Life

The Most Amazing Ringbearer Ever

by Eliza Castile

As a general rule, a wedding is the last place someone wants to be surprised, but what if that surprise was an owl delivering the rings during the ceremony? You don't even have to be a Harry Potter fan to appreciate this one, although it's definitely the best way to fulfill all your Hedwig fantasies. According to the Daily Dot, an otherwise-average wedding got a little, dare I say... hawkward when a tiny-yet-deadly bird of prey swooped down the aisle to drop off the rings to the best man. As you can see in the video, the bride had no idea about their unconventional ringbearer, but judging from her excited giggle, it wasn't an unwelcome surprise. Unfortunately, the video isn't evidence of a Disney princess-style connection with animals; Bilbo the owl is trained to land on gauntlets like the one the best man was wearing. On the other hand, that also means that anyone could parade the owl around on their forearm as long as they wore the gauntlet, which is exactly what everyone did during after the ceremony. In case you're wondering, yes, the wedding photos are just as awesome as you're expecting.

According to the groom, Shaun Palmer, he got the idea for his feathery friend's appearance after seeing a similar ringbearer service at a wedding show two years before. "Originally I wanted our little west highland Terrier, Douglas, to bring the rings down for us as a surprise, but I couldn't trust him enough to come straight down the aisle," he told Bustle over email. "I'd never heard of anyone who I knew doing anything like this, so I thought it would be a great surprise for everyone in attendance."Although his best man "wasn't too keen on the idea at first," he eventually came around, and the surprise was pulled off perfectly. "It added a fantastic bit of extra theater to an already incredible day," Palmer wrote. Is this the next big wedding trend? Maybe not, but the video is certainly a hoot to watch (sorry). I have a feeling Bilbo's presence will be requested during at least a few other nuptials in the future.

Images: Rumble Viral/YouTube