Larry Bagby Wedding: ‘Hocus Pocus’ Star Marries in Salem

Larry Bagby’s wedding was all just a bunch of Hocus Pocus.

The actor and musician, 51 — who is best known for his role as the teenage bully Ernie (a.k.a Ice) in the 1993 Disney movie — married Veronique Bagby (née Dumont), 40, in an intimate fall and Hocus Pocus-themed wedding on Sunday, Oct. 5, at The Pickering House, the oldest house in Salem, Massachusetts.

“Veronique is the fire to my Ernie! I mean, how many times I gotta tell you? It ain’t Ernie no more. It’s Ice,” Larry jokes, referring to his character’s famous phrase.

Among the 25 or so guests were a few of the groom’s former Hocus Pocus costars, including Jason Marsden (cat version of Thackery Binx), Vinessa Shaw (Allison), and Omri Katz (Max). Fans were also encouraged to watch the spellbinding wedding over Zoom as a part of the cast’s anniversary Halloween event designed for fans to experience what it was like to film the movie and explore Salem.

“It was the most magical moment of my entire existence,” Larry tells PEOPLE of his wedding. “It was a dream come true. I’m still speechless and taking it all in.”

He adds, “It was very much a fairy tale in the most Hocus Pocus way possible.”

Brian Sims — a beloved Salem performer who is best known for his original green witch creation, BORAH! — was the wedding officiant. While he officiated the wedding as himself instead of in costume, he still brought “magical chaos” and “Salem spirit” into the celebration.

The wedding featured a summoning of the Sanderson sisters, a giant pumpkin-man in a Jack Skellington tux (created by Danny Wicked), and plenty of hay bales and pumpkins. There were also a few cages as a nod to how Ice was captured by the Sanderson sisters and locked in a cage after stealing Max’s shoes.

Sims says that coordinating Larry and Veronique’s wedding in just two and a half months was “a sprint and pure joy.”

“We honored family who had passed, then channeled Salem’s haunted charm —playfully warning any ghosts or goblins to ‘Shut up and crawl back into your graves!’ ” he says. “Larry got roasted for gazing at Vero’s ‘Yabos,’ and their relationship was crowned with magic, Hocus Pocus jokes, and Disney quotes.”

The Salem’s Black Hat Society founder continues, “The candle ritual featured a surprise black flame candle, and the ceremony took an even more magical turn when the Sanderson Sisters appeared to demand the spell book — crafted by the talented Chrissy Delima — out of which I read their vows. Even the wedding rings arrived attached to dead man’s toes!”

“Every moment was brewed up to celebrate Larry and Vero’s love — supernatural, sentimental, and spellbinding.”

Thirty-three years ago, Larry first visited The Pickering House — which was built in 1660 and is 365 years old — to film some scenes for Hocus Pocus. He wanted to say “I do” in the place “where it all started” because Hocus Pocus is the reason behind his romance with Veronique.

The newlyweds met online through a Hocus Pocus Facebook group.

“The moderator for the group posted about the bullies, Jay (Tobias Jelinek) and Ice. I happened to see this beautiful French Canadian girl from Montreal, Quebec had commented and said she had always had a big crush on my character, Ice, at just 9 years old,” Larry explains. “After that, I added her as a friend on Facebook and that lead to our happily ever after.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The couple had their first conversation on Oct. 18, 2022. They “immediately hit it off and started dating right away.” Despite them living in different countries, with Larry in the United States and Veronique in Canada, they knew they “had something special” and were willing to overcome the barrier. “No distance or borders could stop our love from happening,” Larry says.

“We truly are soulmates,” Larry shares.

Just a few months later on Valentine’s Day in 2023, Larry popped the question. Now, the couple look forward to starting “the future with our new family.” Veronique has three children from a previous relationship.