groom's home to be wed. It was a lavish party and the records tells that the guests consumed no less than 320 bullocks, 1.500 sheep, 1.300 lambs, 500 calves, and 40.000 chicken.
The city takes the festival rather seriously, the young men stop cutting their hair, and the girls are hopeing for the honor of being offered the role of princess Jadwiga.

If you want to see more pictures, go to the festival's official website and see the many photos. There's some great inspiration for dressing both men and women. The next festival will be in july 2013. If you get the change, GO THERE :-)

Medieval Favors

I am not sure how common it is to have a little gift, or favors, for your guests today, but Americans does it and some danes as well. I am not quite sure how long it can be traced back through time, but I do know that amongst the vikings your wealth was not measured by your riches but by your generosity.
With what I've read it was normal in the 16th century to offer your guest some sort of gift when they came to a wedding, especially in Italy and France (in France called: bonbonniere). It was a combination of a sign of gratitude and a way to share the couple's fortune with their guests. Mostly the gift of five Jordan almonds are mentioned. Each of the almonds would represent wellwishes: health, welth, fertility, longevivity and happiness.
These gifts of almonds were used by the upper class of the medieval times, along with other exclusive confectionary. Obviously this would make a fine favor for a medieval themed wedding.

Find a great step by step recipe to make them yourself on tastykitchen.com.

Edible favors in general are a good idea for this kind of theme. You can make or buy jam, mead, mustard and honey, or maybe include a genuine medieval recipe that your guests can try out at home. It can also be things like spices, herbs or salt, that had great value in medieval times. Chocolate hadn't arrived in Europe from South America at the time, so sorry guys - no wonderful chokolate favors.

Honey was the sugar of the Middle Ages

Salt was both for seasoning and conservation

Jam made from berries tasted as good on bread then as it does now

Of course there is the nonedible favors as well, such as pouches of lavender or rose petals used in medieval times in drawers with cloth and linnen to keep it smelling wonderful. One can give the guests biwax candles, flowerseeds, replica medieval coins or a medieval poem.

If you have a wax seal - then seal the gift

Coins may make a memorable favor

A seed favor can be done easily and rahter cheap

 I hope this quick list of ideas can inspire you to find the right favors. I must admit I had never heard of the tradition until I started planning my own wedding and I probably wouldn't have spend the money on it, if it wasn't because I got this amasing offer. I've made crests for both Robert and me and so because of a sale, I had them made into pin backs for the family, so wheter they come in costume or not, they are wearing the (new) family shield of arms. - in case any of my guests are reading this - Look the other way ;-)

"All Green from the Forest"- Centerpieces

Forest scene
1230 AD - The Carmina Burana manuscript

Summer has come to little Denmark and I have been enjoying the sunny weather by riding my bike now and then.
I decided that I wanted to make a couple of easy examples of flower arrengements, that I would make from simply going through the forest and fields on the outskirts of the city. This means that it's something you can do yourself they day before the wedding (or enslave some family member to do it). It's a cheap and beautiful solution and probably more authentic than going to the florist.
At this time of the year the fields are sprinkled with small flowers in lavish colors and wild grass or grain can also be used. I was lucky to find this little piece of heaven - a field wrapped in flowers. It might be a good idea to check out the area you want to go plucking from a week or so before the wedding, so you know what you have to work with.
The first boquet I made I used the wild flowers from the field. There were poppys and chamomile and some yellow and purple ones I don't know the name of. I put them in a green glass vase. In medieval time glass was valuable, but if there ever was a time to impress your family and friends with how wealthy you were, a wedding is definatly it. So glass vases are alright to use, if you care about getting it historically accurate.

It took me 5-6 minuts to put together using wild grasses, the cornflowers, rushes and grain. It's colorful, natural and really brightens up a room.
The next arrangement was more forest inspired, using ferns, oak leaves, a few of the purple cornflowers and a pinecone. Finally I had gathered thisles last year and dried them and they look great - like litte brown spiky maces.

A lot of the plant that grow in the woods and are considered to be weeds, can actually be rather beautiful when put into a bouquet. This one I saw on a danish blog - www.heltsimpelt.blogspot.com - and she called it a tribute to her garden weed. I think it look great with grass, goutweed, buttercups and what I pressume are chive flowers.

 What I am saying with this post is, that it doesn't have to be overly complicated or expensive to make a sweet flower or leave arrangement and that is how we are doing it at our wedding. The forest is filled with beautiful greenery that will fit a medieval wedding just perfect.

Beau Coop's Medieval Shoes

Sometime even the fashion designers get inspired by medieval times. As the devoted medievalista I am I have browsed the great internet for modern medieval clothes and decor, and came across the Spring/Summer 2011/12 collection by Carrie Cooper, inpired by a dark tale of a medieval mass murderess. There are both men and women's shoes and I liked them so much I wanted to share :)Women's shoes
Sandals

Boots

Flats and heels

Men's shoes

I know this is just a lot of shoes but I got carried away :) Aren't they rockin' medieval cool?! Go to this link to see if Carrie Coopers shoes are being sold in a shop near you.

June's Groom Gear: The Knight

I promised to make a serie about the groom's outfit, and now that a year has passed with bridal gowns, I thought it was about time to get started. (Don't worry girls, I'll still post those gourges dresses when I come across them).
The knight is the obvious place to start, because I think the reason many men choose the medieval theme or agree to it, is that they are drawn by the strength and valor the the medieval man represent. The knight is the ultimate medieval warrior and real ladies man (plus you get to carry a sword!).
The title of knight could be bestowed anyone by the ruling king or queen, but by late medieval times the title was considered preserved for the nobility and those born into wealth. The thriving litterature ascribed the Knight a symbolism that idealised the title bearers. They became the perfect gentlemen, christians and guardians of justice. Today women sometimes say that they love when a man acts chivalrious, which is an ideal cultivated in the Middle Ages.
Now for an eksample of an outfit: I love this combination put together by Etsy and Ebay-seller Morgana's Collection. It's not as over the top as it could be but the elements: chainmail, helmet, tabard, sword, leather belt and shoes and gauntlets make an accurate and cool impression.

The tabard is like an overcoat that you wear over the chain mail to show off your colors. The colors could depend on the country you fought for, (like England was red during the crusades and the french was blue), they can represent a particular order of knights like the Templar Knights (white tabard with a red cross) or the order of knights of st john (black with white cross). Yet another background for the choice of colors could be the family crest, which often had a particular set of colors or animals that was embroided on the tabards and capes.

A tabard is fairly easy to make - a big rectangular piece of fabric with a hole for the head - or fairly cheap to buy. What I like about Morgana's Collection, is that they can make you a tabard with any color or pattern you can think of.

http://www.lrpstore.com/

The chain mail can be a lot harder to aquire and more expensive. Try contacting the local reenactment club or a medieval fair, to hear if you can lend their chain mail for a payment. You can also buy one yourself if you want to. You must remember that it's heavy and can weigh around 15 kilos. It might not be something you want to run around with all day and night on your weddingday. My fiancee will be wearing a chainmail during the ceremony and when we go to have our photos taken. At dinner he will wear only a shirt and the tabard.

Gauntlets, shield and helmet are not necessary, but like with women and their jewelry - the more details - the better. A belt and leather shoes are however essential to achive the look and sword will definatly be the frosting on the cake. :)

Ana & Brian's period wedding

When I saw these photos, my eyes almost popped out of my head. The attention to detail in this wedding is unbelievable and their love for history shines through in every photo. The day was skillfully documented by John C. Haverstick Photography.

The bride wore a red medieval gown with cape, reminding me of the picture of the Bride from the wedding at Cana, by Gerard David (1500 AD). The fresh floral wreth is fitting for any periode bride and her long hair is like an extra jewel on her head.

The groom half resembles a viking from the halls of Valhalla and half a knight with his Gambeson war tunic and medieval sword. Some of the most succesfull themes require both men and women to spend time considering small things like belts and jewelry. The fur coat and headband really adds a final touch to the warrior tuxedo.

They celebrated with an outdoor ceremony, where a DARTH WADER(!) :-D spread rose petals before the bride and a hornblower announced the arrival of the groom. I love that they were so unafraid to incorporate thing that are meaningful to them and fun. You get the feeling that they wanted a relaxed extraordinary wedding

The dinner was served under the open sky and acompanied by blasts of fire, cake and swordsmen.

If the ceremony was scheduled earlier on my wedding day I think we would have enjoyed a couple of hours of medieval fun, games and dueling. Ana and Brian sure seem to have had some fun with their friends and dear ones.

Here's a video slide show with all the amasing pictures

At the end of the day the couple could begin their journy into married life and I want to wish them a magical mythic life together.