by Rose Smith
One of the more difficult aspects of having a medieval wedding
is finding a suitable location. Look for old, gothic type churches,
historical buildings, Tudor style homes or large open park areas
or gardens.
In a lot of cases though, you can make almost any location have
the look and feel of a medieval castle or garden, without actually
having to be in one by using decorations and various props.
Here are several ideas on where to hold your wedding and reception.
Make sure to keep a list of sites you look at, take note of their
good and bad points and list ideas that you can incorporate into
your medieval scheme.
Churches. The most
obvious place to start is a local church. Many churches are built
from stone and have a historical look and feel to them. A nice setting
would be at a local country church in the area. You will need to
speak to the clergy at several churches to see if they are willing
to officiate at a medieval type of wedding. This could be a problem,
however, as most will want to stick to a traditional type of wedding.
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Backyard Weddings. A
backyard setting can be lovely for an outdoors-medieval wedding,
especially if it has a beautiful garden. Make sure the site has
mature trees, lots of flowers and some benches.
Local Woodland Park or Gardens.
If you have park areas that are filled with trees and pathways,
with some open field space, this would be a great location for a
wedding. You will need to find out whether this is a city park or
provincial/state park. Contact the Parks and Recreation department.
Historical Homes. Sometimes,
you can rent out historical homes in your community. Some of these
homes are owned by the city and function as "tourist"
sites. You can also find local people who are willing to rent their
homes for such occasions. What you are looking for is gothic type
homes or Tudor style homes.
Golf and Country Clubs.
Local Golf and Country Clubs usually have banquet facilities
and private rooms. In some cases, they also have a garden area that
you may be able to use. Remember you can easily create the feel
of a medieval setting with various decorations, so don't dismiss
the idea of a Country Club.
Chalets and Inns.
Consider having your wedding and reception at a Country
Inn or Chalet in the mountains. The scenery is usually outstanding
and, as they are in the "tourist" industry, they will
most often have a kitchen for catering and a dining room.
Larger Hotels.
A popular spot for receptions are local hotels. They have
plenty of room, your guests can stay right in the hotel and they
provide the meal. A draw back to this location is that in many cases
the room you are reserving may be in use the night before and you
won't be able to get in to set up until early morning, the day of
the wedding. Also, even if you CAN get in to set up the day before,
you may be charged for booking the room for two days, instead of
for one.
Castles. If you live
in an area where there is a castle in the vicinity, you are very
lucky. Find out who owns it and see if they are willing to allow
you to use their castle for your wedding. If you are willing to
travel, there are a number of castles in Europe who book out to
wedding parties. If you dig deeply enough, you may be able to find
replica type castles in the United States and Canada as well.
Renaissance Fairs. Almost
all of the Renaissance Fairs held throughout the world conduct wedding
ceremonies or will allow you to arrange your wedding ceremony to
take place at their faire. The Society
for Creative Anachronism is the best place to start your search.
My ebook -How to Create a Beautful Medieval Wedding - goes into
more detail on locations and provides you with questions to ask
when researching a site to use, as well as providing links to various
castle locations. However, the above should give you a good base
of ideas to start with. Use your imagination when searching for
a great location, you'd be surprised as to what's out there that
you could use.
