Jezebel & Vacant's Wedding, Boston, MA!
Lady Bathory
I dunno how many of you remember former a.g denizens Vacant (Jim) & Jezebel
(Emily), but i thought this might be of interest to those that do... The pair
was married in a secular ceremony yesterday afternoon here in Boston!
The day began when we (m'self, Cusraque, & our houseguests miss janette & Ron
Carrier) all awoke quite late as a result of our lengthy 'Haunted Hell' revels
of the night previous. We dressed ourselves, drank much coffee, heard thunder
outside, & called a cab. (Good thing, as at this point, had we opted for public
trans we'd have been at best soggy latecomers.)
The cab was hopelessly late, & the cabbie was an obnoxious man w/a Russian
accent who seemed to think that we were giving him an incorrect address
regarding our destination. We finally arrived at The Castle, a historic building
on the BU campus (gothic arches, ivy, pretty foliage, the whole 9 yds), where a
cluster of pastel-clad women & penguin-suited[1] men alerted us to having found
the right place.
As we made our way inside--loaded down w/our rather unwieldy wedding
gifts--Emily's father made the usual 'musketeer' comment to Cusraque, who was as
usual not terribly good humored about it. :) Inside the Castle, we met many
family members of both bride & groom, signed the guest book w/sappy sentiments,
& marveled at the decor. The Castle features intricately carved darkstained
woodwork (panelling, molding, etc etc etc), complex-patterned window glass[2], &
lots of pretty antiques featuring silly motifs like cherubs & griffons & faeries
& the like.
The Castle's entrance hall has at the back a huge & impressive staircase in the
'Hello Dolly' style (i.e., separate stairs descending from right & left upstairs
areas down to meet in a common landing, & merging to one set of steps leading
down to the 1st floor). The music began w/the women descending the left
staircase & the men descending the right staircase. The attendants stood in
pairs on the single staircase leading up to the landing, & the couple & the
Justice stood on the landing in front of a tall (8-9') gothic-arched window.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the blue-haired Winston Smith was one of
Jim's groomsmen. The bridesmaids wore scoopnecked tea length deep royal crepe
dresses w/princess seams & a 2-piece drape accentuating the back neckline. The
groomsmen all wore tuxes w/(oh joy!) full-back vests instead of cummerbunds or
those dorky vest-front-w/buckle-straps jobs. The junior bridesmaid & flower girl
wore purple & white calico dresses w/lavender sashes. The women carried bouquets
of lilies & the men sported white rose boutonnieres. Jim descended the stairs in
a black crepe tux w/what appeared to be a double lapel of crepe & satin.
Emily's dress was actually a 2-piece set of a lovely off-white pressed silk
noil. The skirt was an ankle-length, 4-gore rather full A-line, & the jacket had
a row of about 30 abalone buttons up to the high neckline, a peplum that in the
back featured 2 extended pointy bits, & long semi-fitted sleeved which ended in
about 6-10 more abalone buttons at the wrist. Her chiffon veil (which was quite
short...either 2 blushers or a mantilla--couldn't really tell--& no longer
layers) was attached to the back of a crocheted juliet cap. She also wore an
ivory necklace in the '1924' style. Her shoes (as best i could tell; the skirt
was quite long) were ivory shantung in the 'Louis XIV' style. She carried a
bouquet of tightly-wrapped red roses tied w/a wide white ribbon.
Justice of the Peace Rosario Solerno (who apparently attended Emily's alma
mater, U of I!) performed the ceremony, which was written by the couple
themselves. 1st the couple honored their mothers w/gifts of single white rose
blooms. Jim's sister read a piece about love & commitment, Jim read a poem he
had written for Emily, & Em sang _a capella_ a song she had written for Jim
specifically for the wedding. About this time, Marc LoCascio & +dethany+
arrived, scooting in at the back; they'd had trouble finding the right door to
get into the building! Then the couple exchanged vows & rings, kissed one
another, & descended the stairs. I tried to take a picture at this point
but my camera was fucked. The family ppl & +dethany+ got a few good shots,
tho'...
Then we formed a line & instead of the line moving & the couple receiving us.
they went down the line as a pair. They ended up at the end by the right rear
salon, in which was set up a bar w/wine & soda & an hors d'oevres table. They
invited us to partake, & we did. Then Tony/Arcanus & c'ris arrived, having also
had trouble locating the entrance. We sat around chatting for a bit until the
couple decided to break w/tradition & open their gifts right there. They rec'd
from their family several placesettings of stoneware & flatware, a handmade
crystal/silver 'wedding rosary' (w/an ankh instead of a crucifix) & a bit of
cash from Ron & miss j, 2 gift certificates from Marc & +dethany+, a
pizza-making set & 2 glass juice/koolaid/whatever jugs from m'self & Cusraque.
We farted around a bit more to the strains of various lovely goth-medieval tunes
(I was a couple sheets to the wind from excessive chardonnay consumption at this
point, so i can't recall what songs/artists at the mo'....i wanna say maybe Dead
Can Dance, Bel Canto, Love Is Colder Than Death, maybe some Projekt stuff? O,
fuckit, i don't remember. Cusraque votes for Bel Canto.... <shrug>) until it was
time for the reception to commence, & then adjourned to the front left salon
(decorated in white woodwork & that dirty-yellow color that seems as if it was
rather popular for Edwardian front rooms :) for a sit-down dinner. The meal
consisted of gazpacho, a fruit salad in a raspberry sauce, spinach-stuffed
chicken w/russet potatoes & lemon-glazed broccoli, & a champagne sorbet[3]. I
was disappointed to discover that there had been a lack of communication between
Em/Jim & the caterers, & the vegatarians were unprovided for (Emily *had*
informed them that 2 vegetarian meals were needed; none were available.). They
tried desperately to give me a plate w/just potatoes & broccoli, but i decided
that if all i would get was 2 side dishes, i'd throw in the towel & eat the
damned chicken. :)
Then they brought in the cake to cut. It was a single-tier, triple layer
chocolate cake w/white icing, a spray of red sugar roses, & covered w/intricate
loopy strings of pearls. After partaking of cake, we all went outside to blow
bubbles at the departing couple, who were off to prepare for their honeymoon in
Salem. Then we sat around outside the castle socializing for a bit before going
our separate ways.
Rachel E. Pollock...............................................DJ Lady Bathory
'Ceremony'..Goth/Industrial Every Thursday..The Spot, 1270 Boylston, Boston, MA
[1] Men in tuxes, that is. I don't mean to suggest that Jim had groomsmen
tricked out in soft-sculpture bird costumes.
[2] Clear bubbly glass cut in patterns & mounted w/channels of metal in a
stained-glass fashion; however, all the glass was clear so i didn't figure that
would be accurate terminology. :)
[3] This we decided tasted like everything *but* champagne: pineapple, lemon,
cherry, clear sugary ice, etc...