# ANOTHER Halloween wedding thread :)



## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

i got married Halloween 2002. We meant for it to be a full-on costume party wedding, but buckled under the pressure from family to "tone it down" 

We did it ourselves for under $2,000. Major expenses were rental of the venue, the stupid traditional dress (which I seriously regret, but I was trying to make other people happy), photography and catering (cake and nibbles). We had an afternoon wedding so as to avoid a sit-down dinner which ups the cost dramatically. 

Husband and I are both designers, so we did our own invite designs and had a hookup to get them printed cheaply. 

Decorations were mostly Jack o lanterns, lots of fall leaves, flowers and candy. I made my own flower arrangements, bouquets and the corsages (I'm handy that way) so the floral cost was pretty much the flowers only and I got them at a wholesaler.

The table centerpieces were little silver buckets with black/orange raffia bows with a tall slender vase with fall colored flowers, and the vases were held into place with candy corn filling the buckets after the vases were centered. Guests were encouraged to eat the candy corn! 

Favors were treat bags filled with Halloween candy in a large silver bucket.

We did NOT do quite a bit of the "traditional" stuff you come to expect with a wedding. Either because we personally didn't like it or because it seemed a silly expense. (things like the mashing of cake in the face, garter and bouquet toss, first wedding dance, etc...) 

I wish we'd done MORE things that we wanted and less of what OTHER people wanted/expected, but overall it was a good time and we did mostly what we wanted.

You most certainly can have a inexpensive wedding if you do the footwork yourself and are crafty. 

Here is another great source - Creepy Cupcakes - Halloween Things she's getting married this Halloween and has some wonderful ideas.


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## Boo Baby (Oct 7, 2008)

Hey there. I did a Google search on gothic wedding dresses. I found a couple of sites, they are likely not going to fit into your planned budget but it certainly gives you some ideas. 

You know a good seamstress and away you go...

Wedding Dresses/Gowns - Gothic, Medieval & vintage - GOTHIQUE BRIDAL- HOME

Alternative, Fairytale, Gothic Clothing and Wedding Dresses from The Dark Angel

Have fun!!


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## Annea (Aug 14, 2004)

Hi, there a few bridal designers with ivory/white and black dresses in their collections, Maggie sottero, demetrios, pronovias,jessica mcclintock, max chaoul and Ian Stuart (the picture is one of his dresses called puerto rico) Some bridal shops sell off last seasons sample dresses at really reduced prices, and maybe you could add orange accents yourself. Congratulations on you forthcoming wedding


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## Iffy49 (Feb 2, 2009)

Hi HKitten,
Not sure where you are from, but assume US. My fiancee and I are getting married this year on Halloween. We have both been married before, so we see this as a Halloween party, with a wedding service attached. 

A good source of wedding dresses could be eBay, my fiancee got hers from there, a $3,000+ dress for less than $600. Our friend got hers from eBay, but from a dressmaker in Hong Kong. Dress was cheap $20, but P+P was $140. This means that they pay less to eBay for the sale on $20 (they do not incl. P+P), rather than $160 total package cost. Quality was very good, but not always the case.

Also, in UK, OXFAM (Charity) has special centres that deal only in ex-display/exhibition wedding dresses.

Bridal wear from Oxfam's Online Shop

Maybe there is something similar in your location.

We have found that a Halloween wedding is more expensive than a traditional one. For example, we believe the venue needs to be right, to have the right atmosphere. While the local leisure centre or hotel may be fine for a traditional wedding, they do not lend themselves to a spooky Halloween wedding, so we are getting married in an old gunpowder magazine, built in 1791. The venue is great (there are some photos on my profile), but they do not provide anything, other than tables and chairs in the hire. 

Also our colour theme is black and red, so all our table and chair covers have to be black/red, this limits the number of suppliers, and hence increases the cost. Everyone one has white covers, but few have black. We are having red champagne flutes, and red wine glasses. The nearest supplier is over 100 miles away (that's a long way in England), so again costs more to hire. 

Decorations, food, etc. all need to be in keeping with the theme, and hence are that little bit more expensive.

Somethings, you will make yourself as you may not be able to get what you want anywhere, for example, we made and printed our own invitations. I am making place name holders out of vampire teeth, but again these are probably more expensive in the long run than getting standard ones printed at my local printer. 

I expect you can do it on a budget, but I would think the Halloween based ceremony would be more expensive, like for like, than a traditional one.

Hope this helps

Ian

PS...my best tip for you is to use a wallplanner - we have three A3 sheets of paper on our living room wall with ideas, things to do, timescales, etc. on. So, as we suddenly remember something we can jot it down, but also keeps track of where we are. As it is Halloween, most things have to be ordered separately, you will be lucky to find a venue/supplier that does a bespoke Halloween wedding, where everything you want is included. This planner allows us to keep track of glasses orders, wedding ring orders, who has to write speeches, who is supplying cutlery, who is supplying crockery, has it been ordered, when will it be delivered, etc etc? My brother-in-law is getting married on 20th December, his venue is doing all the catering, decorating, providing standard table decorations, entertainment, etc. They only have to worry about themselves, not whether each guest will have glasses, plates, knives, forks, etc.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

oh, good point about the venue, Iffy.

We got married in a historic courthouse that was built in 1916 - no longer used as a courthouse and they had it restored to the original everything. Lovely wood floors, pressed tin ceilings, antiques and historic photos and the like everywhere. It was luckily pretty reasonable, but historic places that are available typically are pretty expensive and you REALLY don't want to do a cool Halloween wedding in the local YMCA gym. 

Decorations are much easier to come by in the US, so the expense is probably a lot more reasonable here than in the UK... but they have MUCH better locations considering - our "antique/historic" is just a baby compared to their history!


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## LV Scott T (Aug 14, 2007)

Can you tell us a little more about yourself? Where are you (city & state)? Are you willing to travel? Can you sew or do you know somebody nearby that does? Are you wanting a traditional wedding with Halloween-themed attire or a completely Halloween-themed wedding?

My wife and I did our own wedding (NOT on Halloween, unfortunately), and it turned out very nice. Our only mistake was NOT hiring a professional photographer. Rule number one: do NOT ask a friend who is an "amateur photographer" to take pictures. We are also caterers and party planners, so have done other people's "backyard weddings". You do NOT have to get married in a church to have a "nice" wedding.

Last year, we had a couple get married at our house on Halloween night. They wanted a Halloween wedding and had heard about us (and our extremely-decorated house), and asked if they could "rent" it for the night. When they found out we also cater and plan, we ended up doing that as well, in addition to hosting and decorating. We brought in our party photographer and bartenders, and they provided the DJ (the groom's brother, I believe). It was a huge success. Even the bride's mother was pleased.

Just like at OUR party the Saturday before, all of the guests had to enter THROUGH the 7-room haunted house in the garage which exits into the living room, where we had about 50 chairs set up. The guests then continued on out to the backyard and patio for "cocktail hour".

The ceremony started at sunset and lasted about 15 minutes. Then the wedding party & guests moved back outside for dinner service while we cleared the chairs and set up the DJ equipment for the reception. We also dropped the curtain which created a partition between the reception area and the pathway for the Trick-or-Treaters (ToTs) and opened up the Haunted House to them (we had quite a line by then). Yes, while the wedding party & guests were dancing it up, ToTs were streaming along a few feet away wondering what kind of special effects CD we were playing!

You can see pictures of the wedding here:

STARK Madness Photo Gallery - Steven and Katrina's Wedding

Now, to answer your questions: Don't look for a wedding dress that has those colors in it. Look for a costume dress. OR, if you sew, find a pattern you like (or a combination of different patterns) and appropriate fabric and make your own.

I made these (yes, I sew):










but we bought these:










As far as money, that all depends on how many volunteers you can find. I believe the least amount I have seen was about $800, but the family did almost everything themselves and it took place in their backyard. The $800 was mostly for food, drinks, decorations, rentals (tables, linens, chairs, arch, etc), photographer (remember rule #1), and minister.

Finally, I'll make you the same offer I made someone else a few days ago. Let us do it, next year at Halloween, in our home. The place will already be decorated. We'll host it, cater it, and even help plan it (if you want). We can provide the photographer, bartenders, food-passers, service staff, and music (CDs, DJ, singer, or band). Afterwards, you can take a limo to your honeymoon suite at your favorite Las Vegas hotel.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Just found an awesome site with clothing suitable for a Halloween wedding...

Wedding - New Age, Spiritual Gifts Yoga, Wicca, Gothic, Reiki, Celtic, Crystal, Tarot at Pyramid Collection


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## Azrielle (Aug 24, 2009)

This site has some great dresses for non traditional weddings, the prices aren't bad either.
Mary's Bridal - Designer Bridal Gowns, Wedding Gowns, Quinceanera Dresses, Promenade Dresses


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## Fortuneteller (Sep 22, 2009)

*Wedding tabletop decorations LED spellbooks*

Love the Halloween Weddings!!!, LOVE Halloween


try searching Craigslist for Halloween Wedding LED table centerpiece decorations 
can be personalized and used year after year.
We made them for a couple last year for their tables:
Marriage counseling
Attitude adjustment
Prenuptual agreement
Financial planning


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## Kimber53711 (Sep 22, 2009)

HKitten,

I read your post and it seemed to me that you wanted a regular wedding gown with halloween stuff incorporated in the venue and decor. I could be wrong but this is what I have found on that line. Alfred Angelo, a wedding gown designer, sells gowns that have color added to a normal wedding dress. For instance the gown I have picked has an orange insert in the train and a ribbon that ties around the front. It is still very wedding-y yet has the halloween-y tie in that you all seem to want. I myself plan on getting married next October and am doing a fall theme rather than Halloween. My guys will be wearing black tuxes with orange vests and my girls in black dresses with orange sashes. 

Also as far as decorations go, since it doesn't seem like this is happening this year make sure you hit all the after fall/halloween clearances for all of your table decorations and such. This is what we plan on doing and it will help you all save some money for sure!

We plan on having the ceremony outside to have all the fall colored trees in our pictures. And for decorations we are using more leaves, pumpkins, and gourds instead of spooky halloween items. Another idea we had was instead of our flower girl carrying a normal flower basket, she will be carrying a pumpkin shaped basket and dropping fake fall colored leaves, just to add to our theme.

Hope this helps! I can't wait for my October Wedding!


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