Charley and Jake had three ceremonies across two years. Their first celebration took place on in 15th November 2024. It was meant to be a small handfasting, nothing at all formal. However a few months before, Charley had to undergo a double mastectomy and had a difficult recovery, so with that in mind, they decided to legally marry on the same day. They had just 12 guests and after the legal ceremony they went to Charley’s family home for the handfasting under the full moon.

On the same date 2025, they had a bigger wedding with 40 people all dressed in Lord of the Rings costumes, at their local pub. They also had their third ceremony, a pagan one. “At 5ft, my step mum has been calling me Baggins since the day we met”, Charley laughed. “My little sister is five and has only ever referred to me as bag-bag. There was no way that I was ever going to have a wedding without there being some reference to LOTR, and luckily Jake is also a fan so we just decided the most fun we could have with it was turn it into a fancy dress wedding!”

This ceremony was communal. Charley’s step mum researched the spirits connected to the pub and the surrounding area and they included blessings for those spirits and for the family gods, represented through a family crest created by Charley’s dad and step mum. Guests were active participants and blessed the elements by splashing water, walking a candle flame around the couple, and waving feathers.

The reception leaned hard into DIY. Charley made tabards for the bar staff and photographer, each printed with the Prancing Pony logo. Instead of the usual pile of outdoor blankets, she made cloaks from blanket material so guests could stay warm outside and stay on theme. Wedding favours were plain glass tankards, customised with vinyl Prancing Pony logos using a Cricut machine. The place cards were cut in the shape of the Leaf of Lórien. As entertainment they had axe throwing and a Bucking Bronco.

“Honestly, there is nothing we would have done differently”, Charley concluded. “We spent money on things we really wanted to, we had the perfect number of people for us. it also felt like the day was split into different parts people didn’t feel like they were hanging out in a pub waiting for something to happen – there was always something going on.”