Ideas for a medieval wedding theme

Whether you’re a fantasy fan or a Middle Ages history buff, a medieval wedding theme offers a fun way to bring a special-to-you unique touch to your wedding. Of course, you’ll have to put aside the fact that most marriages in the middle ages were arranged and just use traditions linked to customs that work for today. The good news is there are plenty of them.

Medieval wedding traditions still practiced today

Medieval wedding traditions still practiced today include wedding vows (much of the same wording is still utilized today), the bride still stands on the left and groom on the right (a tradition tied to the history of the best man), the ring exchange and the fact that the ring is still placed on the fourth finger of the left hand – all these are basically the same as during the Middle Ages. And then there is the large feast and a time for music and dancing following the wedding ceremony.

This foundation of rituals gives brides and grooms plenty to work with, and if you’re a creative couple, the following medieval wedding practices can provide the artistic fodder needed to make your day original and special. Think medieval wedding decorations, a venue such as a castle wedding, dressing in period clothing, and coming up with a medieval menu for your feast.

Peasant weddings were often held in a barn or outdoors.

Medieval marriage facts

The first question to ask yourself is: Do you want a peasant marriage from the middle ages or something more like the marriage of a noble or even a royal? Here's what you need to know:

• Peasant marriage in the middle ages: Peasant women had the most freedom when it came to marriage because those of the lower class were free to marry for love though many took place more because of need. You see, because they were poor, peasants were often needed to help with family work. As a result, they often married later and the ceremony was simple and they held their feast in a barn or outdoors.
• Medieval royal wedding traditions: While royal weddings in the Middle Ages were filled with pomp they were most often political in nature and never amounted to more than that for the bride and groom.
• Noble marriage in the middle ages: Nobel marriages were for the most part more of a contract than a celebration as we think of a wedding today. Husbands and wife were often promised at birth and didn’t even know each other. Weddings could take place once the girl reached puberty and it was common for nobility to hold a wedding ball.

Medieval wedding decorations

In Medieval times, tapestries decorated the walls. A raised table would be located at one end of the hall to seat the lord and his family plus any distinguished guests. On the main floor, two tables seated the rest of the guests who were seated on stools on only one side of the table so they could see the lord. 

 

The medieval wedding feast

The medieval wedding feast included family and friends. The menu offered things like fruit, soup or stew, roasts, tarts and other pastries including pies. The meal often ended with cracker-like wafers, cheese, and candied fruits. The couple drank wine and were entertained with love songs and poems performed by minstrels. (Picture a DJ dressed as a minstrel.) The medieval wedding cake was nothing like what we have today, so if you want to do something medieval, you’d serve an unsweetened loaf of bread. And you might even crumble it over the head of the bride and let guests gather up crumbs for good luck. Here are a few other historical facts that could make things memorable:

• Forks hadn’t been invented yet, so no forks and guests were required to bring their own spoon and knife and stoup to drink from. These drinking vessels were commonly crafted of wood or clay.
• 3-7 courses would be served but back then each course could include a mix of appetizers, main courses or desserts.
• Guests were numbered in groups (called a “mess”) of 2-6 people who would “share” the food set before them.
• Between courses as the tables were cleared, guests were provided with entertainment. Think jugglers, musicians, court jester.

Medieval Celebrations: How to Plan Holidays, Weddings, and Feasts with Recipes, Customs and Costumes

Medieval wedding game

For fun, instead of clinking glasses, in medieval times guests stacked buns as high as they could in front of the newlyweds. Back then, the belief was that this brought prosperity IF the bride and groom could kiss each other while standing on opposite sides of the stack.

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Photo credits: wikimedia, Wikimedia, wikimedia

Medieval wedding cake: Bride’s Pie

I've written about the evolution of the wedding cake tradition and how it started back in Roman times as a loaf of hearty bread broken over the bride's head, but today I want to take a look back to the medieval kitchen to another dish served as a precursor to the wedding cake we enjoy today -- the Bride's Pie.

Medieval wedding cake

If you’re thinking of a medieval theme for your wedding, it might be fun to consider a Bride’s Pie instead of a wedding cake, although I have to say your guests will really have to be as into acting out the medieval scenario as you are, or at the least have an adventuresome culinary spirit. The earliest recipe I could find for “Bride’s Pye” dates back to the Middle Ages and is found in the The Accomplisht Cook. The book is written in old English and terms and cuts of meat have changed since it was written, but I just had to include the original recipe for my readers in order to accentuate how much things have changed.

Medieval Kitchen

Before you read the recipe, let me offer a warning. It’s not a sweet dessert-type dish but a savory pie recipe and back then nothing went to waste. For instance, when the recipe calls for “sweet-breads” of veal, it is talking about the thymus or the pancreas from veal. Cock-combs are an edible flower. Most of the rest of the ingredients you'll recognize.

Medieval wedding cake was known as Bride's Pie

 

Bride’s pie recipe 1685

To make an extraordinary Pie, or a Bride Pye of several Compounds, being several distinct Pies on one bottom. Provide cock-stones and combs, or lamb-stones, and sweet-breads of veal, a little set in hot water and cut to pieces; also two or three ox-pallats blanch’t and slic’t, a pint of oysters, slic’t dates, a handful of pine kernels, a little quantity of broom buds, pickles, some fine interlarded bacon slic’t; nine or ten chestnuts rosted and blanch season them with salt, nutmeg, and some large mace, and close it up with some butter. For the caudle, beat up some butter, with three yolks of eggs, some white or claret wine, the juyce of a lemon or two; cut up the lid, and pour on the lear, shaking it well together; then lay on the meat, slic’t lemon, and pickled barberries, and cover it again, let these ingredients be put in the moddle or scollops of the Pye.

If you’re not quite adventuresome enough to go with this authentic recipe, you can always go with

Medieval wedding cake topper

 

the savory pie recipe of your choice. And to make this custom your own, why not eat it as the main dish and still enjoy a traditional wedding cake with a medieval wedding cake topper for dessert with your guests. It will still be a special way to make your wedding celebration unique and delicious.

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Photo credits: wikipedia, wikimedia.org

Top 3 fantasy wedding dresses for a magical wedding

By: Rebecca Krummert

Thinking of having a fantasy themed wedding? In our Western culture, one of the most important elements of a wedding is the bride’s dress. The bride wants to stand out. She wants to make the crowd say “Wow!” And it's no different for a fantasy wedding. People into the fantasy genre, whether based on old cultural traditions or the imaginative movies and books we have today, the centerpiece is the right fantasy wedding dress.

A medieval wedding dress is simple enough, you can even make one yourself.

Medieval wedding dresses

One of the most popular choices for a fantasy wedding dress is the Medieval style. Most Medieval styled dresses have a boatneck and have long flowing sleeves, that often flow all the way to the floor. Medieval styled dresses offer two options: Renaissance or Celtic. Renaissance dresses are usually a straighter cut, long and flowing. The Celtic style has a little more poof to the dress like the Victorian style.

If you don’t want a white dress, any color works with a Medieval style dress. These dresses are simple, yet elegant. That’s not to say you can’t find an extravagantly designed gown. On the other hand, it’s a great option for a bride who wants a fantasy wedding but doesn’t wish to spend hundreds of dollars on the dress. In fact, a medieval wedding dress is simple enough, you can even make one yourself if you are so inclined! 

Victorian wedding dresses

Victorian style wedding dresses can also bring a sense of fantasy to your wedding. Since it’s a simple style, the color of the dress can be whatever the bride wants. The Victorian style is a type of ballgown with a tight bodice and usually a high collar at the back of the neck with a low square neckline. But, stylistic choices can also include a sleeveless dress or long, tight-fitting sleeves.

This style can also work for a Gothic or Steampunk wedding theme. A Victorian wedding dress is easily functional for all these wedding themes, and although Steampunk is not as popular as fantasy, it is an interesting twist to a wedding.

Black Vintage Renaissance Wedding Dress

Black wedding dresses

Black wedding dresses are one of the most popular choices among millennials and Gen Z’s and they make a perfect fantasy wedding dress. It’s a change from the traditional white and a chance to stand out from other weddings. Of course, some people will think black is the wrong color for a wedding dress. You might even hear comments like, “the bride looks more like she’s going to a funeral.” However, when we look at the history of wedding dresses, before Queen Victoria was married in 1840, a black wedding dress was the most popular choice, especially in Scandinavia. Only two other brides wore white on their wedding day before Queen Victoria, Philippa of England in 1406 and Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1559. White was actually the color of mourning for French queens, so Queen Mary was a bit of a Goth as her favorite color was white!

When it comes to picking a black wedding dress, fantasy brides have several choices of styles. Whether you choose to go full-on Gothic, Rococo Revival style, or a wear a beautiful black A-line princess style dress, the possibilities are endless. If you aren’t sure what style is for you, take a look at Medieval and Victorian styles. You can choose long sleeve, short sleeves, ballgown style or something with a straighter cut. I personally recommend wearing a black wedding dress. They are absolutely beautiful. A great choice for a fantasy wedding!

A bride has several different choices for her fantasy wedding day. Whether she’s a lover of unicorns and fairies or of knights in shining armor and dragons, there’s something for everyone in the fantasy genre. 

Photo credits:  Amazon, Wikipedia.org, Amazon

Tradition of the Ornate Norse Wedding Crown

The history of the ornate Norse wedding crown is intertwined with the cultural and historical developments of the Nordic region, particularly during the medieval and post-medieval periods. While precise documentation of its origin is limited, its evolution can be traced through archaeological findings, historical records, and cultural practices. 

Origins of the Norse wedding crown

The origins of the Nordic wedding crown likely stem from medieval European traditions, including Christian customs and influences from neighboring regions During the Middle Ages, crowns were symbols of nobility, authority, and religious significance. As Christianity spread throughout Scandinavia, elements of Christian wedding customs, such as crowns and blessings, likely influenced the development of the Nordic wedding crown tradition. (Some regions suggest it is fashioned after the Virgin Mary’s crown). 

Purpose of the wedding crown

The tradition of the Nordic wedding crown as it is known today emerged during the post-medieval period (late Middle Ages and on). As societies became more structured and wealthier, families invested in heirloom-quality items for special occasions, including weddings. In the Viking culture, the bridal crown was most often a family heirloom crafted of silver. Silver and gold were the two precious metals commonly used for such purposes, and ornate crowns became symbolic elements of bridal attire, signifying purity, lineage, and familial wealth. It was probably the most significant item in her trousseau.

Like many wedding traditions, the origins of the Norse Wedding Crown are tied to the superstition that the crown deflected evil spirits in the same way the wedding veil custom was thought to hide the bride from evil spirits. For the Norwegian tradition, the bride wore her ornate silver and gold crown decorated with small dangling charms. As the bride moved the tinkling of the charms was thought to chase away the evil spirits, much the same way the clanking of tin cans and old shoes tied to the back of the newlywed's getaway carriage was thought to help ward away evil spirits.

 

 

The tradition continues to evolve

Despite societal and cultural changes over the centuries, the tradition of the Nordic wedding crown persisted in Nordic communities. Families continued to pass down heirloom crowns from generation to generation, and the symbolism associated with the crown remained significant in wedding ceremonies. Over time, the design and ornamentation of the crowns may have evolved to reflect changing tastes and fashion trends, but the core symbolism and cultural significance endured.

The Nordic wedding crown remains a cherished symbol of tradition, heritage, and marital union in Scandinavia to this day. While the exact origins of the Nordic wedding crown are not definitively documented, its history can be traced through the intersection of medieval European traditions, Viking-era practices, Christian influences, and evolving cultural norms within Nordic societies.

 

Photo Credits: Norsk Folkemuseum, picryl, flickr