A pair of fantasy film fanatics have tied the knot in a magical ceremony – inspired by Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings.
Isabell Etz, 38, and Ferenc Mansen, 47, tied the knot in front of an audience of elves and wizards, and Seven Kingdom chieftains.
The wedding invites were written in Tolkien-inspired medieval English, and the ceremony took place in a stunning forest.
The happy couple, from Solna, Sweden, both dressed as elves inspired by Middle-earth, while guests turned up as the likes of Khal Drogo, Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow.
Enchanting entertainment included a falconry display of eagles, owls and falcons set to ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ from Harry Potter.
The wedding menu titled ‘Dinner is Coming’ offered guests meals such as ‘Children of the Forest’ mushroom soup and ‘Wildling in Melissandre Sauce’ roast beef in red wine.
Wedding gifts included fantasy art of the bride and groom depicted as elves from Lord of the Rings, and a signed photograph from Jaqen H’ghar actor Tom Wlaschiha.
Isabell, an accounting clerk, said: “My husband and I both love costumes and masquerade balls that we frequently attend, so we knew we didn’t want boring normal standard wedding.
“Ferenc had been married before so for him it would have been enough to just go and tie the knot with our closest family.
“But I dreamt of a bigger wedding, something memorable and together with friends and family, and a beautiful princess dress … so what could be better than a real fantasy wedding?
“As we both love fantasy, we instantly agreed to have a themed wedding, and decided to go with ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Game of Thrones’ as we are huge fans of both.
“It was so much fun finding all the little details, like shoes and a crown – if you like shopping, then a wedding is the best occasion, and a theme to focus on makes it even more enjoyable!”
Their love story began in October 2014 when Isabell signed up for a dating website and found Ferenc the very next day, instantly falling for his long dark hair.
Reading his profile, she discovered Ferenc was a professional author of fantasy novels, inspired by the works of Tolkien and George R. R. Martin.
Isabell’s own profile listed her love of Lord of the Rings and role-playing games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and the pair hit it off immediately.
Bonding over their similar interests in the world of fantasy, Isabell and Ferenc had their first date four days later and have been inseparable ever since.
She said: “For our first date, I wore ‘The One Ring’ from Lord of the Rings with the inscription on, and Ferenc noticed it straight away.
“I was so happy someone finally knew what the ring meant, and knew we’d get on right away.
“Ferenc was obsessed with my very long hair, and from day one, he started calling me ‘his own Elven Princess’.
“After our fifth date, he gave me a surprise present – the book ‘Silmarillion’ by Tolkien and referred to us as the two characters, Beren and Luthien.
“The story and those characters are supposed to reflect the love between Tolkien and his own wife, Edith, so I thought this was the most romantic and thoughtful gift ever.”
Although Isabell was already a fan of Lord of the Rings before meeting Ferenc, she had never seen Game of Thrones as an ex-boyfriend had refused to watch it.
In their first few months of dating, the couple watched the series together and soon Isabell became a huge fan of the show as well.
The pair even bought a kitten which they named Kalisi after the Dothraki title of one of their favourite characters, Daenerys Targaryen.
So when Ferenc proposed in August 2016 at a family bbq, Isabell instantly envisioned a fantasy themed wedding, but she had a few confused family members to convince.
Guests arrived in full fantasy attire, with the bride herself in a wedding dress called ‘The Enchanting Dress’ and an elven inspired crown, in September 2018.
The happy couple wed in front of warlocks and wildlings in a magical outdoor wedding surrounded by trees in Bad Elster, Germany.
Isabell said: “We decided to get married in my childhood town in Germany as my precious grandmother who is 86 years old lives there and has never flown so wouldn’t have been able to come if we’d married in Sweden.
“That made it a logistical nightmare sometimes as we weren’t there to check on things like catering or the venue, so we just had to trust recommendations of old friends who still lived there.
“Thankfully, the village is very picturesque and it all worked out perfectly in the end with the magical touch of having my wonderful grandmother there to see us get married.
“The falconry was incredible, but the best part of the day was seeing that all of our guests had made such an effort with their wonderful costumes.
“It was the wedding of my dreams, and I’m so lucky to be surrounded by people who supported my vision and to have a husband who is just as passionate about fantasy as I am.
“My mother has never actually seen Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, so I had to convince her first about the theme.
“I told her we wanted everyone in costume, but she thought elves were little creatures that helped Santa Claus, so had this horrid image in her head of us all stood in green outfits and Christmas hats!
“Once I explained the theme of a fantasy wedding and that everything should look noble and elegant, she was all for it.
“My mother lives in Florida so had lots of great shopping opportunities there, and I even bought my wedding dress over there in a flea market which had the very fitting name of ‘The Enchanting Dress’!
“My father is based in Germany where we had the wedding and was already a big Game of Thrones fan thankfully, so he got the concept quite well and found the perfect venue for us – a tiny hotel on top of a hill, surrounded by forest.
“As I had a very clear image in my head, we managed to pull it together quite quickly through endless phone calls, hours on Pinterest, online ordering and lots of glueing, stitching and wrapping.
“I ordered like a hoarder from Amazon, Wish and Etsy, and my grandmother’s spare room turned into a storage room for boxes – we had so many deliveries, she started to tip the postman!”
Now happily married and approaching the one year anniversary of their special day, Isabell and Ferenc have a book of unique wedding photos to lovingly look back on.
The pair are looking forward to a romantic meal at a medieval restaurant in Stockholm to celebrate their anniversary, but nothing will top their fantasy wedding.
Isabell said: “Not a day goes by where Ferenc and I don’t think about our wedding day.
“I loved every second. We went to bed at 5:30AM and there were still people dancing!
“If I could, I really would do it all over again!”
