
A Tolkien of love Aug 22 2005
By Adam Jupp,The Evening Chronicle
Elves, goblins and hobbits joined a bride and groom for a special wedding picnic in the grounds of a Northumberland castle.
Instead of a white frock and penguin suit, film fanatics Angela and Gary Gray chose a more mystical setting - plumping for a Lord of the Rings-themed bash at Edlingham Castle near Alnwick.
Angela dressed as elfin princess Arwen, while Gary came as fellowship leader Strider-Aragorn.
And all 60 guests joined in the fun dressing up as their favourite characters from JRR Tolkien's classic novel.
The couple, of Guidepost, Northumberland, finally tied the knot on Saturday after months of detailed preparations with Angela's mum designing the spectacular outfits.
And Gary's best man turned a culinary hand to make the fantastic Lord of the Rings wedding cake.
Angela, 35, said: "When we first met, Gary's best man had just got married himself and has said he wanted to have it in fancy dress but the bride had wanted to get married in white.
"At the time I thought it was a fantastic idea and when we decided to get married, neither of us wanted to have a traditional wedding.
"We didn't want the expense and we just wanted the day to be fun.
"Gary's an absolute film fanatic and he had bought me the book to read a while ago.
"So we decided to go for it and thought that there we so many diverse costumes that everyone would be able to find something to come dressed as."
Angela and Gary, who between them have children Michael, seven, and Bronwyn, eight, met through a dating website four-and-a-half years ago.
Their first date together was at Whitley Bay and the couple were at the seaside town again when Angela popped the question before they decided to make their big day unique.
The civil ceremony was held at the White Swan hotel in Alnwick and was followed by a picnic at the nearby Edlingham Castle before guests returned to the hotel for the night-time do.
And Gary thinks the themed ceremony was a hit with all the guests.
The computer programmer, 38, said: "My best man's make-up took ages to get on but in the end it was a fun, relaxing day. I'm not really into ceremony with all the stiff collars."
Newcastle Evening Chronicle