On September 21st, the autumn equinox, Rose and Joey gathered with loved ones at a rustic barn near an abandoned granite quarry to mark their commitment. Their wedding was but a carefully crafted ritual, filled with symbolism and meaning, grounded in their Pagan beliefs and theatrical roots. “If we had to pick a theme,” they said, “it would be Equinox Witch.”

The date wasn’t chosen at random. It marked the seasonal shift and echoed the rhythm of the Wheel of the Year, a cycle the couple had been celebrating together for years. Their engagement had even happened during a Lughnasadh fire pit gathering with friends, where Rose proposed under a full moon.

The couple, who met while working on a Shakespeare play, approached wedding planning as if it was a theatrical production. Their ceremony had a beginning, middle, and end. Everything had a purpose..

The ceremony was held in a sacred circle of flowers, with guests contributing personal offerings to a shared altar. The space was filled with objects, stories, and mementoes from people who had shaped their lives. Instead of a traditional bridal party, a group of ceremonial witches opened and closed the ritual, guiding guests through a series of spells and symbolic acts – ring warming, bay leaf burning, handfasting, and even a shared wine ritual, enhanced with a few drops of their own blood. Guests wrote notes and tucked them into a hand-embroidered tapestry made by Rose. A poem was read in Irish. An opera singer performed. Their dog Pip even made an appearance in costume

“We walked down the aisle together,” Rose explained, “and Joey wrote the ceremony like a play. We wanted it to feel immersive, like we were inviting everyone into something real. Even our more traditionally Catholic family members leaned into the ritual with trust and open hearts.”

Earlier that morning, twenty friends joined them at sunrise for a quiet, secret ritual. They sang, welcomed the sun, and set intentions for the day. “It was one of our favourite memories,” they said. “It grounded us before everything started.”

The reception was no less intentional. The décor leaned into moon phases, and featured dried citrus and woodland textures. Rose designed lunar calendars for every guest, alongside all the signage and table details, inspired by the Farmer’s Almanac. Friends helped make dried orange garlands, and trees from the woods behind her parents’ house were brought in to decorate the venue. One of the standout moments came when Rose’s father surprised the couple with a witchy blessing.

They didn’t shy away from DIY, but they also didn’t sugarcoat it. “Doing things ourselves was beautiful,” they explained, “but also exhausting. Time is a resource, and if you’re going to DIY something, it has to be lovingly spent – not resentfully.”

By the time they danced wildly to Meatloaf’s You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth, the tone had long been set. “We wanted our reception to feel like a warm, joyful celebration with incredible food and dancing”, they concluded. “The way our family and friends came together to support and celebrate us the entire wedding weekend was overwhelming in the best way.”