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This is a lovely wedding photo!

The offbeat bride: Stefanie, Accountant/Opera Singer

Her offbeat partner: Aaron, Web Designer

Location & date of wedding: First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Francisco in San Fransisco, CA on December 13th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: The wedding was very detailed, complete with Renaissance music, vows rolled in parchment scrolls, a feather quill pen to sign the guest book, and custom head wreaths, ending in a Medieval feast.

 

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I sang two pieces during the ceremony to express my love and devotion to Aaron. This was the last wedding our minister will perform until marriage is legal for all. We took a moment during the ceremony to acknowledge those who do not have this right. We also had him call the four directions and end the ceremony with “Blessed Be”.

I wore a custom-made Renaissance dress, called the Velvet Celtic Accolade Gown, in frosted silver velvet with hundreds of hand-sewn Swarovski crystals and silver embroidered detail. Our first dance was a traditional Renaissance dance and the band was a violin/recorder duo.

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The reception hall was lit with white Christmas lights and candles, and all the flower and table arrangements had a touch of the holidays. The guests exclaimed that it was the best wedding ever! It truly was right out of a fairy tale. And they lived happily ever after…

Our biggest challenge: Our biggest challenge happened a few months before the ceremony. The day itself went off without a hitch. The issue we had was getting our rings engraved. The first engraver told us he could do what we asked in the Old English font that we wanted. Two months went by (One month after he told us they'd be done) before we finally had to call him.

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He said they were done, but when we looked at them there were words missing. He denied it but said he would re-do them. Again, we had to call him and this time there were mostly scratches on my ring and he said he couldn't do it. We then kindly told him to screw off and took them somewhere else to be cleaned, then finally found a laser engraver. I was at my wit's end by that point so when they were finally done we celebrated with some martinis.

My favorite moment: My favourite moment was just after I sang my aria to Aaron towards the end of the ceremony. He was crying, and I looked over and saw that his brother was crying, too. I did it, the most difficult and nerve-wracking performance of my life, and it was actually pretty effortless! I was in the moment and so very glad that I was able to really express how I feel, which is all that really matters.

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My offbeat advice: Do as much as you can ahead of time and try to stay as organized as possible! This saved me, and because of it I was able to just let go of all of my stresses, worries and nervousness on the big day and just be in the moment. Do whatever you can beforehand and then just let it all go the day of… It will pay off and then you can really enjoy yourself!

Some of my vendors:

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn: Click the photo below for more romantic pics from Stefanie & Aaron's Renaissance Fairytale wedding!

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Comments on Stefanie & Aaron’s Renaissance Fantasy Church Wedding

  1. What an absolutely georgeous wedding! I’m adding it to my inspiration folder. 🙂

  2. This shows lots of thought and planning–keep that in mind everyday– to think of each other and plan for the beautiful moments–They rarely “just ” happen and we got 40 years coming up.Were the guests in period clothing too. I’m working on a wedding presentation for bridges who are a tight budget–Your decorations are simple but beautiful.

  3. Stefanie’s wedding has definitely been one of my favorite weddings that I’ve seen over on OBT recently. The gorgeous details and all the work really showed. Glad to see her Bride Profile here!

  4. I am so excited to see this wedding featured here. Having had a peek at their planning months before, and being there for Aaron’s boot custom order (the burgundy detailing turned out beautifully) and see their attention to detail, I knew it would be stunning. And I was not disappointed (well, only in that I had to give my regrets because of a travel conflict, so had to wait a month for the porn). Thanks, Ariel, for featuring them here.

  5. I am in love with the church! I wish mine was that beautiful!

    Beautiful wedding. 🙂

  6. Beautiful wedding – I totally sympathize with them over the rings. We had the exact same problem with our old english engraving – but it worked out in the end.

    Such beautiful photos!

  7. Heh, this has me wanting to make a replica of the Accolade dress (which I’ve wanted to do anyway) and put my fiance in a similar outfit, and go get pics!

  8. Hello – I am doing a Fairy Tale themed wedding with some similar details to yours and I am looking for a guest book to fit the theme. We have the quill type pen also but I am having trouble finding a book that goes along with the theme. I would like to know what kind of guest book you used? Do you remember where you bought it or how you made it? Thank you!

  9. OMG! I love your wedding photos! I was thinking i was out of my mind trying to put on a more Gothic Renaissance wedding in a church. You have given me so many ideas!! woo! Thank You! I am wondering, where in the world did you find the groom's jacket? Dressing him is my hardest part!

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