The Saga of Mike and Billie (most pictures are "clickable")

The Ring. Mike proposed on December 25, 2002. I was surprised, he was nervous. (I'm sure you've heard this story before.) I didn't want a diamond. Instead, he picked out a lovely sapphire in a white gold, antique setting. For my wedding ring, my mother gave me the ring my father had given her when they married. It was such an honor and one of my greatest gifts. Since my father has passed, I was happy to have something so special of theirs. For Mike, we picked out a beautiful platinum ring with a braiding and rope design. All three rings go together perfectly, even though they came from different places.

We talked about where and when to have the wedding. It was then I confessed one of my fantasies. Yes, to have a renaissance wedding. (You thought I'd say something else, didn't cha.) I had once seen a couple who were married at a Florida faire on Valentine's Day and it was so romantic. Mike loved the idea and so we set out to make plans.

Coming to the Faire. California was the obvious choice since most our families live in or near the area. And you can't have a renaissance wedding without a faire attached. Well, you CAN, but it's not nearly as much fun. We first contacted the wedding coordinater at the Glen Helen Renaissance Pleasure Faire. However, she was unresponsive and unprofessional. Another long, icky story, but as they say, "If you can't say something nice about someone, come sit next to me." Anyway, time was pressing on. It was already mid-January and faire season would be ending soon. We checked out the The National Renaissance Faire Directory and found the Crossroads European Renaissance Festival (otherwise known as the Barony of Koroneburg). If we wanted to marry in 2003, and we did, we would have to make haste. We contacted them immediately and spoke with Tom Wilson who runs Crossroads Productions. Tom answered all our questions and made many suggestions. He directed us to his daughter, Kim, who handled the wedding preparations. Kim was wonderful. Everyone at Koroneburg makes you feel welcome.

Planning a Wedding. With less than five months to go, we got busy quick. We searched the web for nearly everything, from shoes to the faire itself. We went to our own neighborhood faire The Florida Renaissance Festival in Deerfield Beach for more ideas. (Check out our Faire page for pics.) Mike bought his entire ensemble at the faire. We found a great deal on swords online (I'll have to find the link again), five swords for $120. E-bay is another great spot for ren garb and accessories. (The picture on the left is the tent where we had the wedding feast and watched the entertainment. You'll see the Baron chatting with some of the Winged Hussars).

I decided to give out gift bags to the guests. I wanted this to be one of the most important features of the wedding. After all, we were asking our guests to dress in funny clothes. It's the least we could do. It took me awhile to decide what to put in the bags. I wanted gifts that related to the renaissance, but would be affordable. I also wanted to include some things for the kids. We had quite a few in the wedding party, and we also encouraged our guests to bring their children. I decorated each bag with "jewels" (plastic shiny rhinestones) which allowed me to buy plain white bags cheaply and glue on the jewels myself. I then decided this would be a great place to put their table/name tags. An outside wedding can be windy. Even a small breeze will make a mess of folded table tags. But, if I tie them to the bags, waaalaa! They stay put and provide added decoration for the bag.

As it was, the Bag Idea didn't go as well as planned, which I'll explain on our Gift Bag Page. Also check out the page for what I bought and how I put it together. An added bonus to the bag creation was that it kept me very busy for five months. I probably would have gone nuts otherwise.

Believe it or not, this is the only decent picture I have. And they looked so nice all lined up on the table! Ah well, we do have a video.

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