Trick or Treat...Wedding Style Guide

Halloween is one of the most popular holidays, and it’s easy to see why. Dressing up and becoming someone else for a night in order to get free candy is a lot of fun. It’s also the only night that it is socially acceptable to pretend to be someone else.

 

If you happen to be one of those people who put Halloween decorations in their yard on the first of October, you may want to consider having your own Halloween-themed wedding.

 

The Venue
 

 

You’ll want to find a big, open room for the reception. An abandoned barn or factory building would be best. Hang lanterns, orange tulle, and fake cobwebs on the walls and from the ceiling, but choose heavy black fabrics for other things such as table cloths, curtains, and just to hang from the walls.  If the weather permits, have the ceremony in a cemetery.  Include an area for a spooky photo booth for your guests.

 

The Food
 

 

We love these Halloween inspired cake ideas.  For your cake topper, try a couple inspired by Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride.

 

Serve lots of pumpkin- and apple-flavored foods. Try to serve only red drinks, or use food coloring to dye drinks red when possible.  For the rest of your food, especially during cocktail hour, try adding a spooky twist whenever possible.

 

The Look

 

A vintage wedding dress is the best style for a Halloween bride (again, think Tim Burton). If you’re really going all out, you could tear it in a few places and get the bottom of it dirty, so it looks black – like you’ve been running away from monsters.

 

For your makeup, choose pale colors for your cheeks but dark red and black for your lips and eyes.

 

The bridesmaids should wear dark colors: navy blue, plum, or black. Choker necklaces are a great accessory for this look.

 

Have the men in the wedding party wear swallowtail coats, undertaker-style.

 

It's All in the Details

 

Don't forget all the small details that come together to create your Hallo-wedding.  The stationery, guest favors, and decorations are a few more items to consider that will help pull your look together.

For you invitations, be sure to let guests know about your spooktacular theme and whether costumes are welcomed.  For your getaway car, consider driving away in a gothic horse-drawn buggy.  A great favor for your guests is a bag of Halloween candy! Use personalized paper bags and decorate them with fake spiders and ribbon or use mini jack-o-lanterns.

Image Credits: Poison Bottles, Cemetery Wedding, Halloween cake, Halloween Masquerade Wedding, Sugar Skull Invitations

Elizabeth is an undergraduate at Ohio Northern University with a double major in professional writing and creative writing and a minor in psychology. Liz writes for My Wedding Reception Ideas as well as creates multi-modal writing projects for Re:Media, an Ohio Northern University online publication.