wedding party

The Offbeat Bride: Jen

Her offbeat partner: Nick

Date and location of wedding: Stonehurst Manor, North Conway, NH — September 28, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Nick and I didn't meet on the online game World of Warcraft, but we certainly built our relationship through playing the game together. He lived in New Hampshire at the time, and I was in Massachusetts, but we could talk through the game and grow together. So the game became part of the wedding theme, since it was so integral to our relationship. We wanted to be able to share our interests at the wedding without overwhelming our guests since I knew that very few would actually get it. We aimed for a balance between nerd and tradition.

Our wedding 9-28-13

Our wedding 9-28-13

About two months before the wedding, on Nick's urging, we began creating our favorite weapons from World of Warcraft. We did this together and learned a lot. We only managed to make 10 out of the 12 we needed, but it was definitely a high point of the wedding.

Our wedding 9-28-13

Centerpeice

Our tables were named after raid bosses from the game. We had pumpkins and flowers that matched the color scheme. I made silhouettes of the bosses with white table numbers and little info flags about why we chose each boss. The placecards were also WoW-themed.

Placecards

Loot table!

We had a sweetheart table, but called it the “loot table.” Nick made a replica treasure chest from the game and filled it with jewels and coins. Nick had custom coins made, too!

Coins and rings

My maid of honor made our invitations and created a crest for us that we used throughout the entire wedding.

lego-boutonnieres

For favors we gave away little LEGO pumpkins that our guests had to build. Nick is a huge LEGO fan so this was where we added his favorite thing to the wedding. It was not easy! I bought a boatload of the little canvas baggies from Michael's and made my own stamp for the bag.

Our wedding 9-28-13

Jen and Dad

Tell us about the ceremony:
We had a Justice of the Peace since the ceremony was on the grounds at Stonehurst, and we weren't about to go to a church! He did a wonderful job and had no problem with our little off-the-wall requests. We changed any mention of god to “Science.”

Our wedding 9-28-13

Our vows were great. Mine were strangely more nerdy than Nick's but I still almost cried twice. I was certain I was going to, but managed to keep it together. Deep breath, take a second, and I was good. We both laughed. We did a version of a wine box ceremony, but substituted a bottle of wine for our favorite bottle of beer.

Nick and Jen

My processional music was the Game of Thrones theme. I had shortened it, since two minutes is a little long. Turns out I shortened it too much and it was too short! Oh well. Nick and the wedding party came down to “Terra's Theme” from Final Fantasy.

Nick and Jen

When we were presented with the rings, the “Get Item” jingle from Legend of Zelda played. Sadly, I didn't hear it, but the guests did!

Our wedding 9-28-13

The officiant ended the ceremony with, “And boldly go where no man has gone before,” and we played the main theme from Star Trek: The Next Generation as we left the altar.

Our wedding 9-28-13

In World of Warcraft, there are two sides or factions: the Horde and Alliance. My mom made us the flags from the game to have at the altar. And instead of bride and groom sides, we had Horde and Alliance sides. We had the guests choose a side in their RSVP!

Nick and Jen

My favorite moment:
The dances were great. My parents are experienced dancers, and I wanted to be able to do a nice dance at our wedding. My parents taught Nick and I a Cha Cha and my dad and I learned a waltz. Nick and I danced to a mash-up of “Home” by Edwarde Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, “Do You Wanna Date my Avatar” by The Guild (feat. Felicia Day), and “Gentlemen” by Psy.

Nick and I did our World of Warcraft character dances during the Avatar song and we had our wedding party join in for the Psy song. The best part was that we only practiced the Psy dance twice the night before and they actually did it perfectly!

Stonehurst at night

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