Thinking about having a more personal, non-traditional wedding? Then consider a themed wedding. They’re a great way to get creative with your partner and guests, and truly express your individual personalities and interests. Meet Rebecca and Tom, who combined traditional wedding themes with some unusual personal touches at their “subtly nerdy” fantasy themed wedding at Hedingham Castle. Check out their magical wedding day story and photos below.

The Inspiration & Wedding Planning

As with any recently married couple, we love to talk about our wedding!

Both of us are proudly nerdy people, and wanted to reflect that in our wedding – but without going overboard and alienating the people who wouldn’t “get it”. We aimed for a mix of traditional wedding themes with subtle elements that reflected our shared passions.

Many of our friends are geeky as well, and we knew they’d love the little touches we’d added. What we didn’t anticipate was our parents and extended families also really enjoying all the details. My own mum has told us several times how much she loved that it reflected exactly who we are as people, so it’s safe to say “mission accomplished”!

As anyone who’s planned a wedding can tell you, it’s very easy to go to extremes. You might become really passionate about one particular thing, without considering how it looks next to everything else you have going on. That’s why “subtly nerdy” became our motto: it all had to work together.

The Venue

We got married in a castle! Hedingham Castle in Essex is a gorgeous venue and close to where we first met, at the University of Essex.

The Decor

All the wedding signage was themed around fantasy elements: arrows, ravens, swords and medieval imagery. Archery was a recurring theme throughout the wedding, as we had met through our university archery club. Arrows, bullseyes and bows featured on most of our wedding signs.

We decided to name our tables after mythical beasts like Phoenix, Kraken and Unicorn, hanging each table sign from a wreath. We decorated each wreath with artificial flowers, again reflecting the colours of Beccy’s bouquet.

Dress, Accessories & Bridal Bouquet

Beccy modified her dress to be more historic and fantastical – for example, she added ‘Guinevere’ sleeves.

Beccy’s accessories were themed around flowers and florals to fit the soft, fantasy theme, rather than sparkles and modern jewellery.

Beccy’s bouquet was built to look like a big scoop of wildflowers, and ivy formed a large part of the greenery – again, fitting the castle!

The Cake

The bottom tier of our cake was decorated with the spines of our favourite books, and the colours reflected both the cake topper and Beccy’s bouquet. The topper itself was from Etsy, showing a unicorn in a veil and a dragon in a top hat. I was personally ridiculously pleased at being able to get a dragon onto my wedding cake!

The Music

All the music was from our favourite films and games, like Jurassic Park, Skyrim and Final Fantasy. Beccy’s entry music was the main theme from Ori and the Will of the Wisps, her favourite game. It’s a beautiful and ethereal piece, but anyone who’s played the game would recognise it immediately.

The Activities

We had a mead blessing after the ceremony to honour Beccy’s Nordic heritage, and yalekhtas (beaded handkerchiefs) on the dance floor for my Syrian heritage.

We only had two speeches: I led the thank yous and Beccy ran a game using a big, soft D20 die. Not only did it reflect my passion for Dungeons & Dragons, but we donated money to the winner’s chosen charity!

Instead of table games like wedding bingo, we changed it up to become “Wedding Achievements”. This was a totally optional activity for our friends and family to do, which encouraged them to explore the gorgeous castle venue and our decorations – the first table to finish them all won a bottle of bubbly. Some examples were “Paparazzi – Take a selfie with the newlyweds” and “And His Merry Men – Get a bullseye with the soft archery kit”.

Rebecca and Tom’s Suppliers

Venue: Hedingham Castle
Photography: The Humble Photography Co.
Catering: Splinters Caterers
Wedding signage: HeyBelles (Etsy)
Wedding rings: Warburtons of Leigh
Flowers: Dani at Nostalgia Florist
Cake: Coral Davis at Lucetta Creations
Cake topper: PerlillaPets (Etsy)
Table decor: Mostly self-made (but wreaths and artificial flowers from Hobbycraft)
Confetti: Confetti Club London (who create all natural, biodegradable confetti from donated seasonal flowers and previous wedding bouquets)
Hair: Wedding Hair By Yvonne Bone
Makeup: Megan Vickers Makeup
Dress, cap sleeves and veil: WED2B
Custom-made Guinevere sleeves: Dresses Dioma (Etsy)
Beccy’s shoes: Quiz
Dress alterations and customisations: Faye at Stitch in Time (Leigh-on-Sea)
Custom made flower headband and hair comb: Kathleen Barry Bespoke Occasion Accessories
Beccy’s jewellery: Bespoke sea glass and rose gold necklace by sea glass specialist jeweller Tess Blenkinsop, and rose gold vintage filigree earrings from Abiza Jewellery (Etsy)
Tom’s suit: Moss Bros
Tom’s tie, socks and pocket square: Victory and Innsbruck (Not On The High Street)

Feeling inspired? Then why not start planning a unique themed wedding of your own? After all, your special day should be about celebrating everything you love. And as Rebecca and Tom have shown, you can effortlessly blend the traditional and the personal to strike the perfect balance.

Happy Planning!

Sophia Shafiee

Sophia is a passionate writer and editor and expert on all things wedding content related, with a First Class degree from the University of Oxford. She frequently shares her wedding advice and tips with leading UK publications on behalf of Bridebook.com, including Harper’s Bazaar, SheerLuxe and Porter Magazine.

Last updated: 26th Apr 2024