| Current mood: |  sick |
| Current music: | Enya - The Celts |
Tongues of Elves and Dwarves and Men
And so it was that the last wedding of the year was that of Shadow, dwarf-daughter, and Jason, son of the elves, at a state park and campground where live action role-playing games (LARPs, for the uninitiated) are known to occur. It was the least traditional wedding I've ever attended, and that's saying something! It was also a great deal of fun, without losing the solemnity of the ceremony, which is, I think, how it should be. Marriage is a serious business, and a ceremony should speak to that; on the other hand, the joy of the occasion must be celebrated with abandon! Shadow and Jason managed both, tied together with a Lord of the Rings theme that might have been cheesy if someone else had tried to do it, but they stripped it of a lot of the pretense that often comes with such role-playing endeavors. There was very little attention paid to pouffy-sparkly-prettiness (the bride excepted, of course), and a great deal of attention paid to the pleasures of food, games, and good company. The buffet was served cafeteria-style with styrofoam bowls and plastic utensils, but believe me when I tell you that if you weren't there, you should be very, very jealous of those of us who got to try the food. It was all historical English fare, including a starter course of breads, cheeses, and chardwarden (sort of like apple butter with more nutmeg and less butter - I almost filled up on just that), a main course of salad and stews (traditional beef, Moorish chicken, and spicy root vegetable were the options) with meat pasties (meat and fruit blended together in a pastry crust, and these were the best I've had), and a dessert of balsamic fruit with shortbread (which I was, by that time, much too full to sample). I also wish I'd gotten pictures of the cakes; the bride's cake was Minas Tirith sculpted in buttercream, and the groom's cake was Minas Morgul with the Eye of Sauron on top.
In between the solemn ceremony (and how could that be, with the wedding party dressed as knights and rogues and many of the guests in elf-wear? I don't know, but it was) and the scrumptious feast were games, starting with a melee (a free-for-all using fake weapons on a battlefield), followed by dueling (one on one with fake weapons) and an archery tournament. It was a very interesting glimpse into the LARP world that so many of my friends are part of, though I must confess, I slept through a great deal of the dueling, as I was not feeling well. I have succumbed to the head cold that's been going around at work. I also did not stay for the bonfire, jam session, and traditional dancing (actual dances, like the korabushka! With live music!!!) that followed the feast, which I doubtless would have loved, but I went home and crashed instead, at 9:00 p.m., and didn't wake up until noon today. I've been napping on and off all day. Poor sad me.
I can't complain, though, when I compare myself to Shadow, who was diagnosed with pneumonia a few days before the wedding but didn't show it at all. She's big and tough, is our Shadow. She is one of the most practical people I know, and I've always admired her ability to just do stuff, or make stuff, or fix stuff. I can't even imagine her saying "I can't" to anything. Her practicality particularly impressed me in that she made her wedding dress out of her old one, from when she was married before. She cut it up and re-made it and added some trim and a royal blue jacket, and voila! New wedding dress. She herself was proudest of the white slippers with white embroidery that she made a nice periwinkle color by coloring the embroidery with a ball-point pen while she watched a movie one night. Shadow is both one of the coolest people and one of the biggest geeks I've ever met. It's a good combination.
I tend to think of Jason as the emotional one and Shadow as the stoic, but when I played the song I wrote for them for ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
loresinger, the Best Maid (actually, I think her title in the program was something different, but I can't remember), she predicted that they would both cry, and she was right. I was pleased by how much people liked the song, especially given that I wrote it less than a week before the wedding. I am always happiest writing when an idea comes to me very naturally and I know just how the song should go. I hadn't had any good ideas for a song for them (and I was a little disappointed, since I knew they would love a song for their wedding), but then I went over to their house to help out with last-minute costuming details. (I don't sew. At all. Shadow and Jason are both under strict orders NEVER to look at the underside of that gown.) While I was there, I borrowed the stunning green velvet dress that I wore for the ceremony (thanks, Shadow!), and I also got to see the ketubah. A ketubah is a traditional Jewish marriage contract, usually written in both Hebrew and English. Shadow and Jason borrowed the tradition but had theirs written in Elvish, Dwarvish, and the Tongues of Men! They also included lines for each guest to sign as a witness and had it in a beautiful frame, with the illustration of the arch on the doorway to the Mines of Moria just visible in the background. It's stunning, and I absolutely love it! When I got in the car to drive home, the idea for their song began to crystallize, and by the time I pulled into my driveway, it was almost finished, except that I knew I would need co-conspirators. Some songs DEMAND harmony, and this was one of them, so I organized a top-secret practice session. The bride and groom did not see it coming AT ALL, and I was incredibly pleased at how good it sounded when everyone suddenly stood up and sang on the chorus. It was exactly the effect I'd imagined, and it was really cool. Imagine: it's your wedding day, and all of a sudden all these people who love you are singing to you. Shoot, I'm almost choked up my own self, thinking about it.
To conclude, I present a brief photo essay of droid18's best shots:
The guests were all in costume, most historical, though there were a few elves and fairies floating about. Here is a picture of The Most Excellent Lord and Lady Rinehart...
...and some fetching damsels in green:
(On a side note, I have no idea why all of our pictures came out so blue. We must have had it on the wrong setting for bright daylight.)
Now, on to the ceremony; the groom awaits.
The bride enters with her parents:
The ceremony arch (loosely based on the famous drawing of the archway to the Mines of Moria, which was also featured on the invitations and on the ketubah):
A solemn vow...
...and a kiss, as they are declared man and wife.
And now... everybody fight!
The bride blows a kiss to her champion, Lord Rinehart...
...who sadly suffers defeat at the hand of Sir Yam.
Lord Rinehart would gladly downplay the details of his defeat, but, alas, all was captured by The Ubiquitous Camera of Penny Chaney:
The Lady Rivka will avenge him in the archery tournament!
I do wish I could have stayed for the dancing; I'd no doubt have even better pictures to share! Hopefully this batch does justice to the spirit of the occasion. I couldn't be happier for Shadow and Jason, and I am also, I admit, glad that another wedding season is at an end. Mazeltov, everyone! Here's to long life and happiness!!!
