Christina and Chris met online, and after a few fantasy-themed dates to a Renaissance Faire, a Halloween party and a Live Action Role Playing event, they made it official. Both keen LARPers, they wanted to bring this into their wedding so chose a famous LARPing spot, Ye Olde Commons in Charlton, MA, as their venue.

“It’s difficult to pin-point our inspiration exactly, but I will list a few things that have inspired us and our love for fantasy over the years”, Christina said. “We love Studio Ghibli, The Elder Scrolls, The Dragon Age, Labyrinth, The Last Unicorn and Adventures of Baron Munchausen. It’s hard to say if the wedding had a true theme, even though it came together so nicely. We just firmly decided that we both wanted to feel beautiful, and comfortable, but also surprise each other with our outfits.”

The ceremony was held in the woods which took care of most of the aesthetics. There was no need for lots of florals or an elaborate set-up. They picked colours and a vague ‘magical forest’ theme and let nature do the rest.

They also did this part without an audience. They read mad-libs vows which Mx. Matched Socks (their friend and officiant) had tricked them both separately into writing! “They handed them to us as we stood in front of each other at the little alter we made in the woods”, Christina continued. “Mine said ‘With you, my heart is apple bottomed, and my love is with the fur” and Chris’ said ‘Christina, I f*ck you today and every day’! This remains the highlight of the entire celebration. I will never forget us all laughing so hard at the altar and knowing that since we decided to keep our ceremony so small, we had no one to impress, nothing to fear in being ourselves, and everything we wanted for each other as we promised to joust, spelunk, and kissy kiss.”

Christina wore a Chotronette gown while Chris had their outfit made from scratch by costume designer and mutual friend, Sam Kuchinski. Sam also acted as their go-between, making sure both looks matched in tone and colour, without spoiling the surprise. “We just firmly decided that we both wanted to feel beautiful, and comfortable, but also surprise each other with our outfits,” Christina said. Guests were told to wear something fancy, but in their own way. The unofficial theme turned into ‘magical forest ball meets LARP gear haul’, with friends and family turning up in cloaks, crowns, armour, and gowns.

“We loved getting dressed up and seeing ourselves in this fancy and magical way”, Christina concluded. “I loved seeing myself transformed into something that felt so like myself, when often in LARP I am trying to make a new character, this time I got to feel like I was myself but amplified and exaggerated in a magical way. Our advice to other couples would just be to trust yourself. You know best what you want your wedding to look like. Remember that it’s all about you and your love, and the people who love you best will show up to whatever party you create together.”