Realistically, a few hundred dollars. You buy some nice wool for garb ($200), food ($200), tokens ($100). You enlist folks to help sew, cook, and make the tokens. Scroll and achievement banner are done free or for cost of materials. Regalia like medallions, chains, spurs, etc.. are generally made for free or donated by someone you know.
Accurate.
Weird tho, bc I'm a Pelican and I got elevated during the pandemic, no vigil, no ceremony, no oath, skipped the zoom thing and omg I'm glad I had this option. Perfect elevation. Good friend of mine made me a cool medallion. $0 out of pocket.
When I got put on vigil my friends were like "we're getting sushi to celebrate" and I said "but I don't like sushi" and they said, "you're gonna be a pelican and pelicans eat fish, get in the car"
>When I got put on vigil my friends were like "we're getting sushi to celebrate" and I said "but I don't like sushi" and they said, "you're gonna be a pelican and pelicans eat fish, get in the car"
OUTSTANDING
I wore clothing I already owned. I was gifted belt, chain, and spurs. The vigil was handled by my knight and others. I don't think I paid for anything above the normal costs of going to an event.
I wanted simple, I got simple.
I'm a Pelican and a Laurel. When I received my Pelican, I made my clothes and thank you tokens (wax tablets), I received a legacy medallion and cloak, and my Pelican made snacks for my vigil. I was still a student and did things on the cheap, so I think, all told, I paid about $150 for fabric, embroidery supplies, and wood and wax for tokens.
I did not do a vigil for my Laurel, so for that all I needed was some clothes. And again, as I was not in a position to spend a lot of money, I basically made an additional layer to an existing outfit, so I spent no more than $100 on fabric and that was it. My medallion was again a legacy piece and I received the kingdom cloak.
On the flip side of this was a friend's recent (Q1 of 2023) knighting ceremony, his knight put a lot of feelers out (and traded favors) to get items of clothing and regalia. I provided a hand sewn linen tunic for his vigil (probably $60 in linen from my stash), a wool Byzantine-style cloak ($120 in wool from my stash, and about $100 in silk brocade ordered special and silk taffeta from my stash), and a wool kaftan ($105 in wool ordered special, and about $100 in silk brocade and silk taffeta from my stash). Leaving out any calculation of what I would have charged for my time, that works out to about $485 in fabric. Aside from these items, he was also gifted a nice belt, additional clothes, a banner, and a vigil/party. My guess would be that the total cost was around $1,500 - $2,000, but spread across a host of people and, to the best of my knowledge, the vigilant was asked to cover very little of them.
The short answer is that elevations, like weddings, can cost as much or as little as you budget for.
My Laurel elevation cost me almost nothing. Most of my regalia was legacy items (a much nicer way to say hand-me-downs). My scroll and my vigil book were both gifts. I wore a dress made of silk I scored from some curtains at my local secondhand store. My mom made the food for my vigil buffet, and vigil tokens are not really a thing in my kingdom.
But I have absolutely seen people go all out for elevations. Sartor silk, fur lined cloaks, lavish vigil food, hotel suites, all of it. And there's nothing wrong with any of that either.
I was going to write some thing about economic diversity within the SCA in general, but in the end it really all comes down to your own priorities and resources. Having the elevation/vigil that is meaningful to you does not have to break the bank. Nor is it a bad thing if you have and want to spend some money on it. Do what you want, it's your elevation.
I'm not sure I spent anything out pocket. For the vigil, food was provided by my friends. I was gifted a medallion, cloak, and my mother in law made me some simple linen garb. The biggest cost was going to the war that I was elevated at but I was paying that anyway.
Amusingly enough, I was just considering this question myself an hour or so ago.
I'm not a peer, but I am an apprentice and it's been suggested, not with any urgency, that I should get started on an ICOP.
My personal experience is that a close friend was recently elevated, and I made the medallion alternative of their choice. I did not expect and would have been insulted if anyone had suggested that the candidate pay me for my work, regardless of how much it cost or the time it took. My laurel took the elevation in hand, because the candidate had never been apprenticed, or had a household to support them. His lady, also a laurel, made the garb and cloak alternative. Someone else made a laurel wreath years back, and that was given as a legacy piece. Another medallion was supplied, and funny thing is that the candidate themself had actually made the thing at some point previous to the elevation.
To my knowledge, the costs were all born by those of us who contributed to the effort by our own choices. I personally put in about $200 in materials (highly volatile market prices), and I would guess the cloth used ran to about the same. Various people made food and beverages, a couple of bottles of *good* scotch were donated, someone made the vigil book and someone else made the scroll. I don't know that the candidate did more than show up. I know the people involved well enough to know they would also have refused any monetary compensation for their efforts. This is what friends do for friends, take care of each other.
This is a very good question. My husband was elevated to the order of the chivalry a year and a half ago. So I have recent numbers for it. He paid for his suite since it was a hotel event. His knight paid for a separate room for us to actually sleep in. The suite was about $300 a night and we had it for two nights.
He had two full size kegs of quality beer and one small one of cider. He is friends with the manager of our local bar and so got the kegs at cost. It was still several hundred dollars.
I spent about $200 on decor and we also sourced a ton of things from friends to borrow.
The garb was made by his Knight's lady. The material for that was also purchased by them and they refused to allow me to reimburse them. His "party outfit" was created by friends and I had the fabric for it already so I'm counting it as $0 for the cost since it was shipped from my fabric hoard.
His scroll and chain were both created and gifted by some very talented friends. I shudder to think of the cost if we had purchased them. His belt and spurs are lineage items and so had no monetary cost.
I'm gonna say that the out of pocket cost for him and I was about $2000 when all the little things I'm forgetting are included. He is a popular person so I had folks coming out of the woodwork volunteering to gift time, talent, and items to make the day amazing. It also helped that we have a large household that knows how to organize vigils and elevations.
I think for my own vigil all that I purchased was linen for a new undertunic and gambeson (knighted on the field), and a keg of beer for the vigil. Friends brought food, I didn't have tokens. Regalia was all provided by the order. Usually the kingdom scribe or secretary handles having the scroll made.
When my squire was knighted, almost everything was gifted from friends - food, drink, even the beeswax candles in his vigil tent.
You're not REQUIRED to do All Of The Things, do what you want and what you can afford.
Thanks everyone. I was aware that many people chip in and donate their time/materials and what not to the effort of an elevation, and I have no doubt people will be willing to help with mine if the day were to ever come, my real concern is being a burden on others in the process. It is, "my special day," but the people around me are the reason I got there. I don't want them to feel responsible for anything that I want simply because I want it. The Peerage for me is a milestone on my journey and I want to celebrate it, but it isn't the end of my journey, and I want my vigil to reflect that. So maybe a new outfit, some nice food to say thank you to those who come to see me that day, and a momento for them to take home. I think this helped
You dont have to have a crazy elevation or vigil. You can wear whatever you want and you dont have to have tokens. If you are at a place where you expect a lot of people, finger foods are nice, veggies and fruits, but there is no rule requiring you to break the bank. It's like a wedding - You CAN go nuts, or you wear your own dress and get married in your back yard.
You can spend however much or little you want. Personally, I was elevated during Covid over zoom and it was a surprise so my friend made a dress for me out of her stash, my Laurel mailed a medallion to my friend, and they went in together to purchase a nice Laurel wreath.
I decided to hold a vigil once events started back up and spent around $200 on food, $50-75 on tokens, and $150 on garb (I already had the silk in my stash). My wonderful friends pitched in with setup, running the vigil, and tear down.
Ultimately it’s up to you what you want to spend. If you want a specific kind of garb for the elevation, that may end up being the most expensive. Regalia can also be costly, but oftentimes are gifted (however don’t expect it).
I think the most important aspect of an in case of peerage is to identify your speakers and anything specific you want to happen during your elevation. If you’re given a chance to plan your vigil and elevation then it won’t be necessary, but if you have a surprise elevation, like I did, then you’ll be glad you did it. I had one and because of that my speakers were wonderful gentles I had identified.
Hope this helps!
Honor von Atzinger, OL
Midrealm
As others have said, it really varies. If you wear clothes you already have, are elevated in your home area, and go with either a legacy medallion or a non-custom one, you can probably spend $40 including the cost of gas. People will likely volunteer to gift you things or help out—this might mean sewing a cloak, making vigil food, or assisting in some other way, and they don’t expect anything in return other than that you pay it forward to another new peer someday. For my own elevation, I made my clothes and used all the “best” fabric in my stash, so that cost me nothing extra. I had planned to weave my own trim but time got away from me so I purchased that (an expense that could have been avoided through better time management). I commissioned a custom medallion and ring, and those were not cheap but it was my choice to do that rather than purchase a more basic medallion. My vigil was catered as a gift from friends who love to do historical cooking, and my vigil book and scroll were made by people who have still steadfastly refused to take money from me. Something to consider if you are putting together an “in case of peerage” document, though, is whether you have preferences about the sorts of things that people may gift you, especially if your kingdom typically elevates people as a surprise and you may not have months between being put on vigil and being elevated. If you don’t specify, you may receive regalia that the makers *think* you will want, so please do them the courtesy of listing anything you desperately do or don’t want. You can also specify that you don’t want surprises, which will give you time to make or commission items or at least discuss your preferences with the people who offer to help.
Entirely depends, really. Most vigils I’ve been to have been potlucks, so that dropped the food cost for very little. The vigilant provided drinks, though, so that was what they had. (Of course, I’ve also been to a vigil where the vigilant’s partner made the food, as said partner was a cooking laurel, and always makes their food).
Elevation garb can be as much or as little as you want. It usually tends to be quite expensive, though, but I’ve also seen people elevated in simple, unadorned tunics. I’ve also seen people in entirely hand-made tutor garb. I’ve seen everything in between. It’s one of the most personal aspects of it.
And then for the regalia…I’m not sure. I’ve not been privy to those conversations, but I’m of the opinion that your first pieces of regalia should be a gift, whether legacy items or new items for you. If you want custom pieces later, those can be purchased, but the first should be free. I don’t know how often that works out in practice, though.
So, for a cheap peerage, it can be entirely free. No new garb, no vigil, no purchased regalia, and it can be free.
For an expensive one, it could be a couple thousand dollars for new garb, a small feast at a vigil or party, and all new, custom made regalia.
I think most fall in between there, though.
Now, if you’re talking about an elevation to a crown or something like that…that might get you closer to a second mortgage, depending on how fancy you go. Those tend to be quite fancy.
When I was elevated I really didn’t have the money to go all out. My vigil was pretty simple and my clothes were upgraded but not new. I still had an absolutely wonderful experience. I think ICOP planning makes sense for a lot of reasons; one is that it can help you keep costs in check. Figure out what matters to you and what doesn’t.
In my experience, many of the costs are born by the community — friends helped with my garb, painted my scroll, made my vigil book, painted a banner for my procession, cooked for my vigil, etc. I paid for some of the material costs but not all. In turn I have contributed to the elevations of others.
I did not pay for the regalia at my elevation, only some of which was pass-down.
I was one of three elevated at the same event — a knight, a pelican, and a laurel (me). We are friends & from the same barony. Mine was the simplest vigil & ceremony of the three. But it had all the elements that really mattered to me. I’m glad I didn’t spend money I didn’t have on some of the extras I considered (even though they were pretty great!)
Dollar cost to me was under $300 in 2017.
Realistically, a few hundred dollars. You buy some nice wool for garb ($200), food ($200), tokens ($100). You enlist folks to help sew, cook, and make the tokens. Scroll and achievement banner are done free or for cost of materials. Regalia like medallions, chains, spurs, etc.. are generally made for free or donated by someone you know.
Accurate. Weird tho, bc I'm a Pelican and I got elevated during the pandemic, no vigil, no ceremony, no oath, skipped the zoom thing and omg I'm glad I had this option. Perfect elevation. Good friend of mine made me a cool medallion. $0 out of pocket. When I got put on vigil my friends were like "we're getting sushi to celebrate" and I said "but I don't like sushi" and they said, "you're gonna be a pelican and pelicans eat fish, get in the car"
>When I got put on vigil my friends were like "we're getting sushi to celebrate" and I said "but I don't like sushi" and they said, "you're gonna be a pelican and pelicans eat fish, get in the car" OUTSTANDING
I am also a 'Peer of the Plague' and my Peers bought Little Caesars for me 🤣 Thankfully my Peer dislikes sushi as much as I do!
I wore clothing I already owned. I was gifted belt, chain, and spurs. The vigil was handled by my knight and others. I don't think I paid for anything above the normal costs of going to an event. I wanted simple, I got simple.
I'm a Pelican and a Laurel. When I received my Pelican, I made my clothes and thank you tokens (wax tablets), I received a legacy medallion and cloak, and my Pelican made snacks for my vigil. I was still a student and did things on the cheap, so I think, all told, I paid about $150 for fabric, embroidery supplies, and wood and wax for tokens. I did not do a vigil for my Laurel, so for that all I needed was some clothes. And again, as I was not in a position to spend a lot of money, I basically made an additional layer to an existing outfit, so I spent no more than $100 on fabric and that was it. My medallion was again a legacy piece and I received the kingdom cloak. On the flip side of this was a friend's recent (Q1 of 2023) knighting ceremony, his knight put a lot of feelers out (and traded favors) to get items of clothing and regalia. I provided a hand sewn linen tunic for his vigil (probably $60 in linen from my stash), a wool Byzantine-style cloak ($120 in wool from my stash, and about $100 in silk brocade ordered special and silk taffeta from my stash), and a wool kaftan ($105 in wool ordered special, and about $100 in silk brocade and silk taffeta from my stash). Leaving out any calculation of what I would have charged for my time, that works out to about $485 in fabric. Aside from these items, he was also gifted a nice belt, additional clothes, a banner, and a vigil/party. My guess would be that the total cost was around $1,500 - $2,000, but spread across a host of people and, to the best of my knowledge, the vigilant was asked to cover very little of them.
The short answer is that elevations, like weddings, can cost as much or as little as you budget for. My Laurel elevation cost me almost nothing. Most of my regalia was legacy items (a much nicer way to say hand-me-downs). My scroll and my vigil book were both gifts. I wore a dress made of silk I scored from some curtains at my local secondhand store. My mom made the food for my vigil buffet, and vigil tokens are not really a thing in my kingdom. But I have absolutely seen people go all out for elevations. Sartor silk, fur lined cloaks, lavish vigil food, hotel suites, all of it. And there's nothing wrong with any of that either. I was going to write some thing about economic diversity within the SCA in general, but in the end it really all comes down to your own priorities and resources. Having the elevation/vigil that is meaningful to you does not have to break the bank. Nor is it a bad thing if you have and want to spend some money on it. Do what you want, it's your elevation.
I'm not sure I spent anything out pocket. For the vigil, food was provided by my friends. I was gifted a medallion, cloak, and my mother in law made me some simple linen garb. The biggest cost was going to the war that I was elevated at but I was paying that anyway.
Ooh reading someone else post yes I did spend some money (maybe about $125) on vigil tokens and two notebooks for signing.
Amusingly enough, I was just considering this question myself an hour or so ago. I'm not a peer, but I am an apprentice and it's been suggested, not with any urgency, that I should get started on an ICOP. My personal experience is that a close friend was recently elevated, and I made the medallion alternative of their choice. I did not expect and would have been insulted if anyone had suggested that the candidate pay me for my work, regardless of how much it cost or the time it took. My laurel took the elevation in hand, because the candidate had never been apprenticed, or had a household to support them. His lady, also a laurel, made the garb and cloak alternative. Someone else made a laurel wreath years back, and that was given as a legacy piece. Another medallion was supplied, and funny thing is that the candidate themself had actually made the thing at some point previous to the elevation. To my knowledge, the costs were all born by those of us who contributed to the effort by our own choices. I personally put in about $200 in materials (highly volatile market prices), and I would guess the cloth used ran to about the same. Various people made food and beverages, a couple of bottles of *good* scotch were donated, someone made the vigil book and someone else made the scroll. I don't know that the candidate did more than show up. I know the people involved well enough to know they would also have refused any monetary compensation for their efforts. This is what friends do for friends, take care of each other.
This is a very good question. My husband was elevated to the order of the chivalry a year and a half ago. So I have recent numbers for it. He paid for his suite since it was a hotel event. His knight paid for a separate room for us to actually sleep in. The suite was about $300 a night and we had it for two nights. He had two full size kegs of quality beer and one small one of cider. He is friends with the manager of our local bar and so got the kegs at cost. It was still several hundred dollars. I spent about $200 on decor and we also sourced a ton of things from friends to borrow. The garb was made by his Knight's lady. The material for that was also purchased by them and they refused to allow me to reimburse them. His "party outfit" was created by friends and I had the fabric for it already so I'm counting it as $0 for the cost since it was shipped from my fabric hoard. His scroll and chain were both created and gifted by some very talented friends. I shudder to think of the cost if we had purchased them. His belt and spurs are lineage items and so had no monetary cost. I'm gonna say that the out of pocket cost for him and I was about $2000 when all the little things I'm forgetting are included. He is a popular person so I had folks coming out of the woodwork volunteering to gift time, talent, and items to make the day amazing. It also helped that we have a large household that knows how to organize vigils and elevations.
I think for my own vigil all that I purchased was linen for a new undertunic and gambeson (knighted on the field), and a keg of beer for the vigil. Friends brought food, I didn't have tokens. Regalia was all provided by the order. Usually the kingdom scribe or secretary handles having the scroll made. When my squire was knighted, almost everything was gifted from friends - food, drink, even the beeswax candles in his vigil tent. You're not REQUIRED to do All Of The Things, do what you want and what you can afford.
Thanks everyone. I was aware that many people chip in and donate their time/materials and what not to the effort of an elevation, and I have no doubt people will be willing to help with mine if the day were to ever come, my real concern is being a burden on others in the process. It is, "my special day," but the people around me are the reason I got there. I don't want them to feel responsible for anything that I want simply because I want it. The Peerage for me is a milestone on my journey and I want to celebrate it, but it isn't the end of my journey, and I want my vigil to reflect that. So maybe a new outfit, some nice food to say thank you to those who come to see me that day, and a momento for them to take home. I think this helped
I'm curious how this may vary from kingdom to kingdom
You dont have to have a crazy elevation or vigil. You can wear whatever you want and you dont have to have tokens. If you are at a place where you expect a lot of people, finger foods are nice, veggies and fruits, but there is no rule requiring you to break the bank. It's like a wedding - You CAN go nuts, or you wear your own dress and get married in your back yard.
LoL - I got married in my yard 10/3/2020 and was elevated in the same yard 10/10/2020. And neither cost too much money!
Oh wow! That was a busy month for you, wedding and elevation back to back!
LoL - I got married in my yard 10/3/2020 and was elevated in the same yard 10/10/2020. And neither cost too much money!
You can spend however much or little you want. Personally, I was elevated during Covid over zoom and it was a surprise so my friend made a dress for me out of her stash, my Laurel mailed a medallion to my friend, and they went in together to purchase a nice Laurel wreath. I decided to hold a vigil once events started back up and spent around $200 on food, $50-75 on tokens, and $150 on garb (I already had the silk in my stash). My wonderful friends pitched in with setup, running the vigil, and tear down. Ultimately it’s up to you what you want to spend. If you want a specific kind of garb for the elevation, that may end up being the most expensive. Regalia can also be costly, but oftentimes are gifted (however don’t expect it). I think the most important aspect of an in case of peerage is to identify your speakers and anything specific you want to happen during your elevation. If you’re given a chance to plan your vigil and elevation then it won’t be necessary, but if you have a surprise elevation, like I did, then you’ll be glad you did it. I had one and because of that my speakers were wonderful gentles I had identified. Hope this helps! Honor von Atzinger, OL Midrealm
As others have said, it really varies. If you wear clothes you already have, are elevated in your home area, and go with either a legacy medallion or a non-custom one, you can probably spend $40 including the cost of gas. People will likely volunteer to gift you things or help out—this might mean sewing a cloak, making vigil food, or assisting in some other way, and they don’t expect anything in return other than that you pay it forward to another new peer someday. For my own elevation, I made my clothes and used all the “best” fabric in my stash, so that cost me nothing extra. I had planned to weave my own trim but time got away from me so I purchased that (an expense that could have been avoided through better time management). I commissioned a custom medallion and ring, and those were not cheap but it was my choice to do that rather than purchase a more basic medallion. My vigil was catered as a gift from friends who love to do historical cooking, and my vigil book and scroll were made by people who have still steadfastly refused to take money from me. Something to consider if you are putting together an “in case of peerage” document, though, is whether you have preferences about the sorts of things that people may gift you, especially if your kingdom typically elevates people as a surprise and you may not have months between being put on vigil and being elevated. If you don’t specify, you may receive regalia that the makers *think* you will want, so please do them the courtesy of listing anything you desperately do or don’t want. You can also specify that you don’t want surprises, which will give you time to make or commission items or at least discuss your preferences with the people who offer to help.
Entirely depends, really. Most vigils I’ve been to have been potlucks, so that dropped the food cost for very little. The vigilant provided drinks, though, so that was what they had. (Of course, I’ve also been to a vigil where the vigilant’s partner made the food, as said partner was a cooking laurel, and always makes their food). Elevation garb can be as much or as little as you want. It usually tends to be quite expensive, though, but I’ve also seen people elevated in simple, unadorned tunics. I’ve also seen people in entirely hand-made tutor garb. I’ve seen everything in between. It’s one of the most personal aspects of it. And then for the regalia…I’m not sure. I’ve not been privy to those conversations, but I’m of the opinion that your first pieces of regalia should be a gift, whether legacy items or new items for you. If you want custom pieces later, those can be purchased, but the first should be free. I don’t know how often that works out in practice, though. So, for a cheap peerage, it can be entirely free. No new garb, no vigil, no purchased regalia, and it can be free. For an expensive one, it could be a couple thousand dollars for new garb, a small feast at a vigil or party, and all new, custom made regalia. I think most fall in between there, though. Now, if you’re talking about an elevation to a crown or something like that…that might get you closer to a second mortgage, depending on how fancy you go. Those tend to be quite fancy.
When I was elevated I really didn’t have the money to go all out. My vigil was pretty simple and my clothes were upgraded but not new. I still had an absolutely wonderful experience. I think ICOP planning makes sense for a lot of reasons; one is that it can help you keep costs in check. Figure out what matters to you and what doesn’t. In my experience, many of the costs are born by the community — friends helped with my garb, painted my scroll, made my vigil book, painted a banner for my procession, cooked for my vigil, etc. I paid for some of the material costs but not all. In turn I have contributed to the elevations of others. I did not pay for the regalia at my elevation, only some of which was pass-down. I was one of three elevated at the same event — a knight, a pelican, and a laurel (me). We are friends & from the same barony. Mine was the simplest vigil & ceremony of the three. But it had all the elements that really mattered to me. I’m glad I didn’t spend money I didn’t have on some of the extras I considered (even though they were pretty great!) Dollar cost to me was under $300 in 2017.