When 21-year-old Jennifer Tryban and 20-year-old Paul Hight of Chicago decided to tie the knot, they knew they would get married in the Irish Castle, a neighborhood landmark that houses the Beverly Unitarian Church, where Paul had attended services and Sunday school since childhood.
In the early stages of planning, though, Jennifer told Paul that she longed for a medieval wedding. After some discussion with their parents and between themselves, the couple realized that the castle’s architectural features provided the perfect setting for Jennifer’s dream wedding.
And so were issued the Tryban/Hight invitations: “By royal proclamation thou art invited to witness the marriage of Jennifer Jean, daughter of James and Dorothy of the House of Tryban, and Paul Lawrence, son of Lawrence and Helen of the House of Hight.” Details of the wedding were resurrected from the Middle Ages, down to the very last drop of cider, and festivities were held on the greens around the castle.
Like this latter-day Arthur and Guinevere, other area couples are striving to imprint their weddings with evidence of their individuality, and site selection for the exchange of vows is just one of many choices. Couples have married this spring with expressive flair, in ceremonies set apart by setting, theme, decor or conveyance.
For the medieval fete planned by Tryban and Hight, Paul’s mother, Helen Hight, served as costumer. After researching nuptial customs from the Middle Ages, the couple incorporated many into their wedding plans, with amused note given to the precautions of the Middle Ages. Through use of bells, bridesmaids and chimes, said Helen Hight, medieval citizens warded off, fooled and detoured evil spirits from pestering the bride and groom.
“The medieval purpose for groomsmen and bridesmaids was interestingly noted as we planned the costumes for this wedding,” Helen said. “Groomsmen were selected specifically to assure that the groom would show up at the wedding. But the bridesmaids were selected for the purpose of confusing evil spirits. This diverted those spirits from attacking or cursing the bride.”
Helen Hight made cranberry-colored medieval costumes, with groom and groomsmen in hats, fitted tops, peasant shirts, knickers and stockings. Jennifer’s white bridal gown and her bridesmaid’s cranberry-colored costumes were one-piece dresses designed to look like peasant blouses, vests and long skirts.
Guests arriving at the castle grounds found magicians, fire eaters, flame jugglers and jesters, including one on stilts, hired by Paul Hight from IYQ Entertainment, 4100 N. Keystone, Chicago. IYQ’s owner, Keith Cobb, said characters range from $70 an hour for a clown to $150 an hour for stiltwalker.
“It seemed like a fantasy, like we stepped back in time,” Paul said. “From the moment we arrived at the castle in the horse-drawn carriage, it seemed that no one even noticed the cars driving by on Longwood Drive. People only saw jesters and flame jugglers and heard medieval music.”
The ceremony, held outside, was performed in old English dialect by a minister in friar garb, flanked by ushers carrying the Tryban and Hight family crests.
After exchanging vows, Jennifer and Paul reboarded the horsedrawn carriage that brought them to the castle and departed for a tour of Beverly, where both had grown up. Upon returning to the castle, they joined their guests in a banquet tent where the medieval feast included beef and chicken, and Middle-Age favorites such as sweetmeats, pastries and cider.
Two suits of armor and a disc jockey who played the greatest hits of the Middle Ages helped complete the scene. These were provided by Beverly Records Entertainment, which incorporates the services offered by Beverly Rare Records’ two shops at 11612 S. Western Ave. and 5608 W. Cermak Rd. in Cicero, as well as Beverly Costumes, 11628 S. Western Ave.
One of the stores’ owners provided an idea of what’s available and how much it costs. “We’ve provided deejays and props for all kinds of themes-Star Wars, Roaring ’20s, Blues Brothers, whatever, ” says Randy Dreznes, whose family owns the shops. “At a recent fundraiser, the theme was the ’50s. We provided 10 ’50s-style poodle skirts for event workers, 10 men’s costumes that included a costume for the Elvis impersonator and a gold costume for the emcee. We also provided posters and 45s used in the centerpiece design. Our deejay booth was propped with the front end of a ’57 Chevy, with a ’50s-style costumed deejay and, of course, music from the ’50s. That whole thing cost $1,500.”
Three hours of music by a costumed disc jockey costs $250. Costume rates range from $25 to $100.
–
When 25-year-old Susette Brown of Indian Head Park and fiance Mark Kubiak, 31, of Chicago, set about planning their wedding, they knew they also wanted certain traditions of old England in their wedding. But Brown also wanted modernism.
The regality of Old World tradition suggested by Brown’s wedding gown, handsewn of raw silk by her mother, Bonnie, was combined with the contemporary look of her elegant silk jacket, with 4,000 pearls hand-stitched around the neckline and rim.
The floral arrangements also added to the ambience of the wedding.
“Because we customize all wedding flowers, our brides will never see their bouquets duplicated in another wedding,” said Jim Rouen at Unreal Floral Arrangements, 3514 W. 111th St., which planned the decorations. “Susette came in and said, `I want drama. I want big flowers.’ Another bride asked me to design around her mother’s wedding dress, and we incorporated the satin piping from that dress into the floral design. If they bring in appliques, we incorporate those. Other brides have no theme in mind at all. In those cases, I ask for a picture of all the dresses from the first fitting, then we develop a theme.”
Rouen said prices start at $500 for a bride, four bridesmaids, a groom, four groomsmen and a flower girl, and range up from there.
Brown’s decision to have her bridal arrangements made of silk stemmed from previous experience. Rouen had designed the bridal flowers for the weddings of Brown’s two sisters.
“I knew Jim’s work was wonderful and that silk flowers would not compromise the beauty or quality of my arrangements,” she said. “Even knowing this, I was still stunned with the drama and splendor he achieved. We expected him to design something in white and gold for my wedding, but these floral arrangements were spectacular, dramatic and absolutely elegant. He always comes up with something that you would never have dreamed of.”
Her bouquet was a cascade of flowing pearl-edged ivory grosgrain ribbon woven throughout cream roses, white orchids, antique gold lemon leaves and purple immortelles.
“When I first saw them it was just a burst of fuchsia and pink, purple, teal. I knew they’d be exquisite against the dresses,” Brown said of her bridesmaids’ bouquets. Rouen used the same woven ivory pearl-edged grosgrain ribbon as he’d used in the bridal bouquet. But this time the ribbon flowed through burgundy/mauve giant parrot tulips, flesh-toned Tropicana roses, purple immortelles, teal sedum spray, clusters of black empress grapes and lily-of-the-valley.
Brown got the drama she required in her reception table centerpieces. The 4 1/2-foot pieces stood regally at the center of each table, surrounded by small white votive candles. Each piece consisted of silk flowers in various tones of white: calla lilies, large chrysanthemums, roses, cibotium ferns, feathery, drooping spiral grass, mini ivy vines, apple blossoms, and burri reed spears.
Said mother-of-the-bride Bonnie Brown, “Guests told me that when they first entered the dining room (at the Drury Lane Oak Brook) and saw the spectacular floral designs with dramatic votive candles all about, they were breathless.”
–
Some couples seek such unique experiences. And some find uniqueness thrust upon them.
Mokena’s 29-year-old Marc Recker and 25-year-old Mary Lou Niessen rode away from their wedding ceremony on a lawnmower, reflecting the way they met, which was like a fairy tale, albeit a very suburban one. He came to her rescue when her mower broke down, just as her parents were about to return from vacation to find she failed to keep their lawn manicured as instructed.
And Recker, in a chivalrous display, didn’t just fix the machine and disappear. He stayed and finished cutting the extra-tall grass. She, as gracious as Scarlett O’Hara on a good day, offered him a beer of thanks, and the rest is history.
“My sisters had insisted that I should meet this next-door neighbor who had moved in while I’d been away at college, and that grass-cutting crisis finally led to our meeting,” she said.
In a surprise arranged by Niessen’s twin, Ellen Gadomski, the matchmaking lawnmower awaited when they exited Mokena’s St. Mary’s Church, decorated in “just married” style.
“The lawnmower was a complete surprise to me,” Recker said. “But it sure added a special emphasis to an extra-special day. It’s a little something extra that adds to the memory.”
Niessen had enlisted more traditional means of making her day her own, with the help of an Orland Park boutique.
“I didn’t want my bridesmaids to wear typical bridesmaid styles that generally are never worn again after the wedding,” she said. “Looking for a sophisticated evening dress, I brought my bridal party to a boutique that I was very familiar with, a place where I had bought clothes for several years.” That place is the Kimberly Bond Boutique, 8600 W. 159th St., in Orland Park’s Seville Plaza.
“Whatever fashion designs our clients have selected, we can customize jewelry to complement it,” said owner Kimberly Bond. “Especially weddings, but other special occasions are important to our customers. Because we tend to keep our customer, we get to know them and can better accommodate their unique tastes.”
Prices start at $20 for pieces customized with crystals, which Niessen had Bond design to present to her bridesmaids as gifts. “Kimberly worked with me to design an earring and necklace that perfectly picked up the jeweled design on the bridesmaid’s dress belts.”
The perfect accessory for a riding mower carriage.
