Step1
Choose period costumes for the bride, groom and wedding party. See "How to Dress for a Medieval or Renaissance Wedding" in the Related eHows for ideas and information.
Step2
Send wedding invitations printed in calligraphy-style fonts with elaborate borders. Use parchment paper, fold the invitations in thirds and close them with a wax seal. Enclose each invitation in a parchment envelope.
Step3
Find a church or hall that has a medieval or Gothic look. Look for cathedrals and historic chapels with dark wood adornment and stained glass. Look for wood and stone accents when choosing a hall.
Step4
Consider having the wedding at a Renaissance faire or medieval dinner theater. Both have special packages for theme weddings.
Step5
Decorate the hall or wedding site with heraldic banners hung from wooden dowels. These banners can display the bride's and groom's family crests or heraldic images found in heraldry books or on the Internet.
Step6
Buy or rent large wooden and wrought-iron candleholders to add atmosphere to the church or wedding site. Decorate the site with wheat or orange blossoms to symbolize fertility, and ivy and white flowers, such as lilies, to symbolize fidelity and love. These items can also be included in the bridal bouquet.
Step7
Exchange wedding vows outside the church door, as was done at medieval and Renaissance church weddings. The wedding party can then move into the church for the blessing of the union or a wedding mass.
Step8
Hire musicians who play medieval or Renaissance music. Harpists and madrigal groups can also add an elegant touch to your wedding. If musicians are not available, arrange for medieval or Renaissance CDs and tapes.
Step9
Exchange poesy rings along with the wedding vows. Poesy rings have short phrases such as "You and No Other" inscribed on the outside. They were used in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Step10
Have a small cake (pancake-sized) made for each guest. The guests stack the cakes as high as possible in front of the bride and groom, then the couple tries to share a kiss over the top of the stack for good luck.
Step11
Work with the caterer to provide foods that would have been served at a medieval banquet. Roasted meats, along with meat, cheese and vegetable-filled pastries, were commonly served. Look in medieval and Renaissance cookbooks for ideas.
Step12
Incorporate the bouquet and garter toss, and the throwing of rice, into a medieval or Renaissance wedding. The bouquet and garter were traditionally thrown to keep rowdy well-wishers from following the newlyweds on their wedding night. Bread crumbs, later rice, were thrown for good luck.
Comments
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 Make sure you have enough time to research the period, especially what you want to wear! The clothing is what really makes the period wedding and there are a lot of items that claim to be of the Renaissance era and are not. Also realize that different countries wore different style clothing. This can add a lot of punch if you can dress the groom's side in one countries's dress (say German) and the bride's side in another countrie's dress (say French).
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 can be obtained from dvb new york who make licensed reproductions from museums in Europe