or organized as a luau or a masked ball. They are part of the greater personalization and individualization of weddings today.

There are resources for planning and executing offbeat theme weddings. These include theatrical outfitters, widely experienced wedding consultants, and books

Every wedding is memorable in its own way, but an English Tudor themed ceremony with the groom in Henry VIII style leggings and greatcoat and the bride in Elizabethan dress is something people aren't likely to forget. It has been five years since the Scotts were married in Tudor-style wedding, but people still introduce them by saying 'this is Howard and Margie Scott, they had a medieval wedding’.

Howard and Margie wanted a themed costume wedding, partly by the wish to have a once-in-a-lifetime bash and partly by sentiment. They met at an event sponsored by the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group that reenacts life in the middle ages. Planning a costume wedding can be a lot of work, and it took a year and a half for this couple. The ceremony and party took place in a stone church and banquet hall, with entertainment by madrigal singers, a lute player, a mime troupe and jugglers.

Is this couple unusual? Yes. Unique? Not really. Theme weddings are a growing phenomenon.

There are Renaissance, medieval, folk weddings with an ethnic theme, weddings on yachts, in mansions or castles, with a holiday theme such as Halloween or Christmas or organized as a luau or a masked ball. They are part of the greater personalization and individualization of weddings today.

There are resources for planning and executing offbeat theme weddings. These include theatrical outfitters, widely experienced wedding consultants, and books a

g, but people still introduce them by saying 'this is Howard and Margie Scott, they had a medieval wedding’.

Howard and Margie wanted a themed costume wedding, partly by the wish to have a once-in-a-lifetime bash and partly by sentiment. They met at an event sponsored by the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group that reenacts life in the middle ages. Planning a costume wedding can be a lot of work, and it took a year and a half for this couple. The ceremony and party took place in a stone church and banquet hall, with entertainment by madrigal singers, a lute player, a mime troupe and jugglers.

Is this couple unusual? Yes. Unique? Not really. Theme weddings are a growing phenomenon.

There are Renaissance, medieval, folk weddings with an ethnic theme, weddings on yachts, in mansions or castles, with a holiday theme such as Halloween or Christmas or organized as a luau or a masked ball. They are part of the greater personalization and individualization of weddings today.

There are resources for planning and executing offbeat theme weddings. These include theatrical outfitters, widely experienced wedding consultants, and books

Creative Anachronism, a group that reenacts life in the middle ages. Planning a costume wedding can be a lot of work, and it took a year and a half for this couple. The ceremony and party took place in a stone church and banquet hall, with entertainment by madrigal singers, a lute player, a mime troupe and jugglers.

Is this couple unusual? Yes. Unique? Not really. Theme weddings are a growing phenomenon.

There are Renaissance, medieval, folk weddings with an ethnic theme, weddings on yachts, in mansions or castles, with a holiday theme such as Halloween or Christmas or organized as a luau or a masked ball. They are part of the greater personalization and individualization of weddings today.

There are resources for planning and executing offbeat theme weddings. These include theatrical outfitters, widely experienced wedding consultants, and books

mime troupe and jugglers.

Is this couple unusual? Yes. Unique? Not really. Theme weddings are a growing phenomenon.

There are Renaissance, medieval, folk weddings with an ethnic theme, weddings on yachts, in mansions or castles, with a holiday theme such as Halloween or Christmas or organized as a luau or a masked ball. They are part of the greater personalization and individualization of weddings today.

There are resources for planning and executing offbeat theme weddings. These include theatrical outfitters, widely experienced wedding consultants, and books

or organized as a luau or a masked ball. They are part of the greater personalization and individualization of weddings today.

There are resources for planning and executing offbeat theme weddings. These include theatrical outfitters, widely experienced wedding consultants, and books and articles to help couples plan them.

Another reason for the new popularity of costume weddings is that they are a graceful way to play down inevitable constraints that come with today's blended families.

The traditional wedding accentuates trouble areas such as who is in the wedding party, on the receiving line and at the head table. But a slightly offbeat wedding minimizes these problems.

Bridal magazines are full of ideas for theme weddings. Carrying out the theme can be just a small touch, such as wearing an antique or reproduction gown, or a full-scale production in which guests are asked to come in costume.

The best themes are those with relevance to something in a couple's life. At the wedding of a couple who met while doing clowning as part of the ministry of their church, clowns were engaged to serve as ushers, translate the ceremony into sign language for the deaf and to entertain the guests. Wedding favors were jars of liquid bubbles, which the guests blew to add to the general festivities.

Finding appropriate clothing for even the most unusual costume wedding is not that difficult. The simplest way is to buy m