My Lord of the Rings Wedding

Last Updated on September 3, 2023 by Jenn | The Nerd Mom

Megan over at A Geeky Gal blog created this challenge for fellow geeks to share all about what makes them nerdy. You can see her completed challenge post here.

30 Day Geek Out Challenge – Day 5: What is the geekiest thing you’ve ever done?

This one’s pretty easy – I had a Lord of the Rings wedding theme!

One of the things that brought my husband and me together was a shared love of Lord of the Rings. It may not have been my first fandom, but it is one of my oldest and deepest fandoms. So when I met someone who loved it as much as I do, I figured, Hey, I’d better hang on to this one!

I knew I didn’t want a boring wedding, so I put a lot of effort into making as much of it Lord of the Rings as possible.

Lord of the Rings Wedding Stationary and Paper Products

First was the save-the-dates, which I designed myself! Many people didn’t know what “plighted their troth” meant, but we didn’t care. It was authentic! We focused on the main love story of the movies, that of Aragorn and Arwen. Their symbols, the tree of Gondor and the Evenstar were featured, and the save-the-date was no exception.

Then there were the amazing invites and RSVP cards designed by Slater Lane Paper Company on Etsy:

And the seating chart designed by SophiesLoveBirds:

We named each table after a location in Middle Earth. It was a lot of fun deciding which guests to seat where. And yes, there was a Mordor table, and some of our more prickly relatives went there. My table signs and name tags were also from SophiesLoveBirds on Etsy. They came as a digital download which I could then print and cut out myself.

Lord of the Rings Wedding Location

I cannot believe my luck that there was a castle wedding destination that was only one and a half hours from my hometown. Landoll’s Mohican Castle in Loudonville, OH was the perfect wedding venue for a Lord of the Rings wedding. It’s a hotel and event venue with its own wedding planner. The architecture is gorgeous and transported us right into Rivendell. I was stunned at the beauty of the location.

Lord of the Rings Wedding Attire

We opted not to have the bridal party in movie-accurate costumes, but we still tried to keep the attire theme-appropriate. The entire bridal party did wear Leaves of Lorien like the Fellowship. The bridesmaids wore them as necklaces and the groomsmen wore them as pins. My bridesmaids also carried these cute little lanterns instead of flowers, to seem more mystical.

We did encourage our guests to come in costume, and many of them did not disappoint! We actually had two Gandalfs in attendance.

Even the officiant sported a Hobbit-esque look.

Others opted for more elvish-inspired looks, which were gorgeous.

Lord of the Rings Wedding Bridal Attire

I drew a lot of inspiration from Arwen for my bridal look. I wanted to feel the way Arwen looks at the end of Return of the King when she finally sees Aragorn again.

Lord of the Rings Wedding Decor

Music from the soundtrack played throughout the ceremony and reception (the Lord of the Rings movie score is my favorite soundtrack, which I talk about in this post), and our vows were peppered with references and quotes. Of course, the cake and decor were all inspired by Tolkien.

We even set up a photo booth complete with a Gollum mask and Legolas and Gandalf life-size cardboard cutouts.

Sometimes you hear stories about insanely stressful weddings where the bride and groom can barely enjoy themselves because they are trying to keep the wedding on track.

My experience wasn’t like that.

I felt relaxed and peaceful during our day, and all the details just came together. And all this was despite the fact that I was entering my third trimester of pregnancy with my son at the time (but that’s a whole other story!).

I will always remember my wedding in Middle Earth and how magical and special it was. It was a nerd’s dream come true.

And all that work I put into planning it and making every detail as Tolkien as possible is definitely the geekiest thing I have ever done!

Over to you! What is the geekiest thing you have ever done? Tell me in the comments!