How to Plan a Halloween Themed Wedding

Halloween is not just for children. Adults love it, too. If you and your fiancé are among the adults that really enjoy Halloween, a Halloween Theme Wedding may be perfect for you. There are so many paths that you can take in creating a Halloween wedding, and it almost increases your wedding choices, rather than narrowing them down.

Instructions

1. Keep an open mind. A Halloween theme wedding does not necessarily have to be held on Halloween, it could be held the weekend before as long as it is as close to Halloween as possible. The options are endless for what kind of Halloween wedding to have. You could have an elegant Halloween/Harvest theme decorated in rich fall colors like red, gold and orange with black accents using pumpkins, gourds, squash and Indian corn as decorating elements. You could have a costume ball or masquerade with the bride and groom in lavish wedding attire and the guests would be invited to wear costumes as well. Or you could have a spooktacular wedding event with all the Halloween trimmings; cauldrons, skeletons, ghosts, jack-o'-lanterns and more.

2. Planning ahead can save you a lot of money. If you plan your wedding at least a year ahead of time you can get tons of Halloween accessories on clearance after Halloween. Things to look out for include strands of Halloween lights, as well as black and orange candles. Halloween novelty candles are fun, and witch's cauldrons just might be a must. Also look for witches' broomsticks and skeleton bride and groom decorations. A great idea for toasting goblets would be Halloween theme goblets. Other Halloween and autumn theme accessories you may find are ceramic or resin pumpkins, gourds, garlands of leaves and fall flowers or berries. Look for Halloween treat bags and candy bags to use as favor bags for your guests and search for small novelty items to use as the favors – such as mini coffins, skeleton heads, candles, etc.

3. Choose your Halloween color scheme. The best color schemes to go with could be the traditional black and orange, or black and red. The groom and groomsmen could all wear black; the bridesmaids could wear black or red dresses. The bride could even wear a black or red dress or go with a traditional white dress in a gothic style. She could wear a long form fitting dress with draped sleeves or a dress with a corset style bodice.

4. Plan your Halloween decor. Centerpieces and decorations could range from candles in wrought iron candelabras, pumpkins carved into jack-o'-lanterns, gourds and squash surrounding candles on a mirror tile, black cauldrons with floating candles, or for a more elegant wedding you could opt for fall leaves or fall flowers arranged into a centerpiece. The possibilities are endless. For your bouquets you could use red, orange, or even black roses. You could have accents of gold and black ribbons. Depending on your style you could even incorporate spider webs or other fun Halloween items into your wedding bouquets

5. Include the tastes of the season in your menu. On the guest tables you could put little cups of candy corn and nuts for snacks. You could have a buffet of Halloween inspired food. Check out recipe books for Halloween parties; they have fun ideas for spooky Halloween theme food.

6. For lots of fun include kitschy Halloween music at the reception. Make sure the DJ has plenty of Halloween song favorites on hand for the reception including “Monster Mash,” “Thriller,” the theme from “Ghostbusters” and any other of your favorite Halloween songs. Make sure to hire a DJ that has a good light system and fog machine to add special effects to the dance floor. Other entertainment that you could include might be a fortune teller, palm reader, or tarot card reader,

Tips & Warnings

• Whatever Halloween style you incorporate and however you decide to decorate, your Halloween Theme Wedding will be a memorable event for everyone involved.

• Don't let anyone talk you out of your Halloween theme wedding. It is after all your wedding, it should be about you and what you like.