wedding help! pagan/renaissance/celtic and fairytale?

Question

so i have questions.... im planning a wedding for october 10,2009. Our wedding has to be planned with in several months. dont ask why, family thing.

my inspiration is a celtic/renaissance/fairytale wedding. something by the greens and ferns and just beautiful. I live in eureka ca.

Colors= *ivory/cream *brown *green *burgandy/wine *gold

because im wiccan, i want to have herbs and oils burning at my wedding for luck. also stones.

stones=bloodstone, green,clear,rose quartz. moonstone, tigers eye and garnet.

oils=honeysuckle and lavender
herbs=angelica, rosemary and myrrh

were incorporating dragons. our goblets are going to be bugandy/opalecent with dragons that fit together to make a heart. our cake topper is two dragons that also make a heart.

im going to be wearing ivory, http://www.carpatina.com/WomenWeddingDress.html
im going to wear a headpeice,
http://www.camiasdesigns.com/pages/circlets/j-circlets-c291.html


i want my bridesmaids to wear green. same with the grooms men(who i want to wear peasent type shirts) but i cant find shirts or dresses...

maid of honor and best man are going to wear burgandy or wine.
Moh= http://www.cloakmaker.com/availpics/G516.html
BestMan= cant find a shirt


my fiance is going to wear
http://www.pearsonsrenaissanceshoppe.com/PaddedShirt.html

~~so basically i just kinda wanted your help on opinions and such. im having a hard time finding certain things... a venue here, a officiant, (im not wanting someone who is going to be all churchy, i want it more celitc/pagan beliefs and such, but not sure where to look) help on flower ideas and any other suggestions you are willing to give.

thanks in advance

Answer 1

I love it!! (especially the headpiece & the dragons) You're doing fine, don't panic. You don't really need to have the clothes all picked out yet, concentrate on the venue (I would go with outside for your theme) and then the officiant (if they don't have one onsite) and then the flowers (I would almost say random wildflowers).



When you get to the clothes just keep on with what you're doing, and I would think that you'd need to look basically for costumes.



Just a thought - you can do weddings at the Renaissance Festival in Texas, have you checked Northern California's to see?? It does fall about that time of year.

Answer 2

I have been to a Pagan wedding at Stonhenge, it was amazing!.

I might add that there were Guests of all faiths, and everyone enjoyed the ceremony.



The couple had already had a civil ceremony which fulfilled the legalities and had a Pagan High Priestess perform the hand fasting. They had different people 'calling in' the elements.



It's a shame you don't say where you are because I could point you in the direction of our local Moot (in Southern England). There are some Pagan Officiants listed in The States here:



About.com Guide to Paganism / Wicca



Have a fabulous day.

Answer 3

Humanist Officiants certificated by the American Humanist Association are legally allowed to perform marriages in all 50 states. If you cannot find a licensed Pagan Officiant (there are some out there, but possibly not in your state), go for a Humanist who will respect your needs and wishes. The Officiant does not have to conduct the whole ceremony, just the legal parts, so you might have a friend with similar beliefs to you conduct the more Pagan sections of the ceremony.



Failing that a Unitarian minister may be willing to conduct the ceremony.

Answer 4

I was actually in a pagan/celtic wedding a few years back for my teacher. What was so neat was during the ceremony she had select students either singing or playing musical instruments or doing readings. I was in theatre so she had me read from excerpts of Shakespeare and other romantic poems and proses during different parts of the ceremony. I read Thomas Moore "Believe me, If all those endearing charms" and a pagan love story. It was beautiful. The musician was a flutist and played with a soprano as she sang.



She also got married in a old church that had the stained glass, gargoyles and a huge garden which was perfect for the pictures.



Hope this helps with some ideas! Congrats!

Answer 5

Love the headpiece. Which I could have found that when I got married a few years ago!



For officiants, my first recommendation is a Unitarian Universalist minister. They'll marry anyone. We had one for our Wiccan/Lutheran wedding. Also, the database on witchvox.com includes pagan clergy. You could try there. Just verify that they fit your state's requirements for being able to officiate a wedding. Finally, if none of those work, you could have your official wedding in front of a judge, and then hold a ceremony separately, in which case it can be officiated by whoever you want.



My one warning on your plans is the use of oils and incense. Some people are allergic to them, so you might want to rethink their use out of consideration of your guests.

Answer 6

Sounds really cool. I love it.

For officiants, most places have officiant services where you plan the thing and tell them what to say etc. I needed this because I'm atheist and my fiance is lutheran so we needed someone who wasn't going to ignore religion but wasn't going to turn it into a "let's convert the bride" ceremony.

For a ceremony location, check out hotels, parks, old libraries, historic sites, museums. etc etc. Get creative with where you look! I know around here there is an old castle looking mansion that is really cool!!



With your colours, what about some ivory roses? I think that would be really nice!

Answer 7

You should check out the medieval weddings community at http://www.midnightgarden.com/wedding/board . The ladies there are very helpful at finding just about anything.

Answer 8

That is going to be the best wedding ever. Very inventive and original. Definitely not your run-of-the-mill, cookie-cutter wedding! In a good way.

Answer 9

Someone already mentioned this but i second the allergies to oil/incense... it makes me unable to breath and idon't think you want to remember your wedding by someone getting rushed to the ER =) sounds beautiful though!

Answer 10

It sounds so beautiful - keep doing what you're doing - this is going to be simply amazing!!