Hand Fasting Wedding at the Mediæval Fair in Osgoode, Ontario – 9th July 2011

Hand Fasting Wedding at the Mediæval Fair in Osgoode

For the third year in a row, Graeme and I have had fun photographing the activities of the Mediæval Fair at Osgoode, Ontario. (Location) This year was a special year for a young couple since it was their wedding day and therefore my photos of today’s activities (July 9th, 2011) show more wedding than jousting and more kissing than dancing. You can view one of the videos that Graeme took of the events by clicking on the above image. (Please note that these photos are copyright so we would appreciate that they be treated accordingly and not be distributed without our permission, etc.) Links to photos of the previous years’ Osgoode activities can be found here.

When I arrived, I had a short chat with the groom and took a few photos of his wedding outfit. It was a Medieval Fair and the groom and the members of the wedding party were suitably dressed-out in the finest of mail and armor. The ladies of the wedding party were beautifully dressed in more delicate apparel as were many of the guests and friends.


It was a hot, sunny day with a bit of a welcome breeze as the bleachers began to fill with guest and more and more people began to line both sides of the jousting area. The jousting area was being used for the wedding ceremony – the couple would not be doing the jousting!

The bride looked beautiful as all brides are supposed to look and the wedding continued along quite smartly once they got allo f those armor clad folks well coordinated :-).

This group of well armored individuals formed an arch for the wedding party’s entrance to and from the ceremony area. I couldn’t resist thinking that these gentlemen were the “Shady Bunch” as they watched the proceedings from the shaded areas while awaiting their next bit of involvement in the proceedings. I definitely got the impression that it was a bit warmer for them than just wearing a T-shirt:-).

The ceremony itself was a full wedding ceremony . This was not completely clear to many in the audience so the conversation up and down the viewing area went something like: “Is this a real wedding?” “Really.” “No kidding.” “Neat.” etc.

The Kingdom of Osgoode did not forbid kissing at weddings. Therefore,  there was a royal kiss or two or three before the young newlyweds leaped over the broom on the way to signing the registry.

After the ceremonies the honor guard began to show the effect of the heat and became quite ornery and sometimes downright vicious :-).

The bride, on the other hand, continued to be all smiles as she wandered the fair grounds looking for her missing husband :-). He wasn’t too far missing! Others were happy to stand in for photo ops.

It wasn’t long before the jousting area was returned to a jousting arena and the games began. The jousting was pretty serious with one of the knights landing rather heavily when he was unseated by a strong blow to the chest. Although paramedic (firefighters) help was quick on the scene, the poor knight arose to ride again. Unfortunately for him, he was once again unseated in the next round and his opponent was the victor.  If it had been me, I would have stopped while I was behind!

As others got ready to let down their hair and others were getting ready to have a good time at the banquet, I took a few last photos and returned to modern times and enjoyed a nice supper-out in celebration of my youngest son’s 21st birthday.

The Medieval Fair in the Kingdom of Osgoode finishes on Sunday July 10th, 2011.

UPDATE: Another year has passed by and now we have posted our shots from Kingdom of Osgoode 2012.