Thornewood Castle, an honest to God English castle<\/a> that was transported to the US in the early 1900s and rebuilt brick by brick. \u00a0Second, it was a costume theme wedding, with the wedding party and family as well as some of the guests in costume. \u00a0The theme was based on the Dresden Files (which just happens to be one of my all-time favorite series of books), and for those reading this who are not familiar with Harry Dresden and his world, you need to check it out! \u00a0OK, I will admit to being a bit of a geek, but you still should read the books. \u00a0\ud83d\ude09<\/p>\nIn Dresden’s world magic and magical creatures exist, and we had a great representation at the wedding. \u00a0Faerie queens, wizards, vampires and more were\u00a0all in attendance. \u00a0Tori had an amazing costume as a faerie princess, while Andrew was a White Court vampire. \u00a0Both of them (and a number of others) were well armed with real swords, daggers\u00a0or both. \u00a0The combination of the castle and the costumes was perfect and worked together perfectly.<\/p>\n
The pre-wedding activities and first look<\/h2>\n
When I arrived at Thornewood Tori was just starting to get into her costume, and I got to watch the process as she was transformed. \u00a0I’m not going to try to explain it all, you’ll see a lot of the process in the photos below. \u00a0As I moved around the castle grounds while Tori and Andrew were getting dressed I ran into their mothers, who were dressed as the faerie queens of the Summer and Winter courts.<\/p>\n
Once both Andrew and Tori were ready to go, we set up a first look for the couple so they could see each other in their special wedding attire. \u00a0What a kick! \u00a0I discovered very quickly that Tori is a natural actress, and she fell completely into her role and helped to create some fantastic photos.<\/p>\n
The wedding ceremony<\/h2>\n
After taking photos of the family and wedding party, it was time for the ceremony. \u00a0 We lucked out for the wedding and had sunny skies and very pleasant temperatures, which meant that the ceremony could be held in the formal garden at Thornewood, a beautiful sunken garden surrounded by brick walls, and more than a half acre in size. \u00a0The ceremony was conducted by a\u00a0wizard, and the wedding party (Erica, Tyler, Kathy and Cyrus) were all in costume. \u00a0Again, you’ll get more from the photos than from my descriptions. \u00a0I wish I had been able to pay more attention to the words spoken during the ceremony, but I spent the entire time moving from place to place trying to capture the best angles for all of the amazing elements of the ceremony.<\/p>\n
The reception in the castle<\/h2>\n
At the conclusion of the ceremony everyone headed back to the castle for the reception. \u00a0I kept Tori and Andrew and the wedding party back so we could get more photos in the garden before joining the family and guests at the reception. \u00a0Thornewood has a huge formal dining area that is more than large enough to hold a large number of guests, and that is where the majority of the reception took place. \u00a0The\u00a0main course was wood-fired pizza, which was wonderful and obviously a big hit with all of the guests. \u00a0Many of the desserts were prepared by Tori’s father, and I can testify that they were fantastic!<\/p>\n
Below you will find a selection of photos from the day. \u00a0I have also embedded a video slideshow that I created, using the music from Tori and Andrew’s first dance as the soundtrack. \u00a0Whichever you choose to look at, I hope you enjoy the photos!<\/p>\n
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