Wedding Wednesdays Q&A: Halloween Wedding

Halloween has taken over Wedding Wednesdays Q&A this week, so our topic today is about a Halloween wedding:  My fiance and I love Halloween so we’re having a Halloween wedding.  We really want to go all out, but we don’t want it to be tacky.  We want to be able to keep it in the Halloween spirit with the decor and maybe even costumes, but we don’t want to go so far as to turn it into a Halloween party.  I’m looking for a nice compromise that keeps it fun, but still elegant and I have no idea how to do that.  Is that even possible?  Help!

I won’t lie, you definitely have a project on your hands, but it’s not impossible.  But first off, I have to say that you should definitely consider hiring a wedding planner and designer.  They’ll be able to help you keep the wedding on the right line that you’re looking for and make the whole process much easier and more fun.  But, if that isn’t an option for you, I think you can still create what you are looking for.

There are so many areas we can cover that this post could go on forever, but I’ll cover the basics and we’ll start with costumes.  I don’t think your wedding party, your guests or even yourselves in costume is a bad idea (because let’s be honest, even a wedding dress is kind of a costume), but I think you need to be careful how you do it.  What you don’t want is your guests to show up in whatever costume they fancy because you’ll end up with people dressed as a monkey or an axe murder or a sexy nurse.   Now while this provides variety, it also leans towards a Halloween party, not a Halloween wedding and definitely falls into the tacky area.  If you like the idea of costumes, I’d suggest instead that you pick a costume theme that can cater to a wedding.  You want to either pick one that leans towards the elegant (i.e. Roaring 20’s, Victorian era, Masquerade ball) or one that is special to you (i.e. Harry Potter, Outlander, Game of Thrones).  You want a costume theme that can be dressed up to make sure that while people are in costume, they still look elegant.

Now event design wise, I think you can go few different routes with this.  You can play up whatever costume theme you have chosen (if you are doing costumes) or go with more of a fall look (orange, beige, brown green, and gold) or something darker and goth (black, grey, red).  In any of these options, I’d definitely include pumpkins or gourds or apples as a part of the display and make sure you have some fun lighting like luminaries to create a glowing magical feel.  You’ll want to avoid tacky decor that screams of a neighborhood Halloween party like cobwebs, fake blood, and tombstones.  But, you can throw in a little bit of traditional Halloween in there like spider place cards, a candy bar or Halloween-inspired cocktails. I’d keep the food normal and approachable, but you can give them interesting names or pick certain items that play to the Halloween spirit.  Lastly, don’t forget to think about the activities and what the guest experience will be like and try to play up fun experiences that you perhaps wouldn’t normally see at a wedding or if it is normal, then change it up and give it a Halloween take on it.

You have a big project ahead of you, but I’m sure you can do it.  And if you are ever in doubt on whether something falls on the tacky side, ask your friends and/or put yourself in your guest’s shoes and see if you’d think that feels tacky.  But, aside from all that, remember to have fun with it!  You choose to have a Halloween wedding for a reason, so keep it fun.

(Photo credit: VAS Photography)

Got a wedding planning question for us?  Send it over, we can’t wait!