This challenge is based on Morbid's Ultimate Decades Challenge. It is a very involved challenge, and there are also spreadsheets (a blank one is available in the challenge write up), to track your family's progress, and also to keep track of what "year" it is. For instance, year 1300 lasts a mere 4 sim days. And, there are certain restrictions that come with the time period you are working on, such as what harvestables you can grow, and restrictions on items you can't use during that time period (for instance, in 1300, there was no electricity, so you can't have a tv). This challenge is not for the faint of heart. as it involves "death rolls" to coincide with what could have happened to your sim during a certain time period (disease, etc.). For someone who gets very attached to their sims, this, in itself will be a challenge for me.
Most gamers play this challenge with mods and cc; however, I won't be. This will be played as a vanilla game. I have, however, up-dated all the builds in the world I will be playing in to reflect off-the-grid builds. Some builds have been replaced and new builds have been downloaded from the gallery. For this time period, I have chosen to live in Henford-on-Bagley, and most of the residents' clothing has been updated; however, I can't account for those random townies' clothing, or sims from other worlds popping in. @Snarkysims has actually re-done Henford-on-Bagley as a Medieval World, and I have used some of her builds in my gameplay. Additional medieval builds have been placed in Newcrest. Not quite the same as you can see modern buildings in the background, but I had an overflow of lots that I wanted to use, and that is where I placed them.
The next morning was bright and sunny, and everyone was up early. After having some breakfast and cleaning up the kitchen area, Gwendolyn and Ian retreated to their sleeping shelter and got dressed. Reginald, Thaddeus and William then donned their wedding attire and were ready to go.
When Gwendolyn and Ian came back inside, Ian told them all how proud he was of them, and Gwendolyn told them how handsome they all looked. They chatted quietly and promised each other that they would never lose touch and would visit each other often. Soon, the carriage arrived and Ian helped Gwendolyn in the carriage first, followed by each of his sons. It was time. They were off to the Handfasting Ceremony area, which was in Finchwick.
Meanwhile, at the De Baskerville cottage, Colette, Isabelle and Francesca were helping each other get ready. Colette could not believe how well the floral bouquets matched the wedding dresses, and Francesca and Isabelle had both loved the choice. Parson Bernard had come in from the sleeping shelter and saw them all standing there in their wedding attire and couldn't help but tell them all how lovely they looked. He just wished that his sister had survived to see this day. But he knew that she would be in all their thoughts. The coachman had knocked at the door, and Parson Bernard told everyone it was time to go. Isabelle and Francesca took a last look around the house that had been their home for so long, and then said a silent good-bye. Parson Bernard took each niece by the arm and helped her into the carriage.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It seemed as if everyone arrived at once. After helping each of his nieces from the carriage, Parson Bernard waved at Gwendolyn and Ian.
Oh look! Some woodland creatures have joined the festivities. Is it good luck to see a bunny on your wedding day?
After greeting the guests, everyone was asked to be seated and the Handfasting Ceremony was about to begin. William and Francesca were the first ones to be wed and apparently Agatha Crumplebottom was too excited to sit down.
Colette was overcome with emotion as well and started crying when she heard William promise himself to Francesca, Parson Bernard, on the other hand, clapped his hands in joy seeing this beautiful union between Francesca and William.
And lastly, it was Thaddeus and Isabelle's turn. And when Thaddeus saw Isabelle standing there, he could not resist giving her a kiss on the cheek before the ceremony started.
The ceremony was over and Thaddeus held Isabelle close, feeling her heart beating fast against him. And then he kissed her, and he knew that she would be his forevermore.
Congratulations Thaddeus and Isabelle, you are now husband and wife.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After the three ceremonies were done, Agatha Crumblebottom was smiling. Her matchmaking had been a success and the Fletcher family and the De Baskerville family had been joined together. It was truly a special day. The reception was about to start and Agatha certainly wouldn't want to miss that!
"Before 1840, when Queen Victoria wore an influential white dress for her wedding ceremony, it was quite usual for a bride to wear red, pink, blue, brown, or even black, while saying her vows." (Wiki) In choosing the wedding dresses for the De Baskerville sisters, I chose the white one for Colette, which is actually the Star Wars dress, because it was the closest dress to looking like a medieval dress; for Isabelle, I chose a saree dress, because I liked the veil on it, but for some reason, it changed her hair to red; and for Francesca, this was her default formalwear, and I just added the veil-hair to the outfit.
I had set-up the wedding ceremony the day before so that it would show on the calendar. It was actually William and Francesca's wedding ceremony, and I just had Reginald and Thaddeus click on the wedding arch and get married afterwards.
It was so cute to see the bunny right before William and Francesca wed. Interestingly enough, here is what it says if you see a rabbit cross your path. "The rabbit symbolizes fertility, luck, and creativity. Rabbits also symbolize compassion and intuition. The rabbit is a popular symbol in many cultures around the world. Often associated with springtime and new beginnings, these happy critters are a reminder that life is full of possibility."
In a handfasting ceremony, ribbons are tied around the hands of the woman and the man. Each ribbon has a different color. "For a three-cord handfasting colored cords are often braided: White for purity, blue for fidelity, and red for passion. You may choose to use other colors; for example, green for fertility and growth, purple for spiritual strength, and gold for wisdom."
Build credit. Used with modifications. Designated the lot as a lounge, so they would have a free bartender. A microphone is needed for this lot designation, and it is in the lower level in an inaccessible room.
With the Handfasting Ceremonies over, it was time to cut the cakes. Thaddeus and Isabelle's cake was set up, so they went first. It was a beautiful cake decorated with yellow icing roses and topped with a wedding topper of two hearts entwined. William and Colette had made a wonderful choice.
Oh my! Everyone was so hungry that their wedding cake is nearly gone. But it was a beautiful cake with blue icing roses, topped as well with two hearts entwined.
Thaddeus, Reginald, William, Colette, Isabelle and Ian sit down together enjoying the cake and chatting. Apparently, Parson Bernard prefers to sit on the ground and eat his cake.
More neighbors arrive and it's time to cut Reginald and Colette's cake. A beautiful cake decorated with pink icing roses. Okay, who took the wedding topper?
And Thaddeus takes the next piece of cake. The guy must be hungry! And Parson Bernard is still sitting on the ground. I think he is just sitting there to be near the cake.
It was getting dark, and Francesca spies a tree hollow with a flock of birds. She goes over to talk to them, and, in the distance, William is watching her smiling.
Ian heads to the barkeep and orders a round of strawberry nectar for everyone. Oh my gosh! Everyone gets the flirty mood, as if they weren't already flirty enough!
After enjoying a glass of sweet nectar, it was time for the first dance, and all the newly married couples take to the floor to do "The Carole" together.
The music suddenly changes, and Reginald leads the next dance. What type of dance is this? Some dance that Reginald learned at the Knights' Stronghold?
https://i.postimg.cc/5tBCBf7z/WILD-REGINALD.png
Even though they were uncertain of the steps, they looked good.
When the dancing was over, the guests threw rice at the married couples. The carriage was waiting, and the newlyweds waved goodbye to everyone and left for home. Ian, Gwendolyn and Parson Bernard were staying a bit longer to chat with the guests and would take the second carriage home together.
Thaddeus: "Yes, yes you will... You know, Isabelle, when we first met and you asked me to show my workshop to you. I could have. It is an easy walk here from the Fletcher Farm...but I...well, I didn't trust myself to be alone with you. I felt...I felt something might happen if we went there alone..."
Isabelle: "Really? Like what?"
Thaddeus: "That I might have kissed you. And that would not have been honorable of me. I don't know how it was possible to have such feelings for someone in such a short time, but I did, Isabelle...I did. And I have even stronger feelings now..."
Isabelle: "I know it was wrong to think the way I did, but maybe I wanted to be alone with you, and maybe I wanted you to kiss me..."
Thaddeus: "You did?"
Isabelle: "Yes, I did...and all last night I was having "thoughts" of what would happen tonight..."
https://i.postimg.cc/pVJwdd8F/kissed-her.png
Thaddeus: "Oh Isabelle...do not worry...if you're nervous...nothing has to happen tonight if you don't want it to..."
Isabelle lowered her eyes, "But that's the thing...I want to be with you...it's just...it's just...I'm not sure of what to do..."
Thaddeus: "My dear, Isabelle, come here",: he said as he embraced her, "...we will take it slow...and I've only heard of what happens...I haven't. actually...um...myself..."
Isabelle: "You haven't either? Oh Thaddeus, that makes me feel so much better..."
Thaddeus smiled at her, "We shall discover everything together then..."
Thaddeus gazed at her and suddenly kissed her passionately, and when they parted they looked at each other, and no other words were needed. They held hands and walked to the house together...and when they entered, Thaddeus kissed her again.
https://i.postimg.cc/KYgXcrrG/READY-MY-LOVE.png
And this time, Isabelle took his hand in hers and led him into the bedroom.
Colette: "Oh Thaddeus, you are so handsome...and such a gentleman. I wanted to tell you that when I ran from you that night at the Ancient Ruins, I was just scared...scared of how I was feeling for you, because I had never felt that way about anyone before..."
Reginald: "I know...I felt it when we kissed. And in that moment, I knew you were the one I was destined to be with..."
Colette: "Yes...I know now that you were always my destiny..."
Reginald: "And I will be the husband that you want me to be. And tonight...I will be the most caring, loving husband to you..."
Colette smiled: "I know you will be, and I trust you, Reginald...I gave you my heart...and I...I want to start a family with you..."
Reginald: "And I want to start a family with you, too, Colette. So, let us not waste a moment more, and let us "be" together..."
Colette nodded and Reginald kissed her...and the heat of his kiss was almost too much for her to bear. And they somehow stumbled forward clinging to each other and ended up in front of a bush.
Since this lot was a lounge, several townies showed up autonomously...aka, the neighbors. lol
There were wedding toppers for all the cakes that were entwined hearts. However, the animation to "cut the cake" could only be done with the first cake, which happened to be Thaddeus & Isabelle's cake. I also could not put the wedding toppers on the other cakes, so that is why Reginald & Colette's cake had no wedding topper. When William and Francesca were standing by their cake ready to share a piece, a guest came over and grabbed a piece of cake, and then suddenly the hordes came, surrounded the cake. and boom, had taken most of the cake. It just happened so fast, and so that is why there is no screenie of William and Francesca standing in front of their cake.
Thaddeus & Isabelle had the most wild "moves" during their slow dance, where William only twirled Francesca and Reginald didn't do any of this, but just held Colette to him. Maybe it's because Thaddeus has the party animal trait that he had all those dance moves, but Isabelle seemed to enjoy it. The dance that Reginald leads is the "wedding group dance", which seemed rather funny with all the confused expressions on everyone's faces.
All woohoo was "try for baby" as per the rules.
You can't do woohoo in a cowshed if the cow is in there. Eda, the cow, doesn't exist yet, and will be purchased tomorrow, so, the cowshed was, in fact, empty.
@Belalucina - Yes, I'm always worried about what will happen at sims' weddings. lol But what I did was once they arrived, I turned autonomy off because after William autonomously kissed her, the first thing that Francesca wanted to do was run to the bar and order a drink! lol The only one who didn't sit for the ceremony was Agatha, and I didn't do walk up or down the aisle because that never seems to work for me. Before each ceremony started, I turned autonomy on again, and that is when I got those sweet interactions before the actual ceremonies, between Reginald and Colette and Thaddeus and Isabelle. Then, once all the ceremonies were over, I put it on full autonomy again. I did notice that Jacques Villareal showed up as a random townie. At a birthday party I held at a club once, he just decided to get nekkid, and in another wedding I held, Geoffrey Landgraab decided to jog nekkid around the property. Why? lol So, yep, no weirdness at these ceremonies.
I will be playing William and Francesca for the challenge, as he is the heir, but will go in and sneak a peak to see if either of her sisters are expecting. None of them will be taking a pregnancy test, so we will have to wait and see. Kind of nervous about that, since I will be having to do all those "death" rolls at that time. :(
@flauschtrud - Now that they are all in their proper houses, yes, neighborhood stories will be used, and I am sure those pop-ups will come up asking if they should try for a baby, and the answer will be "yes". It is only with Gen 2 that you have to roll to see how many pregnancy attempts the side households will have, as for Gen 1, the side households are not limited.
The next day at the De Baskerville Cottage, Reginald was anxious to give Colette her wedding gift. He had actually procured 2 bottles of nectar from the barkeep at the Gnome's Arms Pub. One strawberry and one apple nectar. Both were not aged.
Thaddeus was up before Isabelle and was sitting at the table waiting for her. When she entered the room, Thaddeus got up and gave her a wedding gift. He had been fortunate to be able to obtain a small loom from Mable Turner. (The small decor loom does not fit in inventory, so Thaddeus made a flirty sculpture on his woodworking table and gifted that to her.)
https://i.postimg.cc/FF2yKKc0/its-a-loom.png
And when Isabelle opened the gift, her expression was worth it. She was so happy that she, in turn, autonomously gave Thaddeus a rose. Dang! Thaddeus is still in a flirty mood, even hours after the wedding.
At the Fletcher Farm, William was up early waiting for a special delivery. After his shopping excursion with Colette, he had gone to the Knights' Stronghold, and purchased one of the rescue horses as a surprise wedding gift for Francesca. And it was supposed to arrive today. He paced back and forth looking up the road, but no hackney driver was in sight.
He decided to head inside and was surprised to see that Francesca was awake.
William smiled at her and said good morning and then handed her a gift box, "It's my wedding gift to you, my love..."
https://i.postimg.cc/2SMyQ0dJ/for-me.png
When Francesca opened the gift, inside was a carved wooden horse. For a moment she just stared at it, thinking it was the most wonderful gift ever. Then she autonomously gave William a rose.
William: "That's not all, Francesca, your real gift will be arriving sometime today..." he said and stopped in mid-sentence, hearing some whistles and horse whinnies coming from outside.
He grabbed Francesca's hand, "Come on! It's here!", he said running outside with her. And there, in front of the house, was a horse.
Francesca: "It's a horse! Whose horse is it? Is it yours? I didn't know the farm had a horse!"
William looked at her and smiled, "Well, the farm didn't have a horse until now. It's your real wedding gift, Francesca. I bought it at the Knight's Stronghold. It's a rescue horse...a mare...and her name is Buttercup..."
Francesca: "Buttercup? How is that possible?"
William: "Your sister Colette told me you had always wanted a horse, and if you had one, you would have called her Buttercup..."
Francesca: "Oh William!" is all she said before she threw her arms around William and kissed him.
When they parted, William laughed, "I should get you these types of gifts more often if this is the thanks I will receive..."
William explained that he also got her a saddle and there were some horse care items that the knights had given him...mainly a brush and a hoof pick to clean their hooves.
Francesca started talking to the horse right away. She decided she wanted to go for a ride, and William helped her strap the saddle on. And she was up! Sitting proudly in the saddle.
Second attempt, and this time Buttercup behaved. Francesca told William that she would go on a short ride with Buttercup. William blew her a kiss and told her to be careful, and if she wasn't back by the time the sun was high in the sky, he would go searching for her.
https://i.postimg.cc/J0hFx5MD/AND-SHE-WAS-OFF.png
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the meantime, William's brothers and their new wives had been invited over. Gwendolyn and Ian had some wedding gifts for everyone. Gwendolyn had baked a wonderful loaf of milk bread and gave one each to Isabelle and Colette. She would give Francesca her gift later.
They stayed for a while and chatted. Whoa! Look at that Thaddeus giving Isabelle an autonomous passionate kiss in front of everyone. These two are so in love.
Francesca: "Yes...oh yes, William...it was so much fun. I'm...I'm just a little tired. I mean we really didn't get much sleep last night..." she answered gazing into his eyes.
William smiled sheepishly at her, "No...I guess we didn't did we? Well, rest assured you can sleep soundly tonight..."
They went over to chat with everyone, and William then headed into the garden to plant some of the seeds he had purchased at the market. And look at Isabelle...so nice of her to autonomously help him out.
Colette: "You are good to her, William. She is lucky to have such a kind husband as you. I know you will keep her safe and not let anything happen to her. And...and I'm sorry I was so rude to you when we first met...and...I just wanted you to know that, yes, I did bake that bread..." she said as she excused herself and said that she and Reginald had to leave.
William stood there staring after her thinking, "So! It was really Colette all along who made that bread...Reginald must have said something to her...anyway, now I know..."
Some renovations were done. At the De Baskerville Cottage (Reginald & Colette), I had them purchase some chickens, (a hen and a rooster), and a cow. There was already a henhouse and cowshed on the lot. There were also 4 oversize garden plots, so they also bought some oversize seeds to plant. They both have a knitting basket in their personal inventory. I dropped their funds down to $24K simoleons, which are the starting funds for 3 sims. It doesn't really matter about what funds they have, but I just wanted to do that. The interior of their house looks very similar, but the 3 single beds have been removed (1 was moved to the sleeping shelter for Parson Bernard). The area where the nieces slept is now Reginald & Colette's bedroom; however that will change as the family grows. And Parson Bernard's sleeping area is separate from the main house.
Next, I went to the Thatcher Farm (Thaddeus & Isabelle) and had them purchase some chickens (hen & rooster), a cow and a mini sheep. Now, I know that mini sheep were not introduced until 1780, however, we are just going to pretend that it is a regular sheep. I also had them purchase one oversize garden plot and some oversize garden seeds and plant those, and also bought a packet of herb seeds and had them plant those, too. Both Thaddeus & Isabelle have knitting baskets in their personal inventory. For this lot, I built a blacksmith shop for Thaddeus. Their funds were dropped down to $22,000 simoleons.
For the Fletcher Farm, the three single beds were removed in the main house. A small sleeping shelter was built for Ian and Gwendolyn. A barn was removed and a horse shelter put up. The funds were then dropped down to $2,500 simoleons. This is the amount of the dowry that Parson Bernard had to pay per niece to the Fletcher family. In the rules, when an heir marries, this is the amount they receive. I know the rules also state that when you start, your funds are 0 simoleons; however, I decided to go with the $2,500 simoleons to start. With these funds, they purchased a cow (Eda) for $400 simoleons, a hen and rooster, a rescue horse as a wedding gift to Francesca, and 4 oversize garden plots, and 4 oversize seeds. William will craft some planters. He also purchased 1 packet each of starter vegetables, starter flowers, starter herbs and starter fruits, and planted the ones for spring. I have the Off-the-Grid, Simple Living, Wild Grasses and Wild Foxes lot traits on. I have never played with the Simple Living lot trait, so we shall see how it goes.
I find that Ian and Gwendolyn, who I am not playing, but who are living in the house, autonomously do cross-stitch, so that costs simoleons everytime they do that, and Ian is also drawn to the woodworking table. I am thinking that once all the babies are born, and the rolls are done, I will move them in with Thaddeus & Isabelle, or move them to their own place in town. Not sure what to do here as yet.
