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Happy Halloween

Personally, I love Halloween - it’s a great excuse to dress up, eat too much sugar and act the fool.

When I was younger, it didn’t really seem like that much of a big deal; there were a few masks in the shops, and maybe the occasional costume but nothing compared to how it is now. I remember carving turnips, which is an old Irish tradition - and let me tell you, if you’ve never had the misfortune of having to carve a turnip, you’re not missing much. They’re rock hard; you had not chance of losing a finger than making a convincing face!

All hail the American pumpkin, bigger, brighter and a heck of a lot softer! Looking back on the way we did Halloween in the 80’s it’s quite hard to imagine many people using it as a theme for their wedding; but the rising popularity has made a huge difference.

A quick internet search for Halloween themed weddings brings up the most amazing array of images, particularly impressive because of how new and unique everything seems. In fact, when I mentioned the theme of this blog to a friend she got unusually excited about the prospect, sending me numerous text messages with ideas;

‘Ooh! You could have carved pumpkins as centrepieces and a mixture of dried “dead” flowers for bouquets.’ ‘You could throw tissue paper bats instead of confetti.’ ’Walk down the aisle to Thriller and have readings from ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ and…I’m getting carried away!’ I’d probably lean more towards purple calla lilies but the whole idea seems like great fun!

There are just so many options for the type of Halloween theme you could go for. There’s the classic ‘Hammer Horror’, with all the guests dressed up as ghosts, ghouls and monsters, just they way they would for a Halloween party. The venue could decorated like a

Or you could go gothic, with a dark Victorian theme; the room decorated so that if Edgar Allen Poe himself walked in he wouldn’t feel out of place! Name your tables after gothic novels, and use quotes such as “I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched.” on the place cards. That’s just two suggestion, but if the idea of a Halloween wedding appeals to your darker side, there are so many more! It could also be an inexpensive option for your big day. There is a large scope for DIY items in a Halloween themed wedding, and this can reduce the cost considerably. At the right time of year, pumpkins are relatively cheap to come by, and even carved with the simplest design can be quite effective.

Aside from the fun and individuality that a Halloween themed wedding or “Hallowedding” as they’ve been called, can provide, there are perhaps more links between weddings and Halloween than you might think. The traditions of Halloween mostly come from Samhain, a celtic belief that on October 31st the boundaries between the worlds meet and spirits can cross over and there are a surprising number of wedding traditions that have origins with similar links. It was thought that on her wedding day a bride was particularly vulnerable to evil spirits; wedding rings were considered as protection, as was wearing a veil. The bridesmaids even come from a tradition in Roman Law that said to marry, there must be ten witnesses present in order to confuse the spirits, and that the witnesses should be dressed like the bride and groom so that the spirits did not know who the true couple were.

So, though perhaps your first thought when someone mentions weddings might not be ‘ghoulish and supernatural’ and a Halloween themed wedding may not be in everyone’s taste, with all the options available it would certainly be quite the experience.

As long as you survive the night…!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Absolute Media Weddings .