Blending the Historic and the Modern

It is always tough trying to tie modern elements into a historic museum. It's a thin line: will adding something modern de-value the history, or will it make it more relative? It's been a trial and error here at Allaire, and we have received mostly very good feedback. This Sunday, for example, is one of those "blending" events.

The main event (one that we have put on before) is the historic Wedding of Maria Allaire. Maria was the youngest daughter of the Howell Works' owner, James Allaire. In 1836 she married the manager of her father's company, Thomas Andrews (not of Titanic fame). We recreate the ceremony in our historic chapel and hold a Village Frolic afterwards that includes wedding cake for all, historic dancing and music, and demonstrations of wedding customs of the time.

This year, we will also be tying in a couple of modern elements. Following the historic ceremony, we will be holding a Vow Renewal Ceremony for several couples who have been married at Allaire in the past. We will then move all of the activities into the Village for a small Outdoor Wedding Expo that will be held in conjunction with the historic festivities.

Towards the end of the day we will be presenting a Historic and Modern Bridal Fashion Show. Our wonderful volunteers will be modeling dresses from several eras of the 1800's, and one of our longtime volunteers will be explaining bridal fashions throughout history. Following the historic show, our girls will do some quick changes and show off some modern fashions! Following the show, everything will wind down and return to our "normal" 1836 setting.

As I know I have written before, history is the most important thing to us here at Allaire (obviously). By tying in modern elements we hope to not only bring in a wider audience (that will also learn about our history) but also make the historic elements relative to a modern audience.

That's our thought process, anyway. :)