The Wedding of
Ronny Kirk Smith
(Lord Calogero Urso)and
Christopher Robert Bogs
(Lord Christopher Jameson)-October 6, 2001-
3:00 pmValinor Farms
Kintnersville, PennsylvaniaAbout us | About the Ceremony| About the Reception | Location | Gift Registry | What should I wear?
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We met at Pennsic War XXIX, a medieval re-creationists' event in western PA, in August 2000. I (Christopher) had wandered over to Camp Urso looking for an online friend that I knew camped there. I met Cal Urso (Ron) briefly and the camp invited me to the party they were holding the next night. I attended that party and Ron and I got better acquainted, and after that, I don't think we left each other's side for the rest of the war.
We managed to see each other again for a long weekend two weeks later, and the fall and winter was spent traveling back and forth between Philadelphia and Cleveland to see each other. When I was visiting in February, Ron asked me to marry him. I moved over Easter weekend and we now live together in a small rowhouse in South Philly.
Ron is 32 and has lived in Philadelphia almost all his life. He works in the accounting department for the Wharton Executive Education program at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton school. He enjoys dancing (square and Renaissance) and appears each winter as Santa Claus for AIDS-related charites.
Calogero Urso (Ron's medieval counterpart) is a 12th century Sicilian lord, currently living in England. He is married and has two sons, and has become recently encumbered with an English consort.
Christopher is 25 and moved east from Flagstaff, Arizona in 1998. He works in the College Houses program at the University of Pennsylvania. He enjoys dancing, costuming and calligraphy and illumination.
Christopher Jameson (Christopher's medieval counterpart) is an Englishman living in the 1530's. He isn't mentioning his Sicilian lover to his priest.
The ceremony was written by Christopher and is drawn from several sources. Much of the material was drawn from the book Equal Rites, edited by Kittredge Cherry and Zalmon Sherwood. Other portions were drawn from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer and still others are original.
The ceremony will be performed by Joseph Menna, a Catholic holy brother from Philadelphia.
Due to the laws of this country, our wedding will be neither legally recognized nor binding. We regard it with the same sincerity and seriousness that we would if it were, however. We may make a journey to Vermont at some point in the near future to obtain a Civil Union there for symbolic reasons and for legal precedence should the laws of this nation eventually change, but for now this expression of our commitment in front of our family and friends will suffice.
There will be a reception following the ceremony. A feast will be served, see the menu below.
Dancing and music will also be part of the festivities.
The feast is under the supervision of the renowned Lady Olga Kaf'skaia, who was made a Companion of the East Kingdom's Order of the Burdened Tyger for her fabulous feast-preparation skills.
Menu
Stuffed endive
Sushi
Crudite
-
Beef Braciole in red wine gravy
Brown Rice
Dilled Chicken Breast with Lemon-Champagne Sauce
Buttered Fettuccini
Crab, Lobster and Spinach filled Manicotti with Saffron-Tomato Coulis
Spinach and Gorgonzola Sachetti in a Sage cream
Roast Vegetable Medley
Caesar Salad
Savoury Toasted Cheese
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Fresh fruits
Bourbon Pecan Bread pudding
Apple Crisp
Cookies
Pizzelles
The wedding will take place at Valinor Farms in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. Kintnersville is located about 60 miles north of Philadelphia in Bucks County.
Valinor Farms, Inc. is a country residence for people with HIV/AIDS. Valinor Farms, Inc. is a not-for profit corporation established in 1992 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, located on 52 rural acres in northern Bucks County. The main residence, containing several private bedrooms, provides a peaceful home for persons with HIV/AIDS. Valinor provides a safe, supportive and comfortable environment for persons with AIDS. Valinor Farms, Inc. does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin, handicap or sexual orientation.
To help finance the house Valinor Farms also has a dining/rec hall, commercial kitchen, indoor pool, hot tub, sauna and bunkhouse. These facilities are used by outside groups as a space to hold functions. In return for the use of the space the organizers make a donation to Valinor Farms to be used to help with the costs incurred with the Retreat House.
We will have approximately 48 beds available in the bunkhouse for guests who wish to remain overnight, as well as plenty of space for tents if anyone wants to camp. The closest large towns are Quakertown, PA (10 miles), Bethlehem, PA (15 miles) and Allentown, PA (20 miles), which should have motel rooms available if anyone needs them.
Valinor's address is: 3378 Winding Road, Kintnersville, PA 18930. You can get driving directions from www.mapblast.com or your favorite mapping website, or you can
click HERE for a printable sheet of directions
from the Philadelphia area
A map and directions in Adobe Acrobat form is also available here. You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view or print this file -- this is available at Adobe's website.
This has been a popular question! We are now registered at JC Penney's. Our registry is available at most brick-and-mortar JC Penney's locations, or for your convenience you can even shop our registry online at www.jcpenney.com. Just click on the "Gifts & Registry" link on the sidebar and then choose "Other Occasion". (You need a bride's name to register as a wedding, and that gets confusing very quickly..) Our registry number is #00950657, or you can search using our names.
You may have noticed on the invitations that we are requesting medieval attire. We will be dressed in medieval/renaissance clothing and the feast afterwards will be in medieval fashion. Our friends in the Society for Creative Anachronism may wear whatever garb they desire; Ron will be wearing a leather doublet and pants in black and red, and Christopher will be wearing Tudor in white and red. For those of you without medieval clothing, we will provide a few links to simple instructions for making clothing. These links will be up very shortly.
The Ubiquitous T-Tunic is appropriate and very easy-to-make early-medieval garb for both men and women. They are worn with pants (optional) and a belt. If you make the tunic long enough, you don't even have to worry about which pants you wear, as modern ones will be covered by the tunic. (I like to wear shorts under mine -- it's comfy!) You can also wear sweatpants under a shorter tunic and it doesn't look too glaringly modern.
Another T-Tunic site if the above one wasn't helpful enough.
And, of course, if you cannot manage an attempt at period costume, please attend anyway: our wedding wouldn't be the same without your presence.
Other sites:
Cal and Christoph, 12th Night, 2000
A couple of the links above have been disabled to save space on the webserver. Sorry!
Last updated and archived: October 12, 2001
