The Big Dipper

The Perfect Wedding

As one might expect, Ursula had considerably more fun planning her wedding to Fred than her entirely fake one to Hadrian. Every detail had to be perfect, and so it would be.

Fred, Ursula suspected, had no idea of the sheer volume of planning that went into a wedding, much less one as upscale as theirs was to be. Sure, he had been around when Bill married Fleur, but aside from their wedding taking place in the middle of a war, Fred hadn't exactly been deeply involved in the planning. It was important to Ursula that he be an equal voice in all wedding-related matters, so just days after announcing their engagement the two of them sat down to discuss the basics.

Unsurprisingly, their engagement was a big deal. It sent shockwaves through a number of the elite purebloods, stunned much of Fred's extended family, and was generally astounding, given the celebrity-esque status both Ursula and Fred possessed. They made the front page of no less than six newspapers, including Witch Weekly, Transfiguration Today, and the Daily Prophet.

The first element to decide was the date. Knowing they wanted to get married outdoors, it was easy for Ursula and Fred to agree on early June, June 2nd to be exact, just a few days prior to their anniversary. That gave the engaged couple nearly an entire year to get the rest of the many details sorted.

Their wedding would take place in the sprawling gardens of Corvus Manor, an excellent choice because of its natural decor and location at the couple's magnificent home. With the venue came the question of attire, another element Fred was entirely unfamiliar with.

Fred saw nothing wrong with keeping their wedding fairly casual, while Ursula was used to an almost insane level of formality. Neither wanted to alienate the other, or their family, but finding a compromise proved difficult. At last, they settled on festive attire, which would allow Ursula's guests to still wear linen suits and colorful dresses, but would alleviate the pressure from Fred's side to be overly formal.

The final big-picture item to decide was the guest list.

Ursula and Fred's wedding would certainly be in the hundreds, from the Weasleys' extended family to the many pureblood Slytherins to Ursula's global connections. Rather than tackle this task alone, they decided to bring in two experts for assistance: Narcissa Malfoy and Molly Weasley.

As a duo, they were polar opposites, and Fred and Ursula were initially nervous bringing them together, given their history of opposition and general dislike for one another. But when it came to wedding planning, Narcissa and Molly were tremendously — and surprisingly — likeminded.

"I'm at three hundred and twenty," said Narcissa, ticking off her list. "We don't want to make your day too open, of course, but I do have another list if you have any extra room."

"We'll invite the entire family, of course," added Molly, handing over her own meticulous list.

"Even —"

"Yes, Fred, even Aunt Muriel," said Molly, shooting him a sharp look. "She is quite eager to meet your fiancée."

"And I, her," said Ursula. "Our engagement party is in three weeks, and I believe it would be a prudent place for our extended families to meet."

Their engagement party was set to take place in Corvus Manor, just as their eventual wedding would, and Fred's many, many cousins got a chance to meet Ursula's friends and family, and look around the hallowed, awe-inspiring manor.

Fred's Aunt Muriel was a formidable woman, well over one hundred years old and still going strong. Fred was worried about how she might react to meeting Ursula, given Muriel's generally abrasive nature, but Ursula assured him she was more than used to imposing old women.