A Midsummer Wedding

What would your dream wedding look like?

Smertekirken have always felt that getting married on hooks is a very fitting and symbolic way of showing your love and commitment to each other. By doing this ritual on hooks, you get to share and breathe through the pain together, support each other through laughter and tears, show your vulnerability and strength to each other, and celebrate your partnership with a boost of endorphins! 

The hook wedding of Mira and Christian was a beautiful ceremony where they got to do exactly that. They were so pretty, the weather was as picturesque as a warm and sunny Norwegian summer day can be, and we were all crying over their wonderful and poignant celebration of love. 

Mira and Christian met during Oslo SusCon ten years ago and wanted to celebrate their relationship and commitment to each other with a hook wedding in Norway, where it all began. It was important for them to celebrate their love together with people who were there in 2015 (both June and Alan were organizers of Oslo SusCon) and likeminded people from the community.  

They are fond of spending Midsummer in Finland, where Mira is from, this year they chose to spend the solstice a bit west (and just a teeny bit south) to join our Summer Solstice Gathering and to have us facilitate their wedding as part of the event. The backdrop of Nordic wildflowers and long summer days in the countryside was the vibe they described when we talked about what they wanted earlier in the year.

They chose the seated position with interlocking knees, which is a very fitting suspension for a two-person wedding ritual. You get to look each other in the eyes and hold hands throughout the ritual. The weight of the couple’s legs is suspended by two lines, each of which branches to connect to one knee from each person. While the couple still hangs independently from their backs, they hang from the same lines at the center. They are still two individuals, but they share a common anchor.  

The wedding ceremony started with Mira and Christian getting raised into the air, hanging not very high over the ground. Our Right Reverend Alan gave a wonderful speech about the couple, then they shared their vows to each other. When he asked if they wanted to be wed, they needed to answer thrice: once in German, then in English, and last in Finnish. Ich will—I do—tahdon. When they had said their third “I do”, Alan connected a line to the hooks over their hearths, which is a wonderful way to symbolically bind them together. After that, they exchanged rings. 

Then, they were pulled higher up in the tripod. Suspended and swinging around together, they were the cutest thing you have ever seen. Each person of the group got to give them a gentle push to wish them a lovely life together, as partners in love. 

We felt very privileged and truly enjoyed being able to facilitate this ritual for them, and we’re not sure if it’s even possible to get any more romantic than this. If you’ve ever met Mira and Christian, you know that they are some of the best and sweetest people around. We wish them and their family all the best for their future together! 

Please enjoy the beautiful pictures from Eiril Nås Høistad, we feel she really captured the love that Mira and Christian share, and how beautiful their celebration of this love was on Midsummer 2025. 

All pictures are taken by Eiril Nås Høistad