Attire Decorations and Themes Food and Drink
We already know there will be magic in the air on your big day, but what better way to add some extra sparks than a Potter-inspired wedding? This section is dedicated to those living in the Muggle world who have decided to commemorate their special day with a hearty helping of Potter.
Have something to share? Are you planning on having your own Potter-inspired wedding (or have you had one already)? Send in your ideas or pictures to submissions@staff.mugglenet.com and you may have the chance to be featured on MuggleNet!
There's a theory - this applies to detective novels, and then Harry, which is not really a detective novel, but it feels like one sometimes - that you should not have romantic intrigue in a detective book. Dorothy L. Sayers, who is queen of the genre said - and then broke her own rule - but said that there is no place for romance in a detective story except that it can be useful to camouflage other people's motives. That's true; it is a very useful trick. I've used that on Percy and I've used that to a degree on Tonks in ['Half-Blood Prince'], as a red herring. But having said that, I disagree inasmuch as mine are very character-driven books, and it's so important, therefore, that we see these characters fall in love, which is a necessary part of life." - J.K. Rowling
Arthur & Molly
Young love is a beautiful thing, but let us never forget that true love lasts forever. Arthur and Molly Weasley are a wonderful example of this. While we mainly see them bickering or taking on protective guardian roles, it eventually becomes obvious that Arthur and Molly are an inspiring couple.
It’s in the little things that we see how much these two love each other: the way Molly blushes when Arthur calls her “Mollywobbles,” the amount of fun they have dancing together at Bill and Fleur’s wedding, and their fierce protectiveness of each other, but most importantly, we see the pain they endure together and how much they support one another under the toughest circumstances.
Arthur Weasley met Molly Prewett while they were students at Hogwarts and they fell in love. Soon after their graduation, they eloped and went on to become members of the original Order of the Phoenix due to Voldemort gaining power. They immediately began having children, resulting in six boys and one girl. Molly stayed at home as the caretaker and Arthur worked for the Ministry of Magic. Over the course of the events in the Harry Potter series, Arthur and Molly saw another wizarding war, Voldemort gaining power again, and the deaths of friends and family. They also gained new friends and family, won many battles, defeated Voldemort, and continued to enjoy a long and happy marriage.
“And the Fat Lady?” said Bill.
“She was here in my time,” said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning ---"
"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement.
Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling.
"Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll." (GOF, ch. 31)
"Including you and Dad, " said Ginny slyly.
“Yes, well, your father and I were made for each other, what was the point in waiting?” (HBP, ch. 5)
It could not have been clearer that Mrs. Weasley had been bursting to say this” (HBP, ch. 5).
"Arthur, really, this is just silly. . . ."
"What do you like me to call you when we’re alone together?"
Even by the dim light of the lantern Harry could tell that Mrs. Weasley had turned bright red; he himself felt suddenly warm around the ears and neck, and hastily gulped soup, clattering his spoon as loudly as he could against the bowl.
"Mollywobbles," whispered a mortified Mrs. Weasley into the crack at the edge of the door.
"Correct," said Mr. Weasley. "Now you can let me in." (HBP, ch. 5)
Bill & Fleur
Fleur Isabelle Delacour (as we knew her in Goblet of Fire) attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, which she represented as a champion in the Triwizard Tournament. The summer after the event, Fleur took a part-time job at Gringotts Wizarding Bank to improve her English-language skills. This is where it all began. Upon meeting her coworker, Bill Weasley, the two were smitten at first sight. Not long after, the two were happily engaged. Fleur stayed with Bill at the Burrow the next summer in order to become better acquainted with the Weasley family, whom we all know and love. Months passed and the wedding was planned for fall. The event was held at the Burrow, and as we all know, it was a beautiful celebration... until the Death Eaters came knocking.
After the wedding, the couple resided at Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Cornwall. Bill and Fleur together offered asylum to Harry, Hermione, and Ron (along with Griphook and Ollivander) as they plotted out their next move after just escaping from Malfoy Manor, so close to Voldemort's grasp.
Bill and Fleur fought side by side in the Second Wizarding War, ultimately defeating the Dark Lord and his miscreants. Their love for family and friends continued to prevail as they added on to the Weasley family in the years following the war with their children, Victoire, Dominique, and Louis.
Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Harry could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them. (GoF, ch. 31)
The entrance to the marquee revealed rows and rows of fragile golden chairs set on either side of a long purple carpet. The supporting poles were entwined with white and gold flowers. Fred and George had fastened an enormous bunch of golden balloons over the exact point where Bill and Fleur would shortly become husband and wife. Outside, butterflies and bees were hovering lazily over the grass and hedgerow. (DH, ch. 8)
"We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls . . ." (DH, ch. 8)
Ginny & Harry
The plan was, which I really hope I fulfilled, is that the reader, like Harry, would gradually discover Ginny as pretty much the ideal girl for Harry. She's tough, not in an unpleasant way, but she's gutsy. He needs to be with someone who can stand the demands of being with Harry Potter, because he's a scary boyfriend in a lot of ways. He's a marked man. I think she's funny, and I think that she's very warm and compassionate. These are all things that Harry requires in his ideal woman. Harry and Ginny are real soul mates. They're both very strong and very passionate. That's their connection, and they're remarkable together." - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter first crossed paths with Ginny Weasley as he was boarding the Hogwarts Express on his first year to Hogwarts. Though they did not speak to each other, Ginny was immediately in awe of having met the infamous "Boy Who Lived."
In the summer preceding Harry's second year at Hogwarts, he stayed for a short while at the Weasley home, where he formally met Ginny for the first time. Around Harry, Ginny became suddenly and increasingly shy, for she had quickly become enamored with him. At the end of the school year, Harry saved Ginny in the nick of time from Tom Riddle's diary, a cursed book that contained a piece of Lord Voldemort's soul. Ginny admired Harry now more than ever, though he remained fairly oblivious to her feelings. In the following years, Ginny and Harry remained acquaintances, mostly because of Harry's close friendship with her brother Ron. Unbeknownst to Harry, Ginny continued to love him from afar, following the advice of their mutual friend Hermione. She resolved to relax and act more like herself around Harry, in the hopes that she would one day capture his heart. It didn't take long for this to occur.
In Harry's sixth year (and Ginny's fifth), he began to have feelings for Ginny. He grew jealous of her then boyfriend, Dean Thomas, and urged himself to get over Ginny, so as not to harm his friendship with Ron. He was not able to hold out for very long, however, for after a victorious Quidditch match, Harry finally expressed his true feelings for Ginny by kissing her in front of a room full of people - including Ron. They dated happily for a few months, their only regret having not done so sooner. However, after the murder of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore toward the end of the school year, Harry broke things off with Ginny in order to keep her out of harm's way, for Lord Voldemort would go to any length to destroy anything that Harry held dear.
After Harry finally conquered Voldemort once and for all, he and Ginny happily rejoined and were eventually married. Together, they have three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. Despite the hardships that they had struggled with over the years, the family has a happy ending - for after the demise of Voldemort, truly...
..."all was well."
"There he is, Mum, there he is, look!"
It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron.
"Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mum! I can see ---"
"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point." (SS, ch. 17)
On the third landing, a door stood ajar. Harry just caught sight of a pair of bright brown eyes staring at him before it closed with a snap.
"Ginny," said Ron. "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy. She never shuts up normally ---" (CoS, ch. 3)
The moment she saw Harry, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud clatter. Ginny seemed very prone to knocking things over whenever Harry entered a room. She dived under the table to retrieve the bowl and emerged with her face glowing like the setting sun. (CoS, ch. 4)
"Right," said Ron, who looked extremely put out, "this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just ---"
"I can't," said Ginny, and she went scarlet too. "I'm going with -- with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought . . . well . . . I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year." She looked extremely miserable. "I think I'll go and have dinner," she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed. (GoF, ch. 22)
Harry looked around; there was Ginny running toward him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her.
After several long moments -- or it might have been half an hour -- or possibly several sunlit days -- they broke apart. (HBP, ch. 24)
The fact that Harry Potter was going out with Ginny Weasley seemed to interest a great number of people, most of them girls, yet Harry found himself newly and happily impervious to gossip over the next few weeks. After all, it made a very nice change to be talked about because of something that was making him happier than he could remember being for a very long time, rather than because he had been involved in horrific scenes of Dark Magic. (HBP, ch. 25)
"I never really gave up on you," she said. "Not really. I always hoped . . . Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember? And she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more -- myself."
"Smart girl, that Hermione," said Harry, trying to smile. "I just wish I'd asked you sooner. We could've had ages . . . months . . . years maybe. . . ."
"But you've been too busy saving the Wizarding world," said Ginny, half laughing. "Well . . . I can't say I'm surprised. I knew this would happen in the end. I knew you wouldn't be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort. Maybe that's why I like you so much." (HBP, ch. 30)
And then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her back, and it was blissful oblivion, better than firewhisky; she was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair — (DH, ch. 7)
Hermione & Ron
Hermione and Ron, however, are drawn to each other because they balance each other out. Hermione's got the sensitivity and maturity that's been left out of Ron, and Ron loosens up Hermione a bit, gets her to have some fun. They love each other and they bicker a bit, but they enjoy bickering, so we shouldn't worry about it." - J.K. Rowling
Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley had been, perhaps, one of the most anticipated couples present within the Harry Potter series. From the moment they met, the two had an undeniable rapport - and as they grew older, so did the chemistry between them. Hermione and Ron first met aboard the Hogwarts Express on their very first journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They didn't get along well at first - Ron found Hermione to be too bossy, and Hermione found Ron to be a bit foolish. All of this changed, however, after Harry and Ron rescued Hermione from a troll attack.
In their second year at Hogwarts, the early buds of affection were beginning to form between them. Ron grew increasingly defensive of Draco Malfoy's insults toward Hermione - and even attempted to curse Malfoy after he called Hermione a "Mudblood." After Hermione was Petrified - an attack that occurred frequently during that school year - Ron did everything he could to help Harry discover what was behind the attacks to ensure Hermione's safety.
In their fourth year at Hogwarts, it became apparent that Ron had feelings for Hermione that were beyond those of a mere friend. He grew increasingly jealous of Hermione's budding relationship with Viktor Krum, though he wouldn't openly admit it. It was in their sixth year, however, that Hermione and Ron truly began to be receptive of their feelings for each other. The romantic tension between them was undeniable. It was Hermione's turn to be jealous as Ron began to date Lavender Brown - a short-lived relationship that Ron only seemed to pursue in order to get back at Hermione.
In the trio's journey to destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes the following year, there was little time for Hermione and Ron to act upon their feelings for each other. It was only toward the very end - in the midst of the Battle at Hogwarts - that the tension between them finally erupted and they shared their first kiss. After the war was finally over, Hermione and Ron were finally together. They married and had two children together: Rose and Hugo.
"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger ---"
The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky; at Malfoy's last words, Ron had leapt off his stool, and in the scramble to collect bags and books, his attempts to reach Malfoy went unnoticed.
"Let me at him," Ron growled as Harry and Dean hung onto his arms. "I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands ---" (CoS, ch. 15)
"Yeah, it will," said Ron fiercely. "You won't have to do all the work alone this time, Hermione. I'll help."
"Oh, Ron!"
Hermione flung her arms around Ron's neck and broke down completely. Ron, looking quite terrified, patted her very awkwardly on the top of the head. Finally, Hermione drew away. (PoA, ch. 15)
But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.
"Hermione, Neville's right -- you are a girl. . . ."
"Oh well spotted," she said acidly.
"Well -- you can come with one of us!"
"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.
"Oh come on," he said impatiently, "we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has . . ."
"I can't come with you," said Hermione, now blushing, "because I'm already going with someone."
"No, you're not!" said Ron. "You just said that to get rid of Neville!"
"Oh did I?" said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!"
Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again.
"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," he said. "That do? Will you come now?"
"I've already told you!" Hermione said very angrily. "I'm going with someone else!"
And she stormed off toward the girls' dormitories again. (GoF, ch. 22)
[Harry] climbed into the common room and found Ron and Hermione having a blazing row. Standing ten feet apart, they were bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the face."Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger.
"Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back. "What's that?"
"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"
Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls' staircase to bed. Ron turned to look at Harry.
"Well," he sputtered, looking thunderstruck, "well -- that just proves -- completely missed the point ---"
Harry didn't say anything. He liked being back on speaking terms with Ron too much to speak his mind right now -- but he somehow thought that Hermione had gotten the point much better than Ron had. (GoF, ch. 23)
"Good luck, Ron," said Hermione, standing on tiptoe and kissing him on the cheek. "And you, Harry ---"
Ron seemed to come to himself slightly as they walked back across the Great Hall. He touched the spot on his face where Hermione had kissed him, looking puzzled, as though he was not quite sure what had just happened. (OotP, ch. 19)
"You did brilliantly, Ron!"
This time it really was Hermione running toward them from the stands; Harry saw Lavender walking off the pitch, arm in arm with Parvati, a rather grumpy expression on her face. Ron looked extremely pleased with himself and even taller than usual as he grinned at the team and at Hermione. (HBP, ch. 11)
"We're allowed to bring guests," said Hermione, who for some reason had turned a bright, boiling scarlet, "and I was going to ask you to come, but if you think it's that stupid then I won't bother!"
[...]"You were going to ask me?" asked Ron, in a completely different voice.
"Yes," said Hermione angrily. "But obviously if you'd rather I hooked up with McLaggen . . ."
There was a pause while Harry continued to pound the resilient pod with a trowel.
"No, I wouldn't," said Ron, in a very quiet voice. (HBP, ch. 14)
Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff. She had been exceptionally quiet all day. Having hurtled, white-faced, up to Harry outside the hospital wing and demanded to know what had happened, she had taken almost no part in Harry and Ginny's obsessive discussion about how Ron had been poisoned, but merely stood beside them, clench-jawed and frightened-looking, until at last they had been allowed in to see him. (HBP, ch. 19)
"I love you, Hermione," said Ron, sinking back in his chair, rubbing his eyes wearily.
Hermione turned faintly pink, but merely said, "Don't let Lavender hear you saying that." (HBP, ch. 21)
There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione's arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.
"Is this the moment?" Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. "OI! There's a war going on here!"
Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other.
"I know, mate," said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, "so it's now or never, isn't it?" (DH, ch. 31)
James & Lily
James Potter and Lily Evans first met on the Hogwarts Express on their first journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was far from love at first sight, however; though James was almost immediately quite taken with Lily, Lily was quite indignant toward James's arrogant demeanor. She was turned off by his many attempts to impress her - and especially turned off by his rude behavior toward a very dear friend of hers. But James never gave up, and after straightening out in his seventh year, he managed to capture Lily's heart. The two married soon after graduating Hogwarts; Sirius Black was James's best man at their wedding. A couple of years later, James and Lily became the proud parents of a baby boy: Harry James Potter.
Unfortunately, this is where our happy couple's tale comes to an end - for only one year after the birth of their son, James and Lily were viciously murdered by Lord Voldemort.
She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes -- her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright green -- exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time. The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just as Harry's did. (SS, ch. 12)
Harry stared at Wormtail for a moment, then back at James, who was now doodling on a bit of scrap parchment. He had drawn a Snitch and was now tracing the letters L. E. What did they stand for? (OotP, ch. 28)
"All right, Evans?" said James, and the tone of his voice was suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature.
[...]"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."
"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly. "Go on . . . Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."
[...]"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," said Lily
[...]"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can -- I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK." (OotP, ch.28)
"Oh, well, [James] always made a fool of himself whenever Lily was around," said Sirius, shrugging. "He couldn't stop himself showing off whenever he got near her."
"How come she married him?" Harry asked miserably. "She hated him!"
"Nah, she didn't," said Sirius.
"She started going out with him in seventh year," said Lupin.
"Once James had deflated his head a bit," said Sirius.
"And stopped hexing people just for the fun of it," said Lupin. (OotP, ch. 29)
Lupin & Tonks
Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks first met as mutual members of the Order of the Phoenix, after its reformation in response to Voldemort's return. Though they seemed to be little more than casual companions, Tonks had been harboring feelings for Lupin for quite some time, unbeknownst to most. Lupin had made it clear to Tonks that he did not wish to be in any sort of a romantic relationship with her, feeling that his "furry little problem" made him unworthy of her affection. Tonks was initially devastated by his rejection, with Molly Weasley acting as her main confidant. After Greyback's attack on Bill Weasley, however, Tonks was finally able to convince Lupin to be with her - for Fleur Delacour, despite Bill's attack, had made every indication of staying by his side. The two married shortly thereafter in July 1997 in a small, discreet ceremony (to avoid persecution by the Ministry of Magic, which had grown increasingly anti-werewolf).
As the war continued, Lupin grew increasingly protective of Tonks, and it was soon learned that his precaution was for a good reason: Tonks was pregnant. Worrying about Tonks and his unborn child caused Lupin to be in almost constant distress - he even temporarily considered leaving her to join the trio, in an effort to relieve her of the stigma surrounding his condition. Harry convinced him to remain with her, however, and months afterward, Lupin became the proud and happy father of Teddy Remus Tonks - of whom he named Harry godfather to. However, much like the tragic tale of James and Lily Potter, Lupin and Tonks were only able to enjoy their family for a short while - for the two were cruelly murdered during the Battle of Hogwarts, leaving their son, Teddy, to be raised by his grandmother.
"You see!" said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"
"It's different," said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely ---"
"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front of Lupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times. . . ."
And the meaning of Tonks's Patronus and her mouse-colored hair, and the reason she had come running to find Dumbledore when she had heard a rumor someone had been attacked by Greyback, all suddenly became clear to Harry; it had not been Sirius that Tonks had fallen in love with after all.
"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes, staring at the floor, "that I am too old for you, too poor . . . too dangerous. . . ."
"I've said all along you're taking a ridiculous line on this, Remus," said Mrs. Weasley over Fleur's shoulder as she patted her on the back.
"I am not being ridiculous," said Lupin steadily. "Tonks deserves somebody young and whole."
"But she wants you," said Mr. Weasley, with a small smile. "And after all, Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so."
He gestured sadly at his son, lying between them.
"This is . . . not the moment to discuss it," said Lupin, avoiding everybody's eyes as he looked around distractedly. "Dumbledore is dead. . . ."
"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world," said Professor McGonagall curtly. (HBP, ch. 29)
"Harry, guess what?" said Tonks from her perch on top of the washing machine, and she wiggled her left hand at him; a ring glittered there.
"You got married?" Harry yelped, looking from her to Lupin.
"I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Harry, it was very quiet."
"That's brilliant, [congratulations!]" (DH, ch. 4)
Lupin fell over the threshold. He was white-faced, wrapped in a traveling cloak, his graying hair windswept. He straightened up, looked around the room, making sure of who was there, then cried aloud, "It's a boy! We've named him Ted, after Dora's father!"
Hermione shrieked.
"Wha — ? Tonks -- Tonks has had the baby?"
"Yes, yes, she's had the baby!" shouted Lupin. All around the table came cries of delight, sighs of relief: Hermione and Fleur both squealed, "Congratulations!" and Ron said, "Blimey, a baby!" as if he had never heard of such a thing before.
"Yes -- yes -- a boy," said Lupin again, who seemed dazed by his own happiness.
[...]"I can't stay long, I must get back," said Lupin, beaming around at them all: He looked years younger than Harry had ever seen him. "Thank you, thank you, Bill."
Bill had soon filled all of their goblets, they stood and raised them high in a toast.
"To Teddy Remus Lupin," said Lupin, "a great wizard in the making!" (DH, ch. 25)