The Ceremony: Lucy the Elephant, Margate, NJ
Two days after Charlie and I got engaged in Ocean City in 2008, we visited Lucy the Elephant in Margate, NJ. Lucy was constructed in 1882 by James Lafferty in hopes of attracting tourists and real estate buyers to Margate, which is just south of Atlantic City. Lafferty's plan was unsuccessful, as Margate never became the same kind of resort town as Atlantic City, but the elephant building remains as a fun and quirky landmark on the Jersey shore. The oldest example of zoomorphic architecture in the United States, she is now a National Historic Landmark, the highest designation for a building on the National Register of Historic Places. For two people who are committed to the arts, history, and a strong sense of whimsy in everyday life, there could not be a better place for a wedding ceremony.
We first entertained the idea of getting married in Lucy the day we visited her, but spent some time thinking about different options, for a long time thinking we would get married closer to home in North Jersey. In January of 2009, however, I discovered a Knottie Bio for a couple who got married in Lucy, and when I showed it to Charlie, he was immediately sold. As we started to tell people about our plans, we got two basic reactions. From people who had been there before, we heard, "That is the COOLEST idea ever!" and from people who hadn't we got, "You're getting married in a.... what?" and lots of strange looks. Good thing we're used to strange looks.
The wedding will take place inside Lucy's belly, which houses a single large room that resembles the nave of a church. The space isn't all that large, so we will be having a ceremony where everyone stands, and with that the capacity of the room is about 85 people. Talk about an instant way to limit your guest list and save some cash! When we realized this would be the case, the first thing we did was make our guest list, and we will definitely be able to fit into this number of people. It's nice to be able to have a small wedding, and we won't have to have too many arguments about who to invite.
Our ceremony is going to be performed by Charlie's brother, who is going to become certified through the
Universal Life Church specifically for our ceremony. I'm going to be writing most of the ceremony, with Charlie having veto power, and I am really looking forward to this task. It's been years in the making thinking about what a marriage really means.
Ceremony Music
When I was seventeen, my brother was in a college production of Mozart's Magic Flute. He was just a chorus member at this point, but as a baritone, he was also very interested in the part of Papageno, the quixotic bird-man who provides the play's comic relief in his quest for a perfect bird-wife (it's kind of hard to explain). At the end of the opera, Papageno is about to kill himself, depressed that he has been unable to find her, but suddenly, his woman appears. Her name is Papagena, and she and Papageno sing a beautiful duet where they rejoice in how happy they will be when they are married, and then argue about whether their little bird-children should be mini Papagenos or mini Papagenas. I thought this was the most amazing thing ever, and decided then that if I were ever to get married, I'd want to marry the kind of guy who could be silly enough that a song where bird people argue about their bird children would be appropriate for the ceremony.
Here's a video of a performance of the piece. We are thinking strongly about including it in the ceremony, perhaps after the readings are over. Plenty of time to think it over, though.
I've also been thinking about various showtunes. My brother (an opera singer) is going to sing for our ceremony, and since we're going to have to have an accompanist for him for the ceremony anyway, I've been thinking that it might be nice to use him more than once, both during the ceremony and also as a prelude or even while I walk up the aisle. I like when he sings "If Ever I Would Leave You" from Camelot, because it's written right in the perfect range for baritones, and it works well with a full-bodied voice like his. Also, the words kind of fit us very well, considering the fact that almost our entire relationship has been lived long-distance, and our wedding will mark the occasion when we finally stop leaving each other.
"I Have Dreamed" from The King and I is in this same kind of emotional vein. I tried finding a decent cover of it on YouTube, and this is the best I could do, although I think the male singer in this recording has a lot of trouble with his vowels. My brother will not have this same problem.
