Sartorial Splendor (Clothing)

I had picked up a pattern for a renaissance gown several years ago, not long after the movie Ever After came out. It's a beautiful gown, I've always liked it, and I always envisioned it in the color on the pattern, which is burgundy.

Shows what I know.

After looking at gowns online, and going to a renaissance faire, I decided I wanted something more elaborate. And while at the ren faire, we picked out Todd's outfit, which was accented in green. Um. Well, burgundy and green are good...but we decided that I should be in green too. Good thing green was my second choice, and that it looks good on me!

The Wedding Party

The Groom
We chose Todd's outfit first. We happened in to a booth of leather goods, and on a whim we tried on a leather jerkin. Fit like a dream. Bought that and a dark green shirt to match. After showing that off a bit, we went back again, and he tried on leather pants to go with them. Also fit like a dream, so he bought those, and a leather pouch and belt. (There are no pockets in leather pants.)

We wandered off, and found him a hat, which we built ourselves by choosing the band, the decoration, and the feather. The feather is a chinese pheasant, and it kept endangering peoples' eyeballs every time Todd turned his head.

We weren't sure about boots, but Dad took care of his own outfit, and wound up buying a set of boots, and then deciding he wanted a different set, so Todd's footwear troubles were solved...handily enough, he and Dad wear the same size. Todd also borrowed Dad's sword for the occasion. Thank goodness he hadn't received the claymore yet, or he might have tried to wear that.

After my dress came in, Todd decided the undershirt color he'd gagged over in the fabric store wasn't so bad, so I said I'd make him a shirt out of the same color. That way, we matched! The shirt I made won't win any awards for superiour workmanship, but it looked nice...

The Bride
Since Todd's outfit was green, I started looking for green dresses. Couldn't find anything, but then I fell in love with a dress on eBay. Too bad it was red. Contrary to my usual "don't want to ask" self, I emailed the designer and asked if she ever did custom orders. She did! We talked about fabric choices, and I elected to buy my own fabric and mail it to her. I spent a couple of weeks searching for green brocade to go with the green velvet I'd chosen. Did you know that green brocade almost doesn't exist on this planet? Eventually I was looking at my velvet, and saw some lovely silver and white brocade, and wished it were in green. Um. Waitaminute. Why? Why can't it be silver and white? So I bought it. And I found some matching light green for the underdress, and all was well. JoAnn Fabrics totally won.

My dress was actually made by a seamstress in Tennesee (see links for her contact info), and adjusted by one here in Vancouver.

Something Old: My necklace. Okay, 16 years isn't ancient, but it's pretty much part of me.

Something New: The dress, tiara, jewelry, um...yeah.

Something Borrowed: Todd's hanky. I didn't need it, but as soon as I walked in to the reception area, I had to hand it to him!

Something Blue: I tied a blue ribbon around my waist under my dress.

A Sixpence In Your Shoe: I did have a pence in my right shoe, and a lucky penny from the very kind Miss Shirley Sackman in my left.

The Bride and Groom, all decked out.

The Best Man
Jack had a hard time finding anything he liked, so I made him a tunic out of black and silver brocade and silver lining. To go with it, we handed him the shirt that Todd had originally bought with his outfit. The funny thing was, I tried the tunic on Todd to see how it looked, and frankly, it looked appalling. I was kind of sad, but out of time to do anything about it. But then Jack put it on, and it looked good on him! Todd apparently just looks terrible in that style. Who knew.

The Maid of Honor
Camille took care of her own dress by looking at my seamstress's eBay auctions and pointing out one she liked. I bought it for her, in silver, and except for the minor alterations needed to keep it up on her shoulders, it looked great!

It was a silver "Guinevere" style gown, with a square neckline edged with silver and green trim. The sleeves were long and knotted at the ends, and made fantastic lethal weapons. She called me when she tried it on at her mom and dad's, and complained that her feet showed. No worries, we went out to the mall the next day and located some silver chenille slipper socks. She said she was wearing a nightgown and slippers, which basically she was, but she seemed to be comfortable!

The Pages (Ushers)
We sort of shanghaied these guys at the last minute, and bless both of them for being so absolutely game to do anything I could dream up to torture them with. We needed someone to ush guests to the right locations, and to seat the families. I decided they should wear something simple, but in theme, or it'd look wrong.

I decided on a simple surcoat, belted at the waist, over black clothing. I went and got 3 yards each of burgundy and green fabric, took basic measurements, cut a head hole and sleeve "dents", got a cord belt, and put the symbols on the front. I bought each of them a long-sleeved Tshirt at Target and told them to wear whatever black pants and shoes they might have. Voila! Cheap, quick, and surprisingly nice-looking for something with no sewing involved.

Todd's brother Chris' was burgundy, with the phoenix from the pew pennants. His belt was green. The surcoat was a bit big around the first time I tried it on him, but I slit off a few inches on each side, and when we belted it, we wrapped it around itself, and it looked great. I noticed by the end of the night the phoenix was a little bedraggled, but it was only held on by glue, so all things considered, it was great.

My "brother" Corey's was green, with the same "De La Mere Raven" as on the pew pennants. His belt was burgundy, and Camille and I had to dress him. Corey was commenting that Chris got the shirt on backwards, and then I proceeded to put the surcoat on him backwards. Errrrr. When I did get it on him, I had to get out my scissors and slit the arm holes bigger, because Corey has huge biceps. Other than that, he looked great. Gotta love felt...no fraying when you make the last minute slashes like that!

Jewelry

Wedding Rings
Picking out the wedding rings was pretty much all about the bride. I think it usually is. I'd gone to the Real Mother Goose in Washington Square to look at rings, because I'd seen some of their rings in a bridal magazine and thought they were neat. The woman in the store said that I should go to the downtown store to see more styles, but I had already spotted the one I liked. It's called Starry Night.

I'd thought I wanted celtic rings, but they've gotten to be somewhat trendy, so I looked for something classy and nice but not necessarily celtic. When we went to the downtown store, Todd and I took Corey with us for no readily apparent reason. Todd and I discussed rings, and looked at a bunch, and I ended up still liking the style I'd seen in the other store. We decided that white gold was the way to go. He wanted his highly polished, with antiquing in the crevasses of the design. I wanted mine partly brushed, with no antiquing and set with diamonds and rubies. They match, but they aren't completely the same, and I think we both like it that way. I know I do.

Todd looked at me at one point and said, "I thought you said the wedding ring cost less than the engagement ring!" I replied, "Well, both of these together cost less than my engagement ring. I didn't say it'd be inexpensive!"

Bridal Jewelry
When I'd thought I would be wearing burgundy, I found a lovely burgundy tiara on eBay, and bought it. It was only $35, seemed reasonable. When I got it, the stones looked a little dull and sloppy, but it wasn't bad. Then, of course, my dress was changed to green. I thought I might have to find another tiara, but while I was investigating to see if I could change out the stones, I discovered that they were painted with glass paint. I industriously chipped it all off and repainted them with bright green glass paint from that ever-popular store, Michael's, and voila! Tiara fit for a princess. I can't believe I wore a tiara.

I had the tiara glued to my head by a hairdresser at 11:30 in the morning, and the darn thing didn't budge all day. It was truly amazing. So on the way home, and on the way to the church, I was wearing a black Tshirt, black jeans, and a tiara. I was waving at passing cars and saying, "I have a tiara and you don't!" I may have to wear one more often.

I didn't buy the rest of the jewelry until green had been chosen. I found a green, lab-created emerald tennis bracelet, that I decided later I really didn't like that much. I also found a lovely silver celtic bangle bracelet, which arrived damaged and had to be replaced. I bought two pairs of lab-created emerald earrings for my top earring holes, and a pair of teardrop-shaped Helenite (Mt. St. Helens fused ash) earrings for the main earring holes. I couldn't bring myself to wear any necklace but the ones I always wear, the heart dragons and the rose quartz dragon, though if I'd won the platinum and emerald necklace I saw on eBay, I probably would have worn that.

There were more renaissance-esque choices for jewelry, but I wasn't really interested. Camille fussed with hers a bit, but she wore the garnet and pearl necklace and earring set that she had brought with her, and it looked more "period" than mine did!

And now, a lame plug for my own hobby. If you want custom-designed bridal jewelry for just about any style wedding, contact me at Triplelle Designs, or email me at designer @ triplelle.com. I'm happy to work with your color choice and dress neckline, as well as your budget. I just enjoy making jewelry.

Family and Friends

Bride's Parents
The father of the bride got into the wedding arrangements about as soon as they were announced. He has gone so far as to join the SCA, make presentations to HR groups in his outfit, and buy swords and authentic boots. (See where the bride gets it?)

The mother of the bride wasn't as sure, but we took her to a Renaissance Faire in Gig Harbor, and that did it. After that it was more about what dress to wear and who was going to make it than whether or not she was going to dress up. Eventually she had a nice dress made by a local seamstress. I thought the coolest part was the jewelry she wore. I'd received a package from my great aunt containing a number of jewelry items, and two of them were a gold rose and pearl necklace, and a matching bracelet. Mom wore the necklace, and cut the bracelet apart and made two dangle earrings out of it. They matched beautifully.

The Groom's Parents
Up until the day before the wedding, the groom's stepfather was going to be wearing a monk's robe, and the groom's mother was going to be wearing a blue "renaissance-esque" dress with a silver belt. As the days got shorter, they seemed to fret more about it, and the final straw was when the best man's wife told them about a great costume shop in Kelso, and "the twins" arrived from Boise prepared to go all out with their costumes. They all trekked up to Kelso the next day, and boy, did they look fantastic.

The groom's stepfather was wearing a blue king's outfit with a great hat. His mother was wearing a beautiful full purple gown with hoops and the whole nine yards, and a really neat forehead/hair jewel that apparently "the twins" affixed for her.

Guests
I was amazed at how many people showed up in costume...it was great! Greg looked amazing in his renaissance doublet and hat. We had several kings, queens, and ladies about. We had a court jester in green and yellow, and a monk who was getting rather fresh with a serving wench and got good-natured grief about it from one of my friends. There were a couple of pint-sized courtiers, several men-at-arms with swords, Joan of Arc, and at least one other swordswoman. The pastor had to rush in before the ceremony to tell me, "Wait until you see Brad! I don't even know who Brad is, but he gets the prize...his costume came with a horse!" And it did. He had one of those costumes where you wear the horse, and it looks like you're riding it. Very cool.

And of course, there was a significant portion of the family and friends who chose not to wear costumes for a variety of reasons, and that too was great with us! I was just really glad that everyone had come in clothing of some kind...