We seem to be undergoing a renaissance lately, a rebirth of the Renaissance period of history. I personally first noticed the trend way back when my grandchildren were in high school. There appeared to be a plethora of madrigal singing groups, dressed in costume and performing at lavish banquets that featured roasted pigs with apples in their mouths.
Instead of petering out, as some fads do, this one grew and took on a force of its own. Now we have Renaissance fairs with costumes, music and pageantry. They occur all over the country, some occasions being just the fair, some including the historical feast.
Some people, like Judy and Stephen Carpenter, really take it to heart as an extreme fashion. Yup, they had a Renaissance wedding.
They met in a more modem way, on the computer. However, they were not looking for mates in that manner. They were instead chatting with other adoptees. Both of them had been adopted by American military families — Stephen’s an Army family; Judy’s, an Air Force family. Both of them had been born in Europe. Stephen was born in Germany, Judy in England. Both were naturalized. They chatted online because they had similar histories. It was five years before they met face to face.
After that, the rest, as they say, is history. They were married in 2005.
It was a second marriage for both. Because of that and their somewhat unusual histories, they decided their marriage would be no mundane affair. They had seen a documentary of a Renaissance fair where some participants won the title of “Lord” or “Lady.” They opted out of that, but decided in their happiness to stage a “royal” Renaissance wedding. They wanted it to be really fun.
Judy made their elaborate costumes. They exchanged crowns instead of rings. The preacher dressed in a monk’s robe. A page delivered a scroll to the preacher. It began: “Hear ye, hear ye: In the shire of New Hope, field of Carpenter Manor … ”
Invitations, too, had been scrolls, mostly hand-delivered. They included precautionary advice, “Thou art requested to refrain from taking the rein of thy carriage whilst under the haze of the fermented grape.
“Renaissance garb admired, but not required.”
The occasion took eight months to prepare. They did the work themselves, down to fashioning gargoyles to oversee the feast. Outside trees had eyes, noses and mouths to form faces on their trunks. The King’s Feast rehearsal dinner was held in the long family room where tables had been set up for a banquet. The Butcher Shop provided the traditional roast pig.
Judy had made the cakes. The wedding cake was a five-tiered castle, the lowest tier being a carriage with lights in it. It had a French vanilla cream cheese icing with sugared grapes.
The groom’s cake was a dragon topped with peacock and pheasant feathers. It was airbrushed in a leopard print.
Mead, made of honey, for the ceremonial toasts had been ordered from California. Judy said it was “pretty good.”
Stocks were available for guests who “got unruly.” A tapestry showing a castle and dragons hung on the wall. A flautist provided music.
Where was the honeymoon? At home, of course. Who could leave all that?
The Carpenters have since discovered the Alabama Renaissance Fair held annually in Florence on Wilson Farm. It is free on the fourth weekend of the month, Oct. 24-25. The feast is the week before, Oct. 17 this year. Sorry, you just missed it, but you could still get to the fair. Contact Billy Warren at [email protected].
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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