If you’ve been here awhile, or know me personally or from my cosplay page, you’ll know that critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV is my favourite video game. In fact, not just video game: it’s my favourite piece of media full stop!
So with tomorrow marking the early access release of Dawntrail, the latest FFXIV expansion and the first out since our wedding, I figured I’d share all the FFXIV touches in our wedding. Perhaps they’ll provide inspiration for newlyweds thinking about how they can have a nerdy wedding whilst fitting with a particular venue one may not expect for an alternative wedding (for us: English manor house fanciness) and what you can do to incorporate those touches in places you might not have considered. To my fellow FFXIV players, here’s something to read whilst the servers are down for the expansion maintenance!
In our wedding looks
Flowers: My friend Shan made the flowers, and they were very much influenced by the White Mage aesthetic! This included flowers that match the job gauge in the form of lilies, and blue roses which went with our colour scheme. In the flowers were also some iridescent star beads for some sparkle and to tie it in with my dress. Jack’s buttonhole also had a tiny 3D printed version of his favourite axe, Bravura - what else would you expect of a Warrior main!
Circlets: One of the earliest decisions we made about our attire yeeeears ago was that we very much wanted circlets! They’re a fun piece of jewellery that one wouldn’t typically wear in day-to-day life which brings an extra elegance to the looks, and of course a fantasy vibe that we loved. Again these are influenced by our FFXIV jobs of Warrior and White Mage, and Elven Rose did an excellent job designing and creating them so that influence is noticeable if you know to look for it.
Shoes and earrings: My shoes and earrings continue the White Mage theme, and also go excellently with our blue colour scheme.
Wedding rings: Finally in our looks is a detail that few would ever know unless we told them: we had our wedding bands engraved with the White Mage and Warrior job symbols! Carolyn Codd as ever did a wonderful job, and I’m so happy to have this tiny nod to a game that’s been so important to us and our relationship inside the rings.
In our decor
Cake and signs: Our cake was topped with two clay figures of our Warriors of Light, i.e. our characters: Ashtilda and Nyxis, made by TopClayArts. The logo on the front of the cake is also a combination of the White Mage and Warrior job gauges, a motif that was used throughout our wedding stationary on the invites, RSVP card and on the signs on display on the day.
Table names: The table names were after cities in FFXIV, and we had great fun deciding who should sit where! My family is sat on the city state I started in (Gridania), Jack’s family were on the city state table he started in (Limsa Lominsa), our university friends were on Old Sharlyan which is known for it’s academia, and so on and so forth.
Moogle Post Box: Somewhat self explanatory I hope! I added foam to and painted a “US style mailbox” to be styled after the moogle post box for our cards and well-wishes, and it turned out perfectly.
In our ceremony
Of course there was a mention of FFXIV in our ceremony! Both of us gave a mention in our vows, but outside of those it was most noticeable to those in the know in the reading and handtying.
The handtying involved us and our closest friends each laying a braided ribbon over our hands - eight in total, the size of a Full Party! The colours were white and gold for all eight, but then the third colour was representative of the three roles in a party: blue for the two tanks, green for the two healers, and red for four DPS. We assigned the colours to ourselves and our friends based on everyone’s preference; either for roles they play in FFXIV, or other games like DnD, or just off vibes! It worked out perfectly and was really meaningful and special to us to involve our friends in our handtying and to have the symbolism of the roles and colours woven into it.
The reading is below, and is also lyrics to the song that we used to walk back down the aisle as newlyweds! For months poor Hazel was waiting for us to make up our mind about a reading, and then finally it hit us that those lyrics resonated with us and would make for a cute reading so they’re what we went with.
Our song of hope, she dances on the wind higher, oh higher
E'er our vows endure, and remain forever strong
Standing tall in the dark do we carry on
On wings of hope, you rise up through the night higher, oh higher
Carrying our song, cradled fast within your arms
That its chorus might ring for all
First dance
FFXIV has various dances you can unlock, from simple side steps to full pieces with barrel rolls and all sorts of technical moves. So of course the final FFXIV touch for our wedding was to include three dances: The Manderville (a classic, had to be done), the Bees Knees (because our Free Company is called The Bumble Braves so we lost it a bit when that got added) and the Gold Dance because it’s fun and added some jazziness to the routine. If you've not seen it our first dance is up on my Instagram, so see if you can spot which moves might make up those dances if you don’t know already!
To close
Overall we had a wedding that was perfectly ‘us’, and in large part it’s down to aspects drawing from a game we both love and enjoy playing together. I didn't even make mention of the chocolate fountain sign that used a font like that in the game, or our favours that were small chocolates in the shape of Job Stones that our fellow players had a great time looking through to find the job that they main. But every detail mattered, and I'm so glad with how it came together alongside the Persona 3 and Velvet Room influences.
If you are planning your own wedding, take this as your sign to do the same: have those nerdy songs playing, cover yourselves and your venue with references , and enjoy celebrating the love for your person surrounded by nods to that book, game or hobby you also love.
All photos are by the wonderful Kirsty Rockett!
