Did y’all know that people can get married on the Hobbiton movie set in New Zealand? A visit to the Shire has been on my bucket list for 20+ years at this point, but I had no idea that it was also a wedding venue! Last weekend, a couple got married in front of Bag End, aka Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ house. It looked like an awesome wedding where most of the guests were dressed up as hobbits. My people! Well, this lucky couple won the wedding day lottery. After they’d finished the ceremony and were signing all of the necessary paperwork, a surprise guest strolled down the aisle to greet them with well-wishes: Elijah Wood! As it turns out, Elijah just happened to be there with his family at the same time as the ceremony was happening.
A wedding at New Zealand’s Hobbiton Movie Set turned into an unforgettable moment when a surprise guest appeared out of nowhere.
Sharik and Jessica Burgess-Stride of Rotorua were finishing their wedding paperwork when actor Elijah Wood walked down the aisle to congratulate them.
“We were just finishing the signing of the paperwork when all of a sudden Elijah Wood started to walk down the aisle,” Sharik told the Waikato Herald. The couple could hardly believe their eyes.
“At first I thought, ‘Nah that’s not him’—then, ‘Oh sh–, it is him,’ ” Sharik recalled. The star, known for playing Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings movies, had stopped by as the newlyweds wrapped up their ceremony.
“It had been a very rainy day, but the rain stopped for about 30 minutes and we held the ceremony,” Sharik said.
Their timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Moments later, Wood appeared, catching the couple and their guests completely off guard.
The viral TikTok posted by Hobbiton Movie Set captured the moment, with the caption: “POV: You’re getting married in The Shire and an unexpected guest crashes your wedding…” In the clip, Sharik could be heard exclaiming, “Oh my God!” as the actor walked toward them.
Guests clapped and cheered as Wood greeted the couple and posed for photos. “He shook our hands and said congratulations, and stuck around for a few photos before he left on a tour — he was there with a group of people,” Sharik told the outlet.
Hobbiton Movie Set General Manager Tourism Shayne Forrest said it was the first time a Lord of the Rings cast member had attended a wedding at the site. The location, famously used for both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, served as a picture-perfect setting for the couple’s big day.
Wood appeared genuinely delighted by the scene unfolding around him. “This is amazing, and everyone is dressed as hobbits,” he said as he looked around at the crowd in costume.
For Sharik, a longtime fan of the films, the moment felt almost too good to be true. He and Jessica had planned the ceremony out of love for Tolkien’s world, never imagining that one of its most beloved stars would show up.
The groom said the surprise was the perfect ending to a day that already felt charmed. “It was amazing,” he said, still in disbelief that Frodo himself had walked down the aisle.
I’m a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and I am geeking out so hard about this right now! I mean, can you even imagine how wild it would be to have Frodo himself randomly show up at your Hobbit-themed wedding? This begs the question: which of their wedding photos gets the coveted “above the mantle” placement? An official one with just the two of them or the one of the two of them with Elijah? I love that he was such a good sport about it, too. He could have easily moved on without revealing his presence, but he chose to humbly engage. What a class act. I wonder what he was doing there, though. Was it merely to show his young children, ages six and three, around or was he there on official party business?
If this story made you feel good and you want to keep that feeling going for just a little while longer, then I strongly recommend reading the comments on Instagram. They’re so funny and heartwarming with jokes about the wedding taking place in “his” front yard and that it was a missed opportunity to not have him as ringbearer. It’s one of those rare instances on the Internet where the comments just totally rule (them all).