Closing Scenes

I could see lots of racial/speciel tensions, aggravated by alcohol, or whatever similar stuff you have in your world.

Who's getting married? 2 humans? What brought them together? What kept them apart? Their vows could reflect either or both.

When my wife and I got married, we each presented our new mother-in-law with a single rose.

I've also seen mothers light the single candles that are eventually used to light the unity candle, if you go that route.

Is a special friend of bride or groom a non-human, with special wedding customs in that race? They might use one of those customs as a nod to what the friend means to them.

You could always have the couple duel to the kiss . . .

What exactly do you need that chapter for?

So, there are lots of fanciful creatures as guests? Sounds like the perfect opportunity for an outdoor wedding to me. Whatever outdoor location that would be pretty while also fitting in with the world you've created should work.

I've heard that when some people get married, once it's nightfall, the couple and the wedding guests all take paper lanterns outside, light the flame inside, and release them all into the air at once to watch them float away. Example: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/250794272969509944/
I think it's ridiculously pretty and romantic.

Also, I don't think any romantic wedding is complete without flowers and lace and sparkly things everywhere. Flower petals from the bride's favorite flower could be on the ground and wherever the bride will walk. Flowers/sparkly things in people's hair, etc.

Ha ha, I just had a wedding in my MS too. But I focused less on the decor and more on the character interactions which I found far from interesting to write. Suddenly all my heroes were in one place having discussions.

It's your final chapter. Focus on the closure and the characters. Less on painting a fancy scene. At most a 4-line paragraph on the set description. Yes, flowers, lotz of them. Birds, too. They sing. No strippers. Send 'em to me instead.

Say, the atmosphere is a little odd as the elf bride refuses to apply makeup over a scar on her face she sustained in the final battle. Then the bridesmaids arrive, each has a similar painted scar on her face. Everyone laughs. Atmosphere lightens up. The dwalf uber priest, who has been dissing the bride from page one, comes on a stretcher to officiate the wedding despite a near-fatal wound. As the ceremony progresses, the human groom looks at his bride's face. Surprisingly, the scar seems to add beauty to her face. She starts to smile. A bright smile. A contended smile. She is the most beautiful creature in the Lost Kingdom. -end, stay tuned for the next episode, where there are even more prettier and sexier creatures-

A wedding is a giving of promises. You could jazz that up by making a symbolic gesture to give life to the promises. A man might smash an ale jug on the floor to show that he will stop drinking with his mates. A woman might rip up a party fwock to show that she will not try to impress another man.

Instead of giving rings, let's give swords or magic doohickeys. Or matching tats and intimate piercings.

The traditional symbolism of a wedding is that the bride's father gives the bride away. The husband and wife enter the church separately but leave together. Can we play with those traditions? Say that the groom has to fight the bride's father?

A lot will depend on the rest of the world that you have written about. In a Tolkieny world we can imagine that a dwarf wedding (are there dwarf women?) would be different to an elf wedding. More booze and the band would be less choonful.

Can we subvert that

Once! said:

(are there dwarf women?)

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Right?

Once! said:

(are there dwarf women?)

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Of course there are dwarf women, silly. Did you think dwarves just grow out of stone?

It's just that dwarf women are so secretive and so much alike in voice and appearance (beards) that they're often mistaken for dwarf men. http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Dwarf-women

E.F.B. said:

Of course there are dwarf women, silly. Did you think dwarves just grow out of stone?

It's just that dwarf women are so secretive and so much alike in voice and appearance (beards) that they're often mistaken for dwarf men. http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Dwarf-women

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Ah! You spotted the reference!

PeteDutcher said:

Because, according to my wife I don't have a romantic bone in my body....

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Here, I thought I was the only man with a wife that felt that way

Bing Z said:

It's your final chapter. Focus on the closure and the characters. Less on painting a fancy scene. At most a 4-line paragraph on the set description. Yes, flowers, lotz of them. Birds, too. They sing. No strippers. Send 'em to me instead.

Say, the atmosphere is a little odd as the elf bride refuses to apply makeup over a scar on her face she sustained in the final battle. Then the bridesmaids arrive, each has a similar painted scar on her face. Everyone laughs. Atmosphere lightens up. The dwalf uber priest, who has been dissing the bride from page one, comes on a stretcher to officiate the wedding despite a near-fatal wound. As the ceremony progresses, the human groom looks at his bride's face. Surprisingly, the scar seems to add beauty to her face. She starts to smile. A bright smile. A contended smile. She is the most beautiful creature in the Lost Kingdom. -end, stay tuned for the next episode, where there are even more prettier and sexier creatures-

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This. I think the denouement or epilogue scenes are best kept brief. A crazy, wacky wedding scene where trolls are getting drunk and brawling with the orcs strikes me as something that might work better near the beginning of a novel (because, world building details and establishing some of the tension that exists). But by now (hopefully) your readers have a sense of your world and culture. I'd make sure any little details are consistent with what you've already shown. I always face palm when one sees fantasy weddings with white dresses and fathers "giving brides away" in cultures where purity isn't a big deal and women are not (and never have been) the property of their nearest male relative, for instance.

The main purpose of this scene is to give the readers who like this sort of thing a warm, fuzzy feeling about your characters being "happy for now," and to (possibly) hit on any plot threads that are left hanging or may need to be carried over.

sheac said:

Here, I thought I was the only man with a wife that felt that way

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Far from it. This is a pretty standard-issue complaint women have about their male partners. I may be the only woman, however, who has been told she lacks any romantic ossifications by men. My husband and I looked at each other a few days back, and sighed. "We both forgot our anniversary again."

Roxxsmom said:

I always face palm when one sees fantasy weddings with white dresses and fathers "giving brides away" in cultures where purity isn't a big deal and women are not (and never have been) the property of their nearest male relative, for instance.

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I just submitted a romantic fantasy novella where the characters from The Deepest Ocean finally get married. The novella ends with the heroine, in her (blue) wedding dress, arriving at the mansion where the ceremony is to take place.

Immediately all the family and guests go inside, leaving her completely alone in the garden. That's tradition, so if the bride decides to change her mind at the last minute, she's free to run.

Queen of Swords said:

Immediately all the family and guests go inside, leaving her completely alone in the garden. That's tradition, so if the bride decides to change her mind at the last minute, she's free to run.

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It's those little touches that can make fantasy so much fun.

Queen of Swords said:

I just submitted a romantic fantasy novella where the characters from The Deepest Ocean finally get married. The novella ends with the heroine, in her (blue) wedding dress, arriving at the mansion where the ceremony is to take place.

Immediately all the family and guests go inside, leaving her completely alone in the garden. That's tradition, so if the bride decides to change her mind at the last minute, she's free to run.

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I like that very much. A traditional situation turned on its head by a completely logical convention that is native to its setting.

Bravo!

Thanks, guys!