Jessica & Jesse’s Harry Potter wedding (with bonus Doctor Who) wins the House Cup

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This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

The Offbeat Bride: Jessica, Software Trainer

Her offbeat partner: Jesse, College Math Instructor

Date and location of wedding: The Loft and the Galleria at The Madison South, Covington, KY — June 26, 2015

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

WE DID THE THING — the Harry Potter wedding we wanted! The books and films mean so much to us both, and when he proposed at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, we decided then that we would carry the theme through to our wedding.

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

Tell us about the ceremony:

Our ceremony wasn't flashy, but it was very us. The groomsmen walked down the aisle to the Durmstrang entry theme, and the bridesmaids entered to the Beauxbatons theme from Goblet of Fire. The flower girls threw petals made of pages from Order of the Phoenix, which all of the bouquets and corsages were made from as well. Both of my parents walked me down the aisle to “Harry's Wondrous World.”

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

I made a special owl podium for our officiant. Scott Demarco wrote the most AMAZING custom ceremony full of quotes from Harry Potter and Doctor Who and really made it special for us. As he went through how the traits of each Hogwarts House would help us in our marriage, I realized… I FORGOT MY VOWS! He rolled with the flow, and we all had a great big laugh while someone ran to get them. We ended our vows with “Together or not at all,” where it would normally say “Till death do us part,” to honor Amy and Rory Williams from Doctor Who since we cosplay them, and we got married on their wedding anniversary.

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

We exited to the Quidditch World Cup theme to celebrate.

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

Tell us about your reception:

We turned our venue into the Great Hall. There was the head table, and then we had four long rows of tables, each with table runners and chair sashes of that House's color and covered in decorations relating to that House:

  • Ravenclaw had books and bird cages
  • Hufflepuff had strange-looking plants and foliage
  • Gryffindor had things relating to Harry, like magical creatures, the Triwizard Cup, and a quaffle
  • Slytherin had potion bottles

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

We hung 100 battery-operated candles from clear thread to mimic the floating candles. The cocktail was red butterbeer, and the cake was pumpkin with white chocolate and a snitch on top. It was surrounded by large glass containers full of House Cup gems showing that Hufflepuff had won through a contest I held with my crochet business.

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

One of the best parts of the day was that earlier that morning SCOTUS announced their same-sex marriage decision. Those were the only tears on my wedding day, and everyone partied HARD in celebration. My dad got funny drunk and spun me too much during our dance. We got the quaffle out on the floor to play around and hit the DJ booth. Everyone got crazy during “Dark Lord Funk.” It was magical.

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

This Harry Potter wedding wins the House Cup on @offbeatbride

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