My Medieval Wedding - the Official Pictures

After champagne our family was taken on a guided tour around the museum while we took the not so standard wedding photos. :-) First on the jousting tribune. Oh and once again, the photographer is the brilliant Emiel Rye.
We wanted our pictures to show a story and be as playful as we are. What's the use of having a medieval theme if you have to be all serious about the photos?
I am not going to comment each one, just a plain photo bombardment.

And as we say in Denmark: When the end is good all is well ;-)

My Medieval Wedding - Family Portraits and Strawberry Champagne.

 It's been more than a while since I posted but I am busy writing my Bacholor at the moment. Still I just wanted to continue a bit on my neglected tale of our wedding day.

We ended the ceremony walking out to another Enaid song - The Road to Camelot as our guests showered  us with rice and dried flowers, roses and lavender. The tradition comes from medieval times when the guests would
toss grain on the bride and groom to ensure them fertility.
I smiled so much my cheeks hurt and it was a wonderful relief to walk away with my husband.

After the congratulations and a whole lot of kissing I could finally greet our guests properly. My dad had brewed his own Strawberry and Elderflower champagne that we toasted in and took the time to marvel at the amount of effort our guests had put into their outfits.
The DIY banners I had made fit very well in the Naust were we took the drinks and added a little color.
To the left you can see my wonderful dad and sister taking charge of the champagne.

 

Our photographers picked a spot by the lake were we could take pictures of the closest family, which isn't so small because Robert has 5 siblings.
I loved the background and one of my favorits is one of me and my sister.
The fun photo of Robert with his brothers and sister is pricless too.

And finally the photo of all the guests was taken at the knights' jousting areana tribune.

My medieval wedding - the ceremony

I finally got married in September, and now we are in December, Christmas fast approaching, so obviously I have been taking a break from the blogg. After two years of intense wedding planning I just needed to focus on something completely different for a while. But I still want to share our wonderful day with you, because it was amazing. Sadly I got ill during the main course, but after a few hours sleep I was able to dance and enjoy the wedding cake for the remainder of the evening.

The ceremony took place at the medieval museum by the lake. I wanted no lavish decorations and had only arranged for benches and DIY pennants at the site. Waiting for the music to start I was so nervous, crying, then laughing and so touched by the powerful moment. Then my sister-in-law came running and proclaimed that neither the rings, the rice bags or the programs were at the ceremony site. She ran to get them, making me slightly more nervous in the process, but frankly I wasn't to bothered, because all I could think about was getting married to my man.

I walked up to The Wedding by Enaid with my dad and my sister and was so wonderfully surprised to see that everyone had found a medieval costume to wear. It was difficult to do anything but look to Robert and I could see he was struggling with the tears as well.

 

My dad had prepared a beautiful speech about marriage and love. It was special to me to have him bless us with those words.

 

Robert had his 3 brothers with him and I had my sister, whose hand I was squeezing the entire time. Then the Official got up and married us. I don't recall what she said, only that Robert and I smiled at each other because of the severe and dry legal phrases. The sky above was dramatically clouded, emphasising the feel of moment.

The whole ceremony was simple and beautiful. We sang two songs, one of them a medieval sounding tune about a knight and a maiden. It was a favourite of mine when I was little. We exchanged rings and had that magical kiss and a long warm hug. I wanted to stand like that forever.

We ended the ceremony with another song and we enjoyed the minutes just sitting holding hands and smiling till our cheeks hurt. It was perfect.

Coin/Disc Earrings

There aren't a lot of examples of earrings in the medieval paintings I have been looking through so it is hard for me to advice you on the subject.
From the early renaissance in Italy though, all the fine ladies have earrings made with gold and pearls. Italy is a European centre of innovation during the medieval times and the renaissance and this earring is from the early Middle Ages, 7th century:

Link

You might be able to find something similar - gold, colorful stones, circular and cross motives.
Along with the tendency to use coins in jewlery in the prior nordic periode of the Viking Age I thought I would post you some earrings inspired by coins:

Etsyseller GenJewel

Etsyseller donnaKBaker

Etsyseller onelifejewelry

Armstreet.com

The last pair I bought for my wedding this september. :)

Julie & Shaun's Medieval Wedding

A beautiful June day in 2010 Julie & Shaun had a mindblowing medieval wedding! Their photos from photographer WeddingsBySamuel takes you right back to the Middle Ages. I hope my wedding will look this wonderful. This wedding really shows how attention to detail, focus on historic acuracy and a talented photographer can make a medieval theme.

The groom prepared himself at a nearby hotel which wasn't easy with all the armor he had to wear.

The ceremony was held at Kenilworth Castle where the guest were greeted with waving red and yellow lion banners. To accomodate the theme the guests too were dressed in period garbs.

The first part of the ceremony -the leagal stuf - was conducted within the gatehouse in a room with dark wooden panels. Rings and vows were exchanged.The bride arriwed in her silky green dress with golden twisted trim.

 

Then they crowd walked outside and among the ruins Julie and Shaun was bound together by a handfasting ritual. It included the sharing of drink to ensure that the couple would always experience bounty together. I love the look of the bride's har from the back.

As the ceremony neared the end, a black knight appeared, threatningly claiming the right of Prima Nocta (if you remember from the Braveheart movie - it's the local nobleman's right to sleep with the bride on her wedding night.) Obviously that resulted in a dramatic fight.

The black knight was utterly defeated and the happy couple could continue to a walk in the ruins - a perfect place for proper pictures.

For the following reception Julie and Shaun had hired Guinevere's Dream Events, to transform an ordinay modern venue into the ultimate banquet dream. The bride and groom entered the room first and then guests were announced one by one. The entertainment during dinner consisted of several guests put on trial.

The night ended in dancing and merriment:

Congratulations on the incredible day and hopefully a happy marriage. :-)