I’ve recently started planning my wedding to a fellow sci-fi/fantasy geek, whom I’ve shared the past seven wonderful years with (Happy Anniversary, sweetie!).  We certainly intend on making certain elements of the blessed event geek-tastic, but it got me thinking: how far do some die hard fans take it?  I decided to investigate.

Geeky Wedding Ceremonies:

The possibilities are virtually endless.  Typing “geeky weddings” into Google image search brought up thousands of terrific results from the special days of geeks around the world.  From a lightsaber salute honoring the bride and groom, to “I do”s by your nearest ordained Klingon, themed wedding ceremonies seemed to be a classic sci-fi staple for geeky couples.

The most interesting example I found was a hardcore Star Wars wedding.  The groom was fully dedicated to being Admiral Ackbar, complete with mask, the couple was married by Slave Leia, and most of the wedding party were dressed in some kind of far, far away galaxy garb.  And check out that epically cool cake!

Geeky Wedding Cakes:

The sugary, delicious confection that takes center stage at most weddings can now be designed to the strictest of specifications.  Most brides still go with the traditional ivory tiered cake, but the bells and whistles are just a bit fancier.  Geeks have a whole new range to think about when it comes to designing their wedding cake.  Maybe a diorama of the original Enterprise, or the One Up mushrooms from Mario.  There are plenty of ideas to be had, as well as a variety of action figure cake toppers.

I personally like this Stargate cake topper.  I just don’t see enough of those.

Geeky Wedding Rings:

It’s now possible to display your eternal geeky love on your sacred fingers with themed wedding sets.  In my search, I came across rings featuring USB ports, binary, and my favorite, elvish.  The beautiful scrawling script on the “One Ring” is now available on many rings for purchase for that special day.  I happen to find elvish very pleasing to the eye, and since it’s actually a real language, you can inscribe whatever loving phrase your heart desires.

Anyone else getting married soon? Are you keeping the geek in your nuptials? I wonder how many Avatar themed weddings will pop up this year… lets just hope the blue body paint doesn’t get out of hand.

At one point, we’ve all been totally immersed in that far off place of geeky wonder. It’s a world described in the pages of our favorite book, or brought to life so vividly with cinema magic. Tolkien gave us such a place with his beloved book series Lord of the Rings and its descriptive Middle Earth. Who can deny a longing to live among the elves of Rivendell, or eat second breakfast with the Hobbits of the Shire? Peter Jackson’s movie adaptation made the dream a little more tangible, but what if it were possible to actually live in Middle Earth? There are certainly good reasons to look at its land as prime real estate: the plentiful fields of Hobbiton, the beautiful Misty Mountains, and the exciting Mines of Moria. Oh, wait…sore subject.

Here are some things to keep in mind before settling down in Middle Earth.

The Eye of Sauron is a Peeping Tom

Yep, the big bad. The head hancho. The big eye in the sky. All that Sauron left behind sits atop Mordor, surveying the goings-on of Middle Earth. As a potential resident, you should be aware that Sauron gets a little bored with his immediate surroundings. Can you blame him? I wouldn’t want to stare at a bunch of sweaty Orcs all day, either. So don’t be surprised if he shows up in your bathroom mirror or the water in your kitchen sink. He’s just curious.

Height Rules in the Shire
It’s well established by now that Hobbits are a bit vertically challenged. If you go visit the Shire, you may stick out like a sore thumb…or a giant. And giants are way more powerful than a bunch of little guys. Even if they banded together, they’re pretty much only at knee level: perfect for kicking or smacking on top the head if they get out of hand. No one is condoning the enslavement of the peaceful Hobbits, but a hostile height take over might just be the kind of buyers incentive you’re looking for.

Gollum is your Bi-Polar Neighbor
Whenever you move to a new neighborhood, there’s always a part of you that’s worried about who’s living there already. Middle Earth has a variety of kindly folks. The Baggins have a long family history; the Elves have been around, well, forever, and you might want to avoid the Urak-Hai all together. If luck would have that you move in next to a balding guy in a loincloth, then things might get a little unpredictable. Gollum, or Smeagol depending on the day, talks a lot about losing something precious. He gurgles a lot, too. He may come over to offer you some freshly caught fish and get to chatting, but you’ll notice that most of the conversation is with himself. In fact, you might feel like he’s plotting to kill you most of the time. Word to the wise: don’t wear any gold jewelry around him, or things might get ugly.

Now, this looks stunning.  Absolutely stunning.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen an independent fan film with such stunning production values, and some of the recent things I’ve seen have been pretty darned impressive.

This is even better.  Check this out.  And it’s being released for free.

Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, this 40-minute independent feature will be released for free online. 

Wow.

According to Guillermo Del Toro, the new plan for himself and Peter Jackson is to make their Hobbit movie adaptation span two films rather than one.

Speaking to Empire magazine, he wrote:

We’ve decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur.

What this means for the other ‘bridge’ movie – filling the gap between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring – is unclear at the moment.

Thanks for SlashFilm for the scoop.

Peter Jackson To Direct “The Hobbit”

NEW YORK – Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have reached agreement to make J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” a planned prequel to the blockbuster trilogy “The Lord of the Rings.”

Relations between Jackson and New Line had soured after the enormous success of “Rings,” but Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) helped the two sides reach agreement. MGM and New Line will split the film 50/50, a spokesman for MGM said.

“I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line,” Jackson said in a statement.