My First Post!

Oh what an original title...

How to begin? I'm jumping on the blogging bandwagon. I have a Live Journal but I don't think that really counts... This is intended to be public whereas my lj is very private. I had never intended to start a blog. I didn't really have anything to talk about besides my day to day life... Blogs seem to work best when they have an actual purpose or theme.

In fact, "themes" are very much what drove me to start this blog. You see, I'm getting married to a wonderful man in October. We're having a Medieval/Renaissance/Fantasy themed wedding! Type in "Medieval Wedding" in your Google search bar and be prepared to sort through a myriad of sites, articles, flicker accounts, and whatnot. Many sites are selling outfits, but outfits are only part of planning a historically themed wedding. What about favor ideas? What about seating arrangements? What about accuracy vs. inaccuracy? What about secular Medieval weddings? Christian? Pagan? What about getting the family involved? What about cultural appropriation? There is so much to sort through, and the purpose of most sites I encounter is to sell sell sell. Rarely do I find anything informative. I also love finding inspiration! Not just people in costumes! What about Arthurian centerpieces or invitations? I find them every so often, but rarely in one place. I love looking at Medieval/Renaissance "wedsites" - there's so much great stuff on them!

I'm a huge fan of the amazing Offbeat Bride. I'm a member of the Offbeat Bride Tribe and have met some amazing people there. The community has popularized the term "wedding porn." I sometimes spend hours looking through such porn - photos of happy couples doing what reflects who they are. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to find an example of a historic bride!

I'm not intending to rip Ariel off in any way. I have a ton of respect for her. For starters, I believe she makes some money through Offbeat Bride (correct me if I'm wrong!). I don't intend to at this point, for better or for worse. There's also a group on the Offbeat Bride Tribe dedicated to historic brides, but I wanted to do something a little more. There are so many wedding related websites and blogs out there related to contemporary weddings and contemporary wedding styles - so here's one for historic-minded brides (and grooms!).

Although my main focus is on Medieval and Renaissance weddings, I'll try and find things on Victorian, 50's, 60's, Ancient Greek, and other such historically themed weddings. I love weddings that go for historical accuracy, but I equally love weddings that add in some whimsy. Even though it's a piece of lore, I'd still count Arthurian weddings as "historic." Basically, any wedding that looks to history and/or mythology as inspiration will be intriguing to me. I mean, think about it. We live in the here and now, and yet countless people, including myself, have decided that another time, however accurate, is representative of their weddings! That's pretty interesting.