On Elvish Weddings

[Urwen]

One is described in detail, here

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Urwen

One is described in detail, here

Yeah, there's a lot of Elvish Weddings in fanfic; given the evidence of Idril, however, I think they're mostly written incorrectly. My theory is that lines like this, from the one you link:

her ethereal beauty enhanced by the emerald and pearl necklace that graced her throat

... are incorrect, because a wedding of the Quendi was not about enhancing beauty, but about stripping away the externals to get back to the natural beauty under it all.

hS

[William Cloud Hicklin]

I'm not sure there was one single custom. I suspect it was different among the Sindar, the Exiled Noldor, in Valinor, and probably very different between the First and Third ages.

I could see the Noldor of Gondolin going for the bling. This culture revolved around the works of their hands almost as much as that of Eregion. The Sindar, something much simpler and nature oriented. The chastened Noldor of Frodo's time, possibly a back-to-basics ethos (like we saw with Gildor's company- although Gildor apologized for his "rustic" hospitality).

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

I'm not sure there was one single custom. I suspect it was different among the Sindar, the Exiled Noldor, in Valinor, and probably very different between the First and Third ages.

In principle I'm inclined to agree, and LaCE is pretty clear that it mostly applies to Aman. However, I don't think Tolkien likely came up with more than one image of what it would be like, so any references probably refer to one specific design.

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

I could see the Noldor of Gondolin going for the bling. This culture revolved around the works of their hands almost as much as that of Eregion. The Sindar, something much simpler and nature oriented. The chastened Noldor of Frodo's time, possibly a back-to-basics ethos (like we saw with Gildor's company- although Gildor apologized for his "rustic" hospitality).

I do disagree quite strongly with the bolded part, though. In principle, yes - but the sole piece of evidence we have for what an Elvish wedding would actually look like comes from Gondolin, and speaks to simplicity, not ornamentation.

hS