The Roots of Romance

by Cynthea Cameron

Medeival Wedding

"Within minutes of becoming engaged we decided we would do something different," Ruth recalls. Feeling as though today's bridal industry was wrapped up in insignificant details and lost its focus on the meaning behind the rituals, the couple wanted something more. Both Ruth and Greg had a background in literature with a preference for the Renaissance period. Greg is also heavily involved with theater. It isn't hard to see why they chose the Renaissance with its significance to the arts and rich history of church involvement as the perfect setting for their romantic wedding.

During the planning phase, a 13 month engagement, accuracy was stressed. All the members of the wedding party were held to a defined timeline of 1485-1510. Details were researched through many books on art, music, philosophy, religion and wardrobe. Some wedding party members had outfits made while others ordered theirs from Chivalry Sports Catalog and added metallic trims. Footwear was the biggest difficulty to get around so they cheated. Chinese canvas shoes and ladies leather flats did quite nicely for those who wanted slip-ons. "Greg is a stickler for wardrobe," laughs Ruth. "He's very zealous about it." He bought ladies' boots in large sizes on sale during the summer that worked great for the men and cut down the cost dramatically. Headpieces and hats were purchased at the State Renaissance Fair providing not only variety but also an opportunity to try various styles. One of the first things Ruth bought was a stunning headpiece for the wedding, but she wanted a different headpiece for the reception. One look at the bridal shop told her even a simple tiara was going to be really expensive. After careful scrutiny, she decided to make her own. She strung pearl beads on 18-gauge floral wire, braided three strands, then braided the braids together with a gold ribbon running through. She added a wimple of sheer polyester curtain material stitched to the back of the tiara creating the perfect effect to add to her custom made dress. "It seems today, no matter how hard a traditional bride tries to be different, she and her party are actually all the same," explains Ruth. "Since three of the attendants are involved in theater and the others share our passion for Renaissance Festivals, no one came away from this wedding with a useless piece of clothing. This is just one of the many things that made our wedding more meaningful to us."

The details didn't stop with the clothes. They pulled wedding descriptions from historical accounts and Renaissance literature. Their ceremony would include storytelling, music and riddles as well as vows. They dissected today's traditional ceremony and researched where each part came from. "The vows have stayed pretty much the same for hundreds of years so we just added or changed words to set the tone," Ruth said. To personalize their wedding and have it truly reflect who they were, Ruth and Greg carefully chose stories whose significance would be obvious to the guests as well as set the mood. Each story represented a link to the couple's heritage.

Greg wrote "The Legend of the Circles" to explain the pattern he had painted on the stage built for the wedding. It was from a mosaic in an Italian pallazzo. The rings of color depicted how two lives start out separately, they intermingle to become one and then shoot out into the future. After the groom's father read the legend the groom and groomsmen entered singing Greg's favorite Irish hymn. The next story was the Biblical account of the wedding in Cana which acknowledged the importance of their Christian faith.

Greg chose the third story, "The Tale of the Tiger's Whisker", from Chinese folklore to reflect Ruth's ancestry. The story deals with trust in marriage. The last story was a Shakespearean telling of "The Tale of Cupid," chosen to honor the literature and theater that is Greg's life. Music interspersed throughout the ceremony included songs dating from the 1500's played on the recorder, violin and guitar.

Each bridesmaid entered carrying a banner that Ruth had made. The colors of the banners were representative of specific virtues. Blue for royalty, green for fidelity and strength, red for loyalty, and yellow for faith. The bridal party followed beneath a tapestry canopy, borne by the bride's mother and father, brother and maid of honor. The canopy symbolized Ruth's father's protection. The bride's father then issued a riddle to the husband-to-be. Everyone held their breath until Greg correctly answered the riddle. Acknowledging his worthiness, the father turned over the protection of his daughter to the young man. With that Ruth stepped out from under the canopy to join her new husband. Ruth said, "This portion of the ceremony represents the question: Who gives this woman? As if the father is saying, 'Why should I trust my daughter to you? Are you worthy?' This involved the guests a lot more in this ceremony than ordinary weddings. This was different. They were not quite sure what to expect. The changing of protection from father to husband was dramatically played out for the guests to see. The answering of the parable type riddle tied it all together. Everything about this wedding was us. We wanted to show who we were."

The theme was carried on through the reception. Most caterers were reluctant to handle a non-silverware reception but Ruth finally found one willing to work with her. "I asked her to use jewel-toned linens-- the reception was colorful and fun!" Having friends that owned a pig farm made the entree choice easy. Along with the Chinese tradition of serving a roasted pig to bring good luck, it seemed the only way to go. And it ended up being far less expensive than going with a full meal from the caterer.

They roasted the entire pig saving the pig's head for display on the loading board. Grape leaves and small berries were used to decorate the festive trophy. Bread bowls, redskin potatoes, carrots, celery, fruits, cheeses and cider completed the feast. Strolling musicians played ballads for the guests.

Careful planning certainly paid off and cut back on stress. Ruth chose two people to help organize and arrange the details. One person, her maid of honor, was from the wedding party, the other was a professional wedding planner rather than her mother or another member of the wedding party. "That way if anything went wrong, somebody else stressed about it." The only snag with the Bliss wedding was the wedding cake. A friend had offered to make the cake as a gift. However, only 2 days before the wedding they heard he couldn't do it. That left no budget and very little time to find a baker to prepare a fabulous cake for 250 guests. Another friend came through for her and created a picture perfect, multi-tiered, hazelnut cake covered in a hard-shell chocolate frosting and topped with sugared fruits, almonds and leaves. "I could have cried when she set it up."

"Choosing flowers proved to be a year long project. I didn't want to be working with flowers the night before our wedding so I used silk." She was careful to spend the extra money necessary to buy only realistic looking flowers. Ruth drew on her previous experience in floral work for other weddings to make her own bouquets. Since she knew what she wanted from the outset she was able to pick up flowers when they were going on clearance sale managing to save around 80% on almost everything she bought. "We chose flowers for their specific meanings: white roses for purity, stargazer lilies for peace, ivy for fidelity and dendrobium orchids for uniqueness. Because the wedding was outdoors, we didn't need as many flower arrangements as if it had been indoors."

Keeping with the period theme, they looked very carefully for a ring that looked like a 'posie' (engraved) ring. Once they found one, they had it engraved on the inside with a Latin saying from a ring dating back to 1167: erunt duo en carne una--"the two shall be as one flesh."

Invitations were ordered from a standard catalog. The couple wrote the invitation themselves to personalize it in Renaissance style. Keeping the words within the available space was more challenging than it looked. They needed to fax changes back and forth with the printer several times.

Ruth and Greg selected their photographer for her original style. "You want a professional photographer who can think on her feet and keep calm under pressure. If your wedding is outside, be sure the photographer has outdoor experience. This is one of two areas I recommend budgeting a large chunk of money. The photos will last you a lifetime. The other area is entertainment. Not only does the entertainment set the tone, but it keeps the reception running while you're having pictures taken."

At the end of this splendidly romantic, 'perfect to the last detail' day, the newlyweds departed the reception in a horse drawn cart off to their honeymoon. Where did they go? The Fall Renaissance Festival in Atlanta of course.

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This page was last updated Tuesday, 27-May-2003 13:21:08 EDT