Yesterday’s anniversary post was a little hint of what’s to come today. My husband and I are huge Harry Potter fans like a lot most people in our age group. We like it so much we may have had a Harry Potter themed wedding. Hence the sign in yesterday’s post.
We were married in late fall, a season which always reminds me of Harry Potter and it only felt appropriate that we include it in our wedding. Nothing screams romance like Harry Potter, huh? No but really. Our wedding anniversary, which is also our dating anniversary -because we are lazy like that- is truly the kick off to the most magical time of the year. Pumpkins, 13 Nights of Halloween on ABC Family, apple cider and most importantly to us, our love.
We wanted to go for subtle touches, gentle nods to the Harry Potter series rather than hitting people over the head with it. Although, I applaud those people who wear robes and have a Dumbledore-esque ministers, Harry Potter wasn’t a theme that we thought we could carry out in that way. We wanted our wedding to feel gentle and warm and personal and non-showy. We decided to incorporate bits and pieces of ourselves and the series within the fabric of the day. Maybe later on I will post a few DIYs for the finer details.
I knew from the very beginning that there was no such thing as a Harry Potter wedding without a Harry Potter themed invitation suite. The center of our save the date included the phrase “After all this time?…Always”, a nod to both Severus Snapes love for Lilly Potter and our incredibly long engagement. The save the date featured several stamps like the letter Molly Weasley send to the Dursleys in Goblet of Fire. Each of our stamps was special to who we are; there’s a stamp that says Victoria, one of the Brooklyn Bridge which is hubby’s home town, one of Queen Victoria, etc. The finishing touch on each envelope was a Harry Potter collectible stamp. I’d just like to thank the United States post office for coinciding with our special day. Each invitation that went out, included green writing similar to the writing of McGonagall and a red ink seal.
I made these super easy and personalized mugs for my bridesmaids. Each one matches the personality of the owner perfectly. I obviously went for the “I’m a keeper” mug for myself seeing as it was my wedding day.
I also carried the red ink seal into the day of with my choice of Vivienne Westwood Melissa shoes (similar | similar) complete with little red Hogwarts seal.
We each chose a Harry Potterism to be etched into our rings
Hers: Mischief Managed
His: Expecto Patronum
We wanted to honor those who are special to use and are now gone. We reserved a seat with this little sign for them.
I carried the major fonts from this through most of our day. I do most of my “best work” at four a.m. so there was a bit of a typo included on this but everything can’t be perfect. I originally saw a very similar ceremony break down on pinterest but can not remember for the life of me where. If anyone knows, please shoot me a message so I can pass along credit where it’s due.
What’s a party without Sirius Black and Remus Lupin? We brought our pups to our wedding. Literally everyone they knew was in attendance. One of our family friends so graciously volunteered to be their keeper and they love her, so everyone wins.
Long term, husband and I are interested in travel so it only seemed fitting to have our guest book be a globe. We included the Dumbledore quote, “let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure” and had everyone put a destination. The globe and the sign both utilize fonts that I carried all through the day.
We opted not to include the theme in our food. We just wanted good down home yummy foods and opted for a food truck. Both growing up in the city, street foods were kind of interwoven into our adolescents so we figured why not? Just because the food was off limits for our theme doesn’t mean the sign wasn’t.
Each little envelope included a ticket to Platform 9 3/4 and a Harry Potter tattoo with a description of the significance to the story for those who are not Harry Potter buffs.
Our cake topper was one of our first and favorite purchases from a wonderful little etsy shop.
For party favors, we sent each guest home with bottles of Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer, a personalized chocolate frog and one of the many Harry Potter books that were apart of the decoration. I collected enough Harry Potter books leading up to our wedding for each guest to take one if their collection was missing it or to make a set if they’ve never read it.
Details not pictured? White candles hanging from our venue ceiling to mimic the Great Hall and table markers with the four houses.
Phewww! I think that’s all of it.Thanks for hanging in there and hopefully you enjoyed this little walk through of our day. It was nice for me to be able to relive it and I feel incredibly grateful even until today, that we no longer have to plan anything. Let me know what your favorite part was or what you feel it was a travesty for us to not include.
PS. I opted to leave the watermarks on the collages because I needed to ensure that our photographer more than received credit for her work. She was phenomenal and played a huge part in our day. I can not thank her enough for her hard and thoughtful work. If you you are ever in the North Carolina area and need a photographer, I can not sing her praises loud enough. Definitely check out Casey and her business, Firerose Photography.