Event - Weddings - Wedding Theme Ideas -  Renaissance Wedding Ideas

Medieval Wedding Theme

Sharon Brimmer, AAWP Certified Wedding Planner

Christine Brimmer- Floral Designer

www.cypressweddings.com

Whether you just love the Medieval traditions, legends, and clothes or whether you just want to have a wedding that is unforgettable for everyone involved a Medieval and Renaissance theme might be just what your looking for.  There are so many different ways you can take the Medieval Wedding Theme that it truly will be your creation and just the way you want your perfect day to be.    

You may also want to consider having your reception as a Masked Ball.  Then everyone could come in any costume they wanted.  You could just put Masks as favors on the tables and everyone would then have a keepsake from your wedding.

Special hint:  Plan your wedding out as a play.  The guests shouldn't know anything about it so tell your attendants to keep their mouths shut.  Have a stage and act the whole thing out.  Take the way you two met and act it out Shakespearian style.  Seen a movie with a great scene in it?  Act it out.  If you know someone who is a good writer,  ask them to help you write a small play.  Give all of the attendants their lines and try to get together a few times before the big day to practice.  Don't make it to long so that lines will be easy to remember.  Find somewhere to have the wedding where you can set the stage up a few days in advance of the wedding to save yourself a lot of stress, and so you'll have somewhere for the dress rehearsal with pretend  costumes of course.  The guests will love the show and remember your wedding play forever.  Make sure you find a Minister or Justice of the peace who will dress up and play the part.

Location:  Weddings were most often held outside the church so that more people could see, but you could have yours at  Castles, Renaissance Faire Grounds, Historical Home, Parks, Botanical Gardens, Reception Hall, Pavilions, or even your own Backyard. 

Here are some popular Medieval Superstitions:

It is customary for the bride to be given a decorative horseshoe, which she carries on her wrist. These days the horseshoes are rarely real, but instead light-weight versions manufactured specifically for weddings. The horseshoe is given for good luck.

The Celts created their designs using one or several unbroken lines.  The more these lines interlaced each other, the more they would protect against evil.  The unbroken lines symbolizing infinity.

"Married when the year is new,
he'll be loving, kind and true;
When February birds do mate,
you wed nor dread your fate;
If you wed when March winds blow,
joy and sorrow both you'll know;
Marry in April when you can,
joy for Maiden and for Man;
Marry in the month of May,
and you'll surely rue the day;
Marry when June roses grow,
over land and sea you will go;
Those who in July do wed,
must labor for their daily bred;
Whoever wed in August be,
many a change is sure to see;
Marry in September's shrine,
your living will be rich and fine;
If in October you do marry,
love will come but riches tarry;
If you wed in bleak November,
only joys will come, remember;
When December snows fall fast,
marry and true love will last".

The Fashion:

The most important part of the wedding is the Bride. If you are really sticking to Medieval and Renaissance tradition then you should know that the bride and the bridesmaids dressed very similar to confuse the evils spirits so they wouldn't be able to pick the bride out.  But this is your day and we aren't as superstitious in the 21st Century so find the gown of your dreams.  There are many websites that sell Renaissance gowns.  Some are even affordable.  Just do a internet search for Renaissance gowns.  Make sure you have these great Accessories:

Tips

If you have your heart set on a modern wedding gown you have seen in a Bridal Magazine, a Medieval Wedding is not what you want your theme to be.  I once saw a Medieval wedding theme where everything looked perfectly Renaissance, except the Bride.  It was awful.

To save some money,  buy costumes.  Then you would have them to wear to faires and parties later.

The Invitations:

In our Invitation Shop we carry Wedding Invitations & Accessories by Carlson Craft.  This Celestial Symbol of Love invitation would make a wonderful Medieval or Renaissance Invitation.  You could also consider using something with a royal looking border such as: Regal Elegance, Regal Touch, Silver Lace, Sophisticated Filigree, Initially Yours, or Filigree Gate, to name just a few.  The bridal accessories section has lots of items such as: place cards, napkins, and favor bags, that can be imprinted with a Celtic Knot, Cross, Celestial Elements, Ivy, Ankh, Framed Heart, Castle design,  and many other designs.  At Carlson Craft use any of the Shakespeare Wedding Verses or Fairytale Verse #4 would also work very well for your Medieval Invitations.

Here are some ideas for the invitation wording:

Lady Jane Someone Doe
and
Sir or His Royal Highness John Something Dear
request that thou honor them with
thy presence at their holy nuptials on
Saturday, the Eleventh day of September
in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Four
The Ceremony shall go forth at (time of day)
in the (first light of day {morning}, hours of daylight {afternoon}, or eventide {evening}) at
The Texas Renaissance Festival
21778 Fm 1774
Plantersville TX 77363
Feasting and Merriment will follow the ceremony
Medieval/Renaissance attire recommended but not required

Here ye, Here ye, With joyful hearts
we ask thee to honor us with thy presence
at the ceremony uniting our Daughter
Lady Jane Someone Doe
to her Betrothed
Prince John Something Dear IV
Son of His &  Her Highness King & Queen James Dear III 
On Saturday, the Eleventh day of September
in the year of our Lord Two thousand and Four
The ceremony shall go forth at (time of day) in the
(first light of day {morning}, hours of daylight
{afternoon}, or eventide {evening}) with feasting and
merriment immediately following, at
The Texas Renaissance Festival
21778 Fm 1774 
Plantersville TX 77363
Duke and Duchess William Doe
Medieval/Renaissance attire recommended but not required

For the Reception:

In the early days of the medieval era, the floors were covered with rushes, and the walls were often quite bare, using suits of armor and an occasional banner for decoration.

Use torches to flank the entrance. 

Use some rope with some simple to make banners like these and hang around the outside of your reception area or use them to flank the entrance as people arrive.

The Flowers & Decorations:

Although it is not period to decorate the interior of a building with vases of flowers for a medieval festival. That is a *Victorian* practice. The good news is that almost nobody knows this. So here are some ideas for decorations & Flowers.

Hand-tied flowers for your bridal and attendant bouquets would be best. Floral head wreaths or just ribbon head wreaths with ribbon trailing down the back, would look nice.

You can use flowers and greenery particularly in garlands and swags. Dried flowers are also good. Baskets decorated with greenery and dried flowers are also good choices. Use real or artificial ivy and wrap it around poles, lampposts and etc. (everywhere). 

In the later half of the medieval era, the floors were left uncovered, and the walls hung with rich tapestries providing for a more elegant look. The hall was lit with a soft light which came from either candles, the fire or, if the castle was fortunate enough to be able to incorporate these, windows. Sometimes, to give the illusion of light, the walls were painted with outdoor scenery, as if the diners were sitting just outside the castle.

Candlelight and/or firelight is a nice touch. 

Use black iron candle holders and place them throughout your party area and hang on the walls. 

To create a real Medieval look use lots of Gossamer. Gossamer is an extremely light, inexpensive, non-woven "fabric" that is used to create wonderful ceilings and walls, to wrap around columns, banisters and chairs to create gorgeous bows. It drapes and swags beautifully, making it a decorating must-have for creating a number of different stunning looks! This Cobblestone Gossamer or Flagstone Gossamer would work well for a Medieval theme.

Hang your family crest/banner behind the chair where the Bride & Groom will be sitting. The most impressive way to decorate is to borrow personal banners of neighboring shires, etc. or make banners and deck the walls with these. Lots of color. Banners can be put together with fusible interfacing or glue (although sewing looks nicer). All you need is inexpensive, colorful fabrics, and maybe a few tassel or fringe trims. You can get designs from any heraldry book in the library -- use a photocopier to enlarge the designs. One book I recommend is "Design Your Own Coat of Arms: An Introduction to Heraldry" by Chorzempa, Rosemary A. (1987, Dover Publications, Inc.). Available at art supply stores and bookstores. Lots of design elements, clearly drawn, perfect for creating decorations that reflect your interests and heritage.

Make shields with coats of arms painted on posterboard and hung above the seats. 

Place silvery, herald trumpets that support regal banners on the walls. 

If you are having a large event, borrow a hand-made suit of armour from a member of the SCA (The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating pre-17th-century European history, visit their website at www.sca.org/welcome.html . I highly suggest this route if you want some medieval-ish decorations or clothing. These people are very proud of their handcrafted work, and most won't mind showing it off by sharing it with you. I had a friend who borrowed a set of armour and she didn't even remotely know the man and he still freely offered the use of his armour, a sword, shield, and crossbow as well.

Arrange tables like they would have done in an English castle. At one end of the room would have been a balcony or platform on which musicians would stand and perform for the diners between courses. At this same end would have been a dais or raised floor upon which sat the high table for the host and most honored guests. This special table was often complimented with an elegant curtain, called a baldaquin, hanging above it. 

On the lower portion of the room, were tables and benches for all the other guests. Most common seemed to be long, rectangular banquet-style tables, but manuscripts show that square, oval, circular and semi-circular tables were used as well. 

Oftentimes, there were only a few "stable tables" in the banquet hall. These were tables that stayed there permanently, and were made out of oak or some other durable wood. Food was available on these tables all day long. 

When it came time for a meal, makeshift tables were constructed by placing boards on top of saw-horses or trestles. After the meal, these were removed. When preparing for a meal the tabletops were laid with white, burgundy, or deep green cloths, and covered with a intricate overcloths called a sanap.

On the day of the reception fill the baskets and bowls with fresh fruits and vegetables as part of the general (and edible) decorations. If you want a total medieval motif, don't use flowers. If you want to use flowers make arrangements look simple and hand done.

Make a unique centerpiece by placing a mirror on each table with a candle placed in the center.  Then pile the mirror high with stemmed strawberries. It looked very pretty and the strawberries are delicious. Silver or pewter bowls of powdered sugar and chocolate sauce can be placed on the tables for dipping!

If you want a medieval mid-winter atmosphere, use burgundy bunting (a 'bunting' is a swag of cloth used like a tent but with no sides--the kind you see at jousts or feasts--where the king and queen sit but you could use it for the Bride & Groom's table).  Gossamer is excellent for creating a "bunting".

If your reception is during the winter months, make table decor with greenery and Yule logs (made by using birch logs with 4 to 6 candles in them surrounded with evergreens).

Eat by candlelight.

Pewter place cards embellished with a scroll design.

Start your feast with a trumpet heralder inviting guests to the table, have an appointed toastmaster dressed as a king including crown. You can find a great selection of Renaissance Costumes at BuyCostumes.com

Between courses at the meal, invite guests to entertain with stories, juggling, poetry, etc. or hire entertainers to perform.

Napkins can be laid out on a buffet table, or can be displayed at each place setting. Place napkins in the center of each place setting at an angle, or unfold them and place them in glasses for a tall dramatic look. The napkins can also be tied (and bundled with plastic cutlery) with a multitude of items to match your theme. Tie with Ribbon, Gossamer Streamers, or ric-rac.

Entertainment:

Between courses at the meal, invite guests to entertain with stories, juggling, poetry, etc. or hire entertainers to perform. Bagpiper Ceileigh Band one or several Minstrels Harp player.  Jousters' Court Jester

Medieval Foodstuffs and Cake Ideas

Instead of using Champagne for your wedding drink, use Mead instead.  This Honey wine is believed to have been drunken by the newlyweds for one month after their wedding to assure them of a male heir within one year.  Hence the word Honeymoon. 

Roast and boiled meat, poultry, fish, pottages, frumenty,  cheese and bread.  Fruit and vegetables (no potatoes or corn) were eaten but many believed the Boke of Kervynge, "beware of  grene sallettes & raw fruytes for they wyll make your soverayne seke". 

Other favorites were goose, capon, mutton, pigeon pies, tongue pie, sausages, and veal, but I would not recommend serving these things as your guests might have a problem with them.  

Remember they didn't really use forks back then so if your going in that direction make sure you get some wet-naps, wipes or finger bowls for your guests. 

Origin of the Wedding Cake
(Quoting from the Aug/Sept issue of Modern Bride):
"In medieval England, guests brought small cakes and piled them on the center of a table. The bride and groom then attempted to kiss over them. A baker from France conceived the idea of icing all the small cakes together in one large cake."

Medieval Cake Links:

• Forever by Cake Box
• Enchanted Castle by Cake Box 
• A & S Cakes
• Satine by Cynthia Peithman
• Castle Cakes by Crumbs of Paris