"It is for the most joyous occasion that we're gathered here today…" Read the officiant dressed in black robes. "To wed man to woman in marital bliss!"

The cue for the organist registered almost immediately, and Wagner's Bridal Chorus filled the sun drenched clearing in the forest. It was all Sophia needed to pass through the curtains separating her from the rest of the wedding proceedings.

Guests gasped at her beauty, just as planned, as she emerged into the sunlight, showcasing a haute couture dress of modest cut, but brocaded with gold and a cathedral train that followed her like a living pool of satin ivory and gold. The part in the bell of the dress allowed her open toed heels, matching white and made to look comprised entirely of lace, as well as her bridal hosiery, show through with every slow, deliberate step she took down the aisle.

Family and friends marveled on either side of her as she slowly strode down the aisle, all the while, beaming with joy as she moved. She reached the head of the aisle and after stepping up to the dias, with the aid of some of her bridesmaids, managed to turn the complicated structure of her dress ninety degrees, and then sat in the ornate chair, a throne really, made ready for her, opposite her husband to be. After quickly handing off her bouquet to one of her bridesmaids, the officiant continued and the music silenced.

“Friends, today were are here to wed Bertram Ollie to Sophia Mendoza.” The officiant said above the normal murmurs of the crowd. “These two are to be legally bound, he to her, for as long as she sees fit.”

Fighting back tears of joy in her eyes, Sophia covered her mouth with a gloved hand as she looked down at her groom. Even if he had been standing, it wouldn’t have been likely he’d look her in the eyes, she stood more than a meter and a half taller than most men, and her groom was short. But he wasn’t standing, he’d been placed in the traditional position for the groom, on his knees, with his wrists bound behind his back with white leather cuffs, a half hood of white leather covered the top part of his head, leaving him blind and almost deafened, while a ball gag had been shoved into his mouth, contrasting bright red against the rest of his accoutrement, and his pale skin.

“If there is anyone here gathered who believes these two should not be wed, let them speak now or forever hold their peace…” The officiant offered to the crowd.

Sophia’s friends and family had gathered in forceful numbers for affair, and throughout the crowd, her loved ones looked on in anticipation as the officiant paused to give anyone brave enough the opportunity to speak up. When a few moments passed uninterrupted, the officiant continued, turning to the maid-of-honor.

“If you would?” She said to Sophia’s best friend, Michele.

Michele had been waiting all day, and almost hopped over to where Sophia sat, a box in hand containing one more piece of leather sized for the groom; an ornately formed, embossed, and silk lined collar, with both a heavy metal ring on the back, and a smaller one with a tag hanging from the front. Sophia took the collar, and smiled as her groom, at least partially aware of what was happening, shuffled forward on his knees to place himself at her feet.

“Then by the power of the state, I hereby pronounce you wife and man!” The officiant said, raising her hands high in jubilation. “You may collar the groom.”

Sophia leaned forward and slipped the leather collar down around her groom’s bowed head. The softness of the lining, and her own practice at having done it dozens and dozens of times to make sure that her wedding day was perfect, meant that the collar slipped around his neck with superlative ease. She slipped the collar closed, and tightened it, biting her lip as the final process of her wedding was coming to a close, and locked the collar tight in its buckle.

A tear rolling down her face, Sophia stood up, one finger slipped into the heavy ring at the back of her comparatively diminutive husband’s collar, and hoisted him high into the air beside her. On display for the entire wedding to see, her now-husband dangled from her finger by his collar, his tag gleaming in the sun with his new name, chosen by Sophia, etched onto the shining metal.

The gathered wedding cheered uproariously, and began to throw confetti over Sophia and Pet as she walked back the aisle she had come, heart full, eyes weeping with joy, and a smile across her face, heading toward the waiting limousine that would take her and Pet to the airport to begin their honeymoon.