If there’s one type of wedding I don’t see a lot of, it’s one with a medieval theme. So when Ben & Victoria’s wedding – set in a castle and featuring owls, hawks and a castle shaped wedding cake – landed in my inbox I was thrilled to be able to feature it.

The wedding was held at Castle Ladyhawke in Tuckasegee, North Carolina in November. “Ben proposed on a camping trip to the mountains in North Carolina”, began the bride. “He conspired with my bridesmaid and photographer best friend to surprise me by proposing on top of a mountain with her taking photos. He also planned two surprises for me for our wedding that were really special. The castle had a tower with a flag pole on top and with the help of his best man he came up with a coat of arms flag for us as a new family together. He used our wedding colors and an owl sigil, to tie in with the bird that brought us our rings, our love for Harry Potter and the mascot of the university where we both met and graduated. It looked really cool at the castle and is something I’m happy to keep always.”

“For my wedding present, Ben contacted a cartographer to create a custom map for us. Considering my adoration for maps and especially ancient or fantasy maps like those of Middle Earth, Westeros, etc, they worked together to create a similar map that had fictional places that represent people, places and events that are meaningful to us. He had it framed and it’s so beautiful and unique. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift.”

“I really didn’t care about a lot of the more traditional or classic things many people do for weddings”, Victoria continued  “I didn’t want anything to feel too formal or stuffy. I just wanted us to make the commitment to each other in a way that was meaningful for us. Neither of us like being the center of attention, so we just wanted to make sure everyone had fun.”

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