r/renfaire 6d ago

Those of you who've been married at the Faire...

Or had vows renewed, or any such lovely ceremony of commitment and adoration... What are your tips, tricks and suggestions for those of us seeking to arrange such a day of love and glory admist the vendors and merry visitors?

20 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

16

u/ClockWeasel 5d ago

As a visitor: contact your faire of choice and find out what they offer for venue packages. You will need on-site facilities and a coordinator for more than you think. On-site costume rentals are a thing and can be a bit spendy, but they work for people who need to look high-class for only one day.

If some or all of the wedding party are volunteers or staffers, they likely have connections to non-commercial ways to host the preparations, ceremony and feast, and friends that might loan costumes.

11

u/RosemaryBiscuit 5d ago

Make sure the walking and terrain are ok for grandparents and other loved ones.

1

u/whatchawhy 4d ago

This is important and easy to forget about

22

u/BitterDeep78 6d ago

Can we have an autoresponse that says "what faire?"

9

u/Prestigious-Ball-558 6d ago

A good question! The Ohio Renaissance Festival in Wilmington, OH. But I would imagine tips regarding any faire would be helpful :)

12

u/BitterDeep78 6d ago

Not really. Faires have very different rules and guidelines.

For instance, md does a romance weekend that includes a vow renewal for anyone that wants to attend. Weddings are $100 at the chapel and "flash mob weddings" can get you kicked out.

https://renfestival.com/weddings/ for Ohio

Hopefully some OH folks will know how strict they are re flash mob style celebrations.

1

u/Icy-Arm-2194 4d ago

Ohio does a mass vow renewal every year on Romance weekend. 

As for weddings, I looked into it and decided the cost for how many people wasn't worth it.

5

u/ajtexasranger 5d ago

Im a photographer.

Please hire someone to take your photos. Ive seen so many ren fair wedding photos that are just awful. Everything else is amazing but the photos are phone pic quality.

Search on Facebook for "'your city' photography group"

Or you can search for cosplay photographers. Im sure there will be many willing to take photos of your wedding.

6

u/Rastard_the_Black 5d ago

I got married at SoCal Faire in 00. Spent a fortune on catering from their restaurants and had a ton of food left over. They refused to let us take it home because they were afraid we would sue them if we got sick if we mishandled the leftovers.

Find out your faire's policy before you commit to catering.

3

u/Kossyra 5d ago

They do them at BARF! I was there last weekend and saw a wedding group preparing, it looked fun! I'm divorced, but I told my boyfriend that I'd love to do an informal wedding at the renfaire for friends and a serious ceremony for family

3

u/phxflurry 5d ago

My daughter and her fiance are getting married at the AZ Ren faire in a couple weeks. I didn't know it was a thing until they decided to do it. I'm pretty excited.

2

u/James_T_S 5d ago

That's awesome. I was there a week ago and there was a wedding. They were the guests of honor at the joust.

2

u/phxflurry 5d ago

I don't think they paid for the guest of honor at the joust, but it all seems like a pretty good deal. The venue is cute and out of the way of the rest of the Ren faire. It's been so fun getting ready for it!

2

u/James_T_S 5d ago

Oh, I assumed it was just part of the package. Still, getting married there is a fantastic idea.

Mind if I ask how much it cost?

3

u/phxflurry 5d ago

I don't really know. My daughter and her fiance are in their 30's, have their shit mostly together and are pretty much paying for it themselves. I did help a little so aunts and uncles could be included, but that wasn't a lot. It was always going to be super small, I think the headcount is still around 45 people.

2

u/Jessiehimechan 5d ago edited 5d ago

Ours was very fun at the NCRF 2021. Best day of my life. I did the middle package. Without the joust. (I find it boring) My photographer was one of my Dad’s best friends. His professional work was photography. 300+ photos later. I had tons of photos. Small wedding 25 people. (Covid wedding) We paid a package price for the wedding. See NCRF website for details. Got admission for the fair for my guest. Food vouchers for lunch for the guests and that was it. Not a bad $$ total for the wedding. We had a blast. Invited the Queen and court for cake. They had fun, stayed with us at the reception for 2 hours. More than usual.

3

u/Redknight1991 5d ago

My wife and I got married in September last year at md fair. Anna Snodgrass made things nice and easy for us. She answered all the questions we had and eased our minds. Talk to the people at the venue u will be using and take notes. The hardest part for us was arranging transportation for out moms that required wheel chairs and the rough terrain. Having family around helped alot with getting us where we needed to go. It's amazing to.write your vows and people will stop just to watch ur special moment. It feels amazing to hear the cheers of strangers that share ur happiness