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wed-invit-FAQ - 3/18/96

 

Medieval and Renaissance Theme Wedding FAQ:  Questions about Invitations and Announcement.

 

NOTE: See also the files: weddings-msg, p-weddings-bib, wed-FAQ, p-marriage-msg,

Ger-marriage-msg, Scot-marriage-msg, beadwork-msg, silk-msg.

 

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                             Thank you,

                                   Mark S. Harris

                                   AKA:  Stefan li Rous

                                        stefan at florilegium.org

************************************************************************

 

Medieval and Renaissance Theme Wedding FAQ:  Questions about

Invitations and Announcement

 

***************************************************************

(c) The Medieval and Renaissance Theme Wedding FAQ was compiled

by and is maintained and copyrighted by Barbara J. Kuehl.  All

suggestions and additions should be emailed to her at

bj at csd.uwm.edu.  This document may be freely redistributed

without modification provided that the copyright notice is not

removed.  It may not be sold for profit or incorporated in

commercial documents without the written permission of the

holder.

****************************************************************

 

2.1:  We're using a medieval theme for our wedding.  How can we

     adapt that look for our invitations?

 

From: fishcat at hooked.net (Trystan L. Bass)

Printing the invitations on a heavy parchment and using a type

style that imitates calligraphy will announce to everyone that

your wedding has a Medieval or Renaissance theme.  Decorative

motifs that would work with the theme include simple flowers,

fancy scrolls, heraldic symbols, and metallic embossing.

Touches of rich, jewel-tone colors are very period, especially

combined with gold or silver -- think of Medieval illuminated

texts.  For a small wedding, you could have a professional write

each invitation in calligraphy, but this will be expensive

(unless you know someone who'd do it as a wedding gift).

                   -------------------------

From: ladyjane at cyberverse.com (Lanfear)

For our invitations, I found a nice parchment stock at a local

printer supply company and then took a period border from a clip

art book.  A local printer set up the text in a calligraphy

style and printed them.  Then by hand I colored the gold and ivy

border.  Each invitation was folded in thirds and tied with a

satin ribbon.  Cost was about $100.

                   -------------------------

From: smyrniw at bnr.ca (Nadia Smyrniw)

We have been going through many Celtic art books to find a

design (or a compilation of designs) for the outside cover of

the invitations.  My fiance will then make a print of whatever

he finally draws, and then we will scan that into the computer

and print the invitations at home by ourselves on a laser

printer.

                   -------------------------

From: mitchell at owl.csusm.edu (Laura Mitchell)

I am using a gold Celtic Braid around the border with the symbol

of the 3 goddesses at the top.  We are printing them via our

computer on parchment, folding them 1/3, sealing with wax and

mailing it inside an envelope with rsvp card and map.

                   -------------------------

From: magda at gramercy.ios.com (magda)

For my wedding invitations I used a Mac and used different

design elements from clip art "Illuminated Borders" books. I'm

getting them printed digitally in 4-color with the rsvp's and a

business card for $400. Digitally is the way to go for short

run inexpensive printing.

                   -------------------------

From: ereiswig at cycor.ca (eric reiswig)

There's a nice 'how-to' for drawing knotwork at

http://www.en.com/users/ivan/knotwork.html

                   -------------------------

From BJ (bj at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu)

We designed our invitations and announcements on my fiance's

MacIntosh using a combination of medieval fonts (my favorite is

the one that looks like ivy leaves).  Our invitations were

printed on ragged-edged, prefolded, parchment stationary with

matching double-envelopes (available by special order at

graphics stores).  Our announcements were printed on unfolded

8x11 inch parchment (available by the tablet at art supply

stores).  Those announcements which we could hand-deliver were

rolled into a scroll and sealed with wax.  Those which had to be

mailed were folded in thirds, wax sealed, and then mailed inside

an envelope.

                   -------------------------

From: Jason_L at pop.com (Jason L)

One motif that ran throughout our wedding was the ancient Earth

symbol of the Greenman. Our invitations were printed in dark

green ink and featured the face of the Greenman.

                   -------------------------

From: "Rottier_Amy" <Rottier#u#Amy at mnb2.fss-moses.lockheed.com>

I browsed through pattern books and looked at inked stamps until

I found a picture of a lord and lady dancing that I really

liked.  Using that for inspiration, we drew our design and

scanned it into the computer. Using cardstock parchment, we

laid out the dancers two to a page and the invitation wording

two to a page (so it could be printed two-sided and cut in the

middle).  I'm dry-embossing the outer edge of the invitation

(around the dancers) to add a little dimension.  Then Mark

designed a map to the location, in stylized fashion, complete

with knight and dragon pictures.  There is a mountainous area

called "The Bad Lands of DC", and plenty of trees and even a

picket fence around the "castle".  It's really a work of art

(drawn in Wordperfect 6.0). On the back are written directions.

We also made a reply postcard with our address on one side and a

Celtic knot (under which I will handwrite the names of the

invitees) and "Yea I will gladly attend the betrothal of Lady

Amy Elizabeth Rottier of San Diego to Sir Mark David Donovan of

Cleveland"/"Nay, I regret..." on the other side.  Both the

map/directions and knot/postcard are on quarters of an 8.5x11

sheet.  It really came out well.  Including paper, rubber stamp,

sample inks and embossing powders, embossing templates (for the

dry embossing - I bought 2), printing and cutting costs

(courtesy Kinkos), I probably paid less than $50.

                   -------------------------

From: aspsys at slip.net (Arthur S. Pruyn)

One renaissance wedding that took place at RPFN about 6 years

ago had invites that were a sonnet.  The sonnet described the

location, the date, the two getting married, the feast, and

other aspects of the wedding in period terms.  They were sent

out with an additional little map (as is often done in current

weddings) with directions for those who had not been to the

faire.  I had the pleasure of writing the sonnet for them (it

was in Shakespearian form, rather than traditional).

                   -------------------------

From: joanne at joanne.central.sun.com (Joanne Frezzo)

I'm not having a Medieval wedding, but several people have told

me my invitation looks like it was themed.  It is not a wedding

invitation per se. I found it at a local stationer who works out

of her home.  She had this in a notebook at a bridal faire.  It

is an ivory card with a colored border. I chose a plum color.

Overlaying the color is a gold embossing of a flourish design

all around the border.  It's very hard for me to describe. If

you want me to try to fax or snail mail you a copy I'd be glad

to. One thing though, since it was not designed as a wedding

invite it doesn't come with inner envelopes, but I was able to

find one that was very close through Paper Direct.

                   -------------------------

From: Kristiina Prauda <prauda at cc.helsinki.fi>

We made rather elaborate invitations with a medieval-style

border, initials and script. The medieval-style border was

taken from an illustrator's idea book, simplified for coloring

with a drawing program (it included ivy leaves, long straight

borders and a dragon - which made it more Tolkien-ish than

medieval). We took a few of those big initials (for my name,

his name and the name of the church) from an actual 13th c.

manuscript. We colored all the borders and the initials by

hand, using cheap felt pens in red, blue and gold - all the

outer borders were "gilded" from the drawn motif to the edge.

In the upper right-hand corner, we put in a verse from a poem by

Finland's greatest classical poet, Eino Leino; the poem is in

"Kalevala"-metre, the old epic metre of our folk poetry.  It

talks about life together, something like this (apologies for my

bad attempts to follow the original flawless beat):

    "Truly it was they lived together

    under the tree with widest top,

    truly they made a fire together,

    slipped together into bed,

    together it was they slept and dreamed

    of their eternal selves,

    on their brows a dream of happiness,

    on their lips the kiss of morning."

The actual wording of the invitation was completely traditional

(since the ceremony was a traditional church ceremony).  For

font, we used "American Uncial", which is rounded, sort of

Celtic-looking.  The invitations were printed on ordinary white

paper, then glued that on a slightly larger sheet of 100% silk

rag paper - really beautiful pearl color, with silk fibers

clearly showing.  We folded them in three and sealed them with

red wax, making a wax seal out of a rose-shaped metal button

glued to a small plastic stick.  Hard work (for about 70

invitations), but they were a huge hit, and many friends put

them up for show.

                   -------------------------

From: Sally Jackson <serifm at fastlane.net>

Any competent scribe can letter your invitation in a style

appropriate to the time period and the country of your choice.

(Writing and decoration in 14th century France was totally

unlike that of 16th century England, etc.)  Almost any

calligrapher will have a library of clip art that can be used to

decorate the invitation and many will be able to design the

decorative elements.  As to printing, a quick print business can

print from the calligrapher's original work.  It is simply

photographed, and each invitation looks like it was hand

lettered.

                   -------------------------

From: Susan Carroll-Clark <sclark at epas.utoronto.ca>

The original of our invitation was calligraphed in Secretary

hand by a friend--it was the Shakespearian sonnet which talks

about the "marriage of true minds".

 

================================================================

2.2:  Anybody have any creative ideas for wording an invitation

     in keeping with the medieval style of the wedding?

 

From: "Rottier_Amy" <Rottier#u#Amy at mnb2.fss-moses.lockheed.com>

 

                     Lady Amy Elizabeth Rottier

                                and

                       Sir Mark David Donovan

                 request the honour of thy presence

                          at their marriage

             on Saturday, the thirtieth of September in

        the year of our Lord Nineteen hundred and ninety five

       --------------------fold------------------------------

      The ceremony will begin at two o'clock in the after-noon

                                at

          The Griffin's Lair (his mother's name is Griffin)

                       xxxx Olivers Shop Road

                       Fried chicken, Maryland

 

           Feasting and merriment will follow the ceremony

             Medieval/Renaissance-style garb recommended

                          but not required

                   -------------------------

From: guettier at moretcri.ensmp.fr (Christophe GUETTIER)

 

De par le Baron..., Pere de...

De par le Conte..., Mere de...

Par la presente missive,

Nous avons l'honneur de celebrer en vostre gent presence et cel

de ces vassaux...,

le mariage de Dame..., Fille de..., Heritiere de...,

Regente de..., Dote de...

et

Sieur..., Fils de..., Chevalier de..., Heritiers de...,

Regent de..., dans le fief de...

Seront donnes moult rejouissance et festoiement.

 

                   Translation from old French:

In the name of the baron..., father of...

In the name of the countess..., mother of...

With this present lettre,

We have the honour of celebrating in thy kind [or noble]

presence and that of these servants [or vassals or household],

the marriage of Lady..., Daughter of..., Heiress of...,

Governess of..., Dowered of...

and

Sir...   Son of..., Knight of..., Hier of...,

Governor of..., in the fief [land or shire] of...

Let there be much rejoicing and feasting.

                   -------------------------

From: Phyllis_Gilmore at rand.org (Phyllis Gilmore)

The phrase "de par le roi" means "in the name of the king," so

one presumes the phrasing to suggest the hand of a scribe (nice

idea, I think) doing the writing.

                   -------------------------

From: BJ (bj at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu)

 

             HEAR YE!       HEAR YE!

 

            The honour of thy presence

               is hereby requested

               at the marriage of

              Barbara Jean Wedemayer

                         and

               Timothy Duane Kuehl

         on Saturday the eleventh of June

         in a mediaeval wedding ceremony

          at half-past the seventh hour

                in the eventide

 

In keeping with the medieval theme of our wedding invitations,

we also worded our announcements:

 

            H E A R   Y E               H E A R   Y E

 

           Let it be known that on the 11th day of June

     in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four

        the house of Wedemayer pledged its firstborn daughter

                           Barbara Jean

       to the house of Kuehl in marriage to the firstborn son

                         Timothy Duane

                               at

                         <name of church>

                       Milwaukee, Wisconsin

                               **

                   Mr. & Mrs. Kuehl now reside

                               at

                         <our address>

                           City, State

                             Zip

 

================================================================

2.3:  I'm thinking of rolling up my invitation (but how would

     you mail that cheaply!). Any suggestions??!!

 

From: kyrstyn at icecastle.com

You can buy tubes in which to mail them.

                   -------------------------

From:  BJ (bj at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu)

If you really want to go gala, have your invitations delivered

by a friend dressed as a herald!

 

================================================================

2.4:  We bought metallic gold wax and two stamps to seal our

    invitations but can't for the life of us figure out how to

    use them!  Any hints/suggestions out there would be greatly

    appreciated!

 

From: bj at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu (Barbara Jean Kuehl)

We used wax seals on our invitations, and I had the same

question.  Luckily, we happened to be watching a movie with a

medieval setting and saw the method used by the king to seal a

document.  He held the stick of sealing wax over a candle flame

until it began to melt, then quickly positioned the stick over

the envelope and let the melting wax drip onto the desired

spot.  Once he had enough wax, he picked up the stamp and pushed

it down on the soft wax.  We tried doing it that way and, after

a few trial runs, determined about how long to hold the stick in

the candle flame, about how much wax we would need for a good

seal, and about how hard the wax had to be in order to get a

legible seal.  After that, it was a breeze.

                   -------------------------

From: fishcat at hooked.net (Trystan L. Bass)

Aside from lighting the wax directly (which will produce some

blackened wax), you can use the old-fashioned spoon method.

Crumble pieces of wax into an old spoon.  Warm the underside of

the spoon over a candle. When the wax is melted, carefully pour

it onto the envelope.  Stamp with the seal.  This, as with all

wax sealing methods, takes some practice on scrap paper.

Victorian Papers sells a fancy wax sealing set that includes a

tiny spoon with a spout just for this purpose.  The spoon is

$7.95, the wax beads (easier to melt in spoon) are $8.95 per

box.

                   -------------------------

From: Sally Jackson <serifm at fastlane.net>

After putting the puddle of hot melted wax on the envelope, if

you will breathe on the seal (which leaves it a bit damp from

the moisture in your breath) it will not stick to the hot wax.

                   -------------------------

From: bj at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu (Barbara Jean Kuehl)

This is a quote from an instruction sheet entitled "Making Wax

Seals" and provided by The Swordmark Company out of Atlanta, GA,

a vendor of stationery supplies and waxseals.

 

    "In the old days, they used to lick the seal or dip it in

    water before each use--the thin coating of water would keep

    the hot wax from sticking to the metal.  We suggest you

    lightly spray the metal seal with a non-stick lubricant

    (e.g., WD40, Pam cooking spray, silicone) to ensure that

    the wax won't stick.

 

    "Light the wax, tilt the stick at an angle, and let the wax

    drip into a puddle big enough for your seal.  Blow out the

    wax stick, and place the metal seal firmly in the way while

    it is still liquid.  Wait 5 seconds to allow the wax to

    harden before pulling the seal from the wax.

 

    "To cleanup, wipe the metal seal with a paper towel.  If

    any wax is stuck to the metal, use a pin to poke it out,

    and next time lubricate that spot more carefully."

 

================================================================

2.5:  My fiance and I will be making our own invitations and

     would like to use a wax seal on the outside of the

     envelope.  I was wondering if anyone ran into problems with

     the post office, like wax getting stuck in postal machines

     or anything like that?

 

From: Sally Jackson <serifm at fastlane.net>

The post office really doesn't like it - it messes up their

machines. However, I don't believe there is any actual

prohibition against using it.

                   -------------------------

From:  BJ (bj at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu

We didn't place the seal on the outside envelope.  Rather, we

folded the announcement in thirds (leaving an overlapping lip)

and then sealed the lip.  We mailed the announcement in an

envelope and sent it as a regular letter.  At the same time, I

mailed a sealed announcement to myself (to see how the wax would

withstand the postal department).  The seal arrived slightly

cracked.  If you use wax seals, you might want to have the

envelopes hand-cancelled or use a cardboard envelope.  Another

possibility is to forgo the wax and just use one of those red

or gold stickers that look like a real seal.

                   -------------------------

From: mitchell at owl.csusm.edu (Laura Mitchell)

I've been experimenting and have found something that may help

people who are having problems mailing the wax seals. White

glue.  White glue thinned with a little bit of water is flexible

but apparently strong enough to keep the seal together if it

does crack and, best of all, it's clear when applied with a

paint brush (and the brush can be washed in water to clean).

                   -------------------------

From: musasurv at aol.com (Jonathon Elsburough)

I always wrap the envelope in a nice, gaudy gold or silver

ribbon then poor wax over a spot on the ribbon and then press

the seal into the wax, sealing both ribbon and paper.  I also

put the invitations inside a standard envelope which has the

recipient's name lettered quite plainly.  This allows a really

fancy lettering of the recipient's name on the inside envelope,

and people like nothing in calligraphy as much as their name.

 

================================================================

2.6:  How about thank you cards?  Any ideas for how we can make

     our thank you cards look medieval in style?

 

From: Kristiina Prauda <prauda at cc.helsinki.fi>

In Finland,we do not write thank-you letters; we send thank-you

cards with a photograph.  Our thank-you cards consisted of

printed paper, outer card backing, and a photo of us at the

altar. The card was made of rather thick stock with a grey-white

marble motif (or cloud, maybe).  The inner paper is something

called "Paris paper" - nicely uneven, but we were warned later

that it would not hold ink too well. The right-hand side of the

opened card has the photo in an oval rimmed in gold. The

left-hand side is folded in two. On top we put a motif of two

dragons holding a crowned heart (this was modified from the

invitation dragon), a line of Kahlil Gibran, and "With thanks"

in larger letters, with a medieval initial; we signed under

that. We colored the dragons and the inital by hand again.  When

opened, the double-width left-hand side displays a choice of

texts we wanted to include in a wedding program, but time ran

out: some more Kahlil Gibran, some Shakespeare (Much Ado About

Nothing, Benedick and Beatrice having words), and Aragorn's and

Arwen's wedding from Lord of the Rings. We used the same font as

in our invitations.

                   -------------------------

From BJ (bj at alpha1.csd.uwm.edu)

We used the same ragged-edged, prefolded, stationary parchment

for our thank you cards that we used for our invitations.  Using

medieval-looking fonts, we simply inkjet printed 'Thank Thee' on

the outside of the card.  My favorite font was the initial T in

both 'Thank' and "Thee'--it looked like ivy vines.  We handwrote

the message on the inside.

 

<the end>



Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
All other copyrights are property of the original article and message authors.

Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org