When Kaitlyn reached out earlier this year to inquire about her wedding photography, she mentioned early on that the theme was going to be A Harry Potter Christmas. Needless to say I was completely on board. I had read the entire series to my son when he was a young child and fell in love with the story (along with millions of other readers). It transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary, and almost felt like a home away from home. A place to escape to when the day felt long. A familiar face.

Kaitlyn and Zack had been placed in the Slytherin House via a digital sorting hat. I didn’t know much about the house other than Slytherin was one of four houses at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, founded by Salazar Slytherin. I hopped on HarryPotterFandom.com and learned

In establishing the house, Salazar instructed the Sorting Hat to pick students who had a few particular characteristics he most valued. Those characteristics included cunning, resourcefulness, leadership, and ambition. Many Slytherin students tended to clique together (often acquiring leaders) which further exemplified Slytherin’s ambitious qualities. The emblematic animal of the house was a snake and the house’s colours were green and silver. Slytherin corresponded roughly with the element of water due to serpents being commonly associated with the sea and lochs in western European mythology, as well as serpents being physically fluid and flexible animals.^[5] Similarly, in Celtic mythology, water is seen as a portal to another world, leading some to believe that the element was chosen to symbolise a Slytherin’s dream for a world in which their goals and ambitions had finally been achieved. The colours also corresponded with waters around lakes and lochs often being green, and silver being often associated with grey rainwater. According to Albus Dumbledore, the qualities which Salazar valued in the students he had chosen included cleverness, resourcefulness, determination, and “a certain disregard for the rules“. Dumbledore noted that all of these were qualities possessed by Harry Potter, who was a Gryffindor but was almost placed in Slytherin.^[9]Slytherins tended to take charge and possessed strong leadership skills. They were often self-assured and confident of their own competence and can be very loyal.

But perhaps one of my favorite facts that I learned was this: “Another characteristic some Slytherins share was a tendency towards deep, unrequited love.”

And so it seems that between the resourcefulness and the ambition, the loyal qualities and the competence, and the deep unrequited love, the Slytherin union is a very special one. Deeper than the lochs that symbolize a portal to another world. More fluid than a serpent. And perhaps, every bit as magical as a story that can transport you into a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Congrats on your magical wedding, Kaitlyn and Zack!

Venue: The Lift Dayton

Photography: Carolyn Christine Photography

Event Planning: Happily Ever Event

Caterer: Rich Taste Catering

DJ: Ohio Greatest Music

Dress: Damele Bridal

Cake: Ele Cake

MU: Let’s Do Hair and Makeup