‘Twill Be Olde-Fashioned Nuptials for the Lass

Dawnise Dopek of Anaheim found a great way to get off to a good start with her future mother-in-law: She introduced her to a new way of living. Perhaps an “old way” might better describe it. All the way back to the days of Elizabethan knights and fair maidens.

The mother-in-law-to-be, Gwen Berger of Anaheim, admits she’s become an enthusiast since Dopek told her about Renaissance faires four years ago. The faires are usually weekend events where participants enjoy each other’s company in period costumes and shop at booths selling anything one might have found in 16th century England.

“Now I’m into it even more than she is,” Berger said. “I plan my schedule around the Renaissance faires.”

Berger, Dopek and I met at Temple Beth Emet in Anaheim, where Berger is director of the preschool. They brought something very special to show me:

Dopek’s wedding dress.

This Saturday, under the shade of the huge oaks and coastal redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco, Dopek and Daniel Berger will be married in a Renaissance ceremony. Her dress--white chemise with a burgundy Irish bodice--is simply breathtaking, and she has a special reason for loving it: Her future mother-in-law made it for her.

Almost everyone attending will be in Renaissance garb. Berger showed me her own period clothes for the occasion, which she also made, and her son’s wedding clothes, a leather doublet made with splashes of burgundy to match his fiance’s dress, with petaled two-color corduroy pants. Touching off the wardrobe is a 4-foot Renaissance sword.

These folks are so into these faires that when Daniel Berger, a systems administrator for Disney On-Line, and Dopek, a student at Cypress College, first talked marriage, no one much doubted it would be a Renaissance wedding.

“I’m only getting married once,” Dopek said. “I might as well have it be perfect.”

What is it that has these people so hooked? The two women tried to describe it to me. But really, how could I be expected to understand? After all, I’m a mundane.

That’s what Rennies, as they’re referred to, call those of us who show up at a Renaissance Faire in street clothes to buy bowls, hats or goblets from the commercial booths.

But Dopek tried to make me understand.

She learned about an area Renaissance faire through a computer bulletin board. So she and Daniel Berger gave it a try. Mundanes, of course.

“After the first one, we knew we’d never go as mundanes again,” Dopek said. “All we talked about was what we’d wear to the next one. It just lights a fire under you.”

Enter the mother-in-law-to-be, who wanted to know what had her son’s girlfriend bouncing off the clouds. She and her husband, Joel, decided to attend one too. Adieu, mundane clothes. Berger happens to be terrific at sewing.

“Renaissance just took over my life,” she said. “I spend all day at work being a professional. But the minute I put on those Renaissance clothes, suddenly an Irish brogue comes into my voice and I let my hair down.”

Both women explained that was part of the fun of Renaissance faires. You can be another character, even one a little more risque than your usual existence would permit.

“There is a lot of cleavage to this,” Berger explained, and Dopek piped in: “Even women who don’t have cleavage do after getting into one of these bodices.”

Berger wears three knives around her waist in her usual Renaissance attire, and often a dagger down the front of her dress. Its sheath is carefully concealed, so it appears she’s got an open blade against her bosom. That makes it fun, she explained, because then when someone says, “Doesn’t that hurt?” it gives her a chance to reply: “Only for the lad who will try to take it away from me.”

It’s the one place in the world, Berger says, where a preschool teacher can eye a man’s buns and feel free to comment.

“You see a nice looking man in kilts, you can have a rip-roaring good time,” she said.

OK, the whole thing is a little naughty, the women say, but quickly add that everybody takes it in stride and plays along--and everybody knows what the limits are.

So, they’ve convinced me. I’m going to try one. Problem is, even in full Elizabethan garb, I still tend to look a little mundane.

Tickle Him Green: My wife just laughed when I asked her if she thought I’d be able to buy a “Tickle Me Elmo” doll this close to Christmas. It’s the hot ticket to put under the tree.

But if you really, really want one, here’s how you can do it:

The county’s Pediatrics Cancer Research Foundation received one as a donation. It’s going to offer this Elmo the best home it can find--meaning the highest bidder at a silent auction. So if you’re willing to pay (one man in Florida supposedly paid $3,500 for one) fax your bid to them at: (714) 532-8853. The bidding will run through 5 p.m. Friday.

Dueling Angels: If you caught People magazine this week (and even if you didn’t), the couple on the cover are from Laguna Niguel. Sandy and Kirk Moore own Tara’s Angels, a shop for angel cards, clothing and jewelry in San Juan Capistrano. They opened it in 1993, the year after their daughter Tara was killed in a car crash.

The story is about people who believe in the intervention of angels. The Moores said they were guided by their daughter’s love for angels.

In that same cover story there’s a section about Andrew Lakey of National City, who has sold more than 1,500 paintings of angels and has a book out about the subject, called “Art, Angels and Miracles.

Lakey will appear at the Touch an Angel, a store similar to the Moores, in Irvine Saturday, from 11 to 4 p.m. Store owner Sue Shahani says Lakey will autograph both his book and some of his art work.

Wrap-Up: Saturday is the perfect day for a Renaissance wedding: It’s the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. In olden times it was supposed to be a day of great power, when many festive events took place.

Actually, Dopek and Berger wanted to be married during a Renaissance faire. But the faire season ends in November. If you’re interested in one of these events the next big one in this area is the annual Crossroads Renaissance Festival in Palm Springs, March 21-23.

The most popular faire among Orange County residents is the Southern Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Devore, which runs weekends next year from April 26 through June 15.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com