A Wedding at Renaissance Festival

The Wedding Day

2005-11-21T09:36:00.000-06:00

Saturday, November 19, 2005 was a great day for a somewhat non-traditional wedding held at the Texas Renaissance Festival. About 60 friends and family members attended from as far away as London, England and Birmingham, Alabama.

There was much pomp and pageantry associated with the ceremony and reception. A horse-drawn carriage delivered the bride to the indoor/outdoor King's Chapel for the service.

Preceding the carriage was a procession of ladies and lords, headed by the minister in full robes and regalia. Music was in the Scottish vein with pipes, drum, viol, and dulcimer.

The vows and rings were exchanged under a huge blue mosaic cross hung on a towering ivy-covered wall.

The lords did a raised sword salute forming a walkway through which the bride was escorted.

Much of the ceremony was traditional but one element not seen in weddings was the presentation of a live falcon by the trainer. While the handler stood in the aisle with the bird on his leather cuff, the father of the groom read a wedding blessing describing the union of husband and wife, comparing them to a keen-sighted falcon and a protective wolf. Wedding Blessing is below.

The bride wore a white Renaissance dress topped by a silver cloak lined in white satin, her head crowned with a flower wreath. The groom wore black hat, a long gray tunic decorated with a howling wolf symbol on the chest, draped with black wool cloak and outfitted with sword and chalice. The wedding party consisted of the Allison's two sisters Kara & Jessica escorted by the Mark's son Daniel and brother Randy.
After the ceremony the guests were escorted to the reception held in the arbor. During the reception Mark cut the groom's cake with his sword.

After the final festival fireworks show the wedding party and out-of-town guests were invited to dinner hosted by the groom's parents.
The wedding pictures can be seen by clicking the Wedding Picture Album link in the Sidebar.

Wedding Blessing

The raptor has a keen sense of vision seeing great distances in fine detail. The bird‘s broader vision allows it to see what the future holds. The swift agility of the hawk’s flight reminds us that we can soar to great heights. When the hawk flies into our life we re-evaluate who we have become.

The lone wolf is the symbol of freedom, stamina and strength. When seen in a pack, the wolf represents the family. The wolf does not fight needlessly but is fiercely loyal when protecting its own. The wolf is regarded as the pathfinder and the teacher.

As you, Allison and Mark, come together, so do the hawk and the wolf. Although strong as individuals, you are stronger together than you ever were alone. May you remember throughout the years to use each others’ strengths to overcome your individual weaknesses; to join together as a team so your abilities compliment each other; to see the future from both perspectives; and to travel together to fulfill your dreams.

Bride & Groom as Children

2005-11-16T11:20:00.001-06:00

I've heard that God made puppies and kittens so cute because then we would keep them. I wonder if the same goes for little girls and boys. These two are just too cute. cm

World Series Pictures

2005-11-10T13:17:00.000-06:00

When the wildcard winner Houston Astros won in the division playoffs all Houston baseball fans wished for tickets to the first World Series ever to be held in the state of Texas. Allison, being a big sports fan, optimistically entered the lottery drawing for a chance to buy World Series tickets. She won the opportunity to buy 4 tickets and shared them with Mark and his parents, Charlene and Charles.

They attended the first home game on Tuesday night and it turned out to be the longest World Series game ever played --5 hours and 41 minutes, going 14 innings. Charles and Charlene went wearily home after 11 innings but Mark and Allison stayed until the bitter end (and it was a bitter loss for the valiant Astros).

A Wedding at Texas Renaissance Festival

2005-11-09T17:14:00.000-06:00

A Texas Renaissance Wedding

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Mark T. Mundy and Allison K. Ames chose the Texas Renaissance Festival for the site of their wedding. They enjoy being regular attendees of the festival and personally know many of the people who work there in the shows or shops.

Mark, his son Daniel, Allison and several of the wedding party will wear fun costumes depicting the 16th century era. The other guests are invited to dress in very casual wear. The weekend of the wedding the festival frounds will be decorated for the "Celtic Christmas" theme. In keeping with the theme, the groom and some of the party will wear kilts. There will also surely be some knights, monks and a princess or two.

Allison & Mark - Christmas 2004