Pair get married at Hobbit-themed wedding
Lord of the Rings style wedding for film fan
IT WAS a case of Lord of the Wedding Rings as Middle Earth superfan Connor Ward from Uxbridge married his school sweatheart.
Conor and new wife Brogan, both 22, enjoyed a Hobbitthemed ceremony in a Tudor barn decked out with fairylights, recreating the mystical atmosphere of the hit novels and films.
The bride walked down the aisle to Old Friends, a song from The Hobbit’s soundtrack, before the couple swapped rings similar to those in the epic blockbusters, starring Martin Freeman and Sir Ian McKellen.
Mr Ward said: “When I first proposed I think she was trying to say stuff to make me feel happy, so she said we would have a Hobbit-themed wedding. She probably never thought it would actually happen.”
Guests at the £15,000 wedding were seated at tables named after places within the fictional region of Middleearth, such as Mordor and the Shire, with all 70 name cards handwritten in the distinctive Hobbiton Brushhand font.
The couple, who met at Uxbridge High School’s sixth form and live in The Lynch, Uxbridge, even had their cake custom made to include an iced round door leading to Bilbo Baggins’ den.
The groomsmen, including best man George Coutts – all chosen for their love of the LOTR films – received longstemmed pipes with their initials engraved on them, similar to those smoked by Gandalf and his fellow wizards. But despite being a fan of the films herself, Mrs Ward put her foot down at the idea of wearing costumes on her special day.
Mr Ward said: “I couldn’t persuade her to do that, although I would’ve liked it.”
He added: “I sort of went with the theme though, because I wore an all-tweed suit and it was kind of the material and the colours that they wear, so even though it wasn’t like dressing up like a Hobbit, it was sort of like a variation of it.”
Luckily, administrator Mrs Ward was allowed her say in the preparations for her wedding on March 14, opting for a rustic atmosphere, with sunflowers and daisies adorning The Tudor Barn, in Britwell Road, Burnham, Buckinghamshire.
She said: “It was a magical day. I liked the Hobbit theme. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. It made it more meaningful.”
Customer sales assistant Mr Ward, who has several tattoos of LOTR characters, has seen all of the films around 50 times. He became infatuated after his father took him to see the first one, The Fellowship of the Ring, in 2001, when he was just eight. He has since spent thousands of pounds on merchandise, including numerous posters and more than 50 action figures.
But having never read any of the books, Mr Ward bought The Hobbit novel at the airport while setting off on the couple’s two-week Mexico honeymoon.