Destination Star Trek is in full flow in London. It is the first Star Trek dedicated convention in over a decade to take place in Britain. So if you are a Star Trek fan and you wanna get married there is no better place to be. Sonnie Gustavsson, 29, and Jossie Sockertopp, 23 travelled from their native Sweden to do just that Klingon stylee. The couple who met four years ago, adorned themselves in full make up and the traditional ceremonial Klingon garb and were married by celebrant Peter Wyllie in the language of Klingon. Hats of to the bloke, he learned the guttural alien tongue just for this. “That was a bit of a challenge and I hope I got some of the sounds right. I had it written phonetically, so that made it a little easier,” Wyllie admitted.
Inspired by the wedding of Worf and Dax in DS9 episode ‘You are cordially invited’ (clip below) they recreated the ceremony including entering to the three bangs of the gong, had the Klingon drums and stood aside a 3 metre statue of the Klingon God. Presented with a sword by the best man, the couple took part in the mock battle representing the struggle of the male and female heart against one another. “We saw the clip from the series…and we thought it was very romantic about beating hearts and a battle for each other. We really liked it, that’s why we want to do this,” Sockertopp said. The Klingon creation myth was read as vows in both Klingon and English:
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“With fire and steel did the gods forge the Klingon heart. So fiercely did it beat, so loud was the sound, that the gods cried out, ‘On this day we have brought forth the strongest heart in all the heavens. None can stand before it without trembling at its strength.’ But then the Klingon heart weakened, its steady rhythm faltered and the gods said, ‘Why do you weaken so? We have made you the strongest in all of creation.’
- And the heart said… ‘I am alone.’
- And the gods knew that they had erred. So they went back to their forge and brought forth another heart.
- But the second heart beat stronger than the first, and the first was jealous of its power. Fortunately, the second heart was tempered by wisdom.
- ‘If we join together, no force can stop us.’
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And when the two hearts began to beat together, they filled the heavens with a terrible sound. For the first time, the gods knew fear. They tried to flee, but it was too late. The Klingon hearts destroyed the gods who created them and turned the heavens to ashes. To this very day, no one can oppose the beating of two Klingon hearts.”
It’s pretty romantic really and although the couple didn’t have any relatives present the fact that it was witnessed by a mass of Trekkies many of which were cosplaying a variety of celebrated characters, makes the whole thing even more awesome. To top it off the couple cut a Borg cube 3 tiered cake and lead the audience in a blessing of ‘yln’ (life), ‘bathlh’ (honour) and ‘qapla’ (success).
The clip that inspired the happy Trekkie couple, Worf marries science officer Jadzia Dax in a traditional Klingon ceremony.
