Thanks once again to our host, Larry D., who is no doubt terrified by this post.
When my friend real-life friend Sandra told me she was planning a Halloween-themed wedding, let me assure you: I was skeptical. But it turned out absolutely lovely! Which you would expect, if you know Sandra and her beloved Larry L.. Here’s the tour, in 3.5 parts.
1. The Dress.
The event was held at the Robert Mills House (civil ceremony), so you’ll recall Sandra was thinking of a regency-era theme. She raided the silk remnants at the upholstery shop, and put together this:
Awesome period touch: detachable sleeves.
2. Ceremonial Innovation Done Right.
Recall also that I am a curmudgeon’s curmudgeon, and if you tell me that as part of your ceremony you’re going to do some groovy sand-art activity with your children, I’m going to be very, very skeptical. But Larry L. came up with an idea for including the boys in the ceremony, and it went over beautifully. I was impressed. Not many people can pull that off. Well done.
3. Reception = Costume Time.
I think the key to making a Halloween wedding work is to not have a Halloween wedding. Normal wedding, costume-optional reception. Tons of fun.
The decorators-in-law used a deft touch in decorating the reception hall. There were spider webs and all that stuff, but it didn’t pop out like I’m Back In Elementary School For Orange Cupcakes And Candy Corns. The wedding cake was probably the most Halloween-y moment. Which is about right. Wedding cakes are supposed allowed to be fun. Is a giant hairy spider really that much goofier than a chintzy plastic bride-n-groom?
I wish I had a picture of the buffet table, but I’ll just tell you that the secret to a tasteful theme-wedding is to put out a fantabulous spread of good food. Then all the stuffy friends and relatives who might otherwise complain about the decor are too busy noticing the hummus and the curry and the peanut sauce, and the rest is just background. But if you want to put on a Sponge Bob costume, you can.
Or, if you’re a young groomsman, add sunglasses, earbuds, and a suitable weapon, presto-chango, Secret Agent Boy:
(Shown here posing the following day, before we rushed the tux back to the rental place.)
3.5 SuperHusband went medieval for the reception, which is the most comfortable thing you wish you could be wearing anyway. Girls and I stuck to our ordinary wedding attire, but added
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Well, that should give you something to talk about for this week. No, I haven’t finished started my sidebar renovation, so I’m still taking link suggestions.
Hey and while we’re on the topic of good things worth doing right: This week my editor at Liguori is doing her edits on my Classroom Management for Catechists manuscript. So you could say a little prayer that she gets it all cleaned up so that it’s as helpful to readers as possible. Thanks!
This is the best idea ever! I love Halloween so much – I wish I’d thought of this 13 yrs ago for our wedding! Drats.
It was really neat, I was impressed.
Because increasingly, people are not my age: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0CQ8iaK5s8
True enough. Statistically speaking. And maybe culturally as well.
Sounds like it was a blast! And no, I’m not frightened…except that I made sure all the lights were on when I read this.
And the blue frog linky thingy is back at AoftheA! Surprise!!
Woohoo!
Yay, just in time for Halloween!!
::whispers: even though almost all of the Halloween stuff is gone and Christmas retail is up already…just makes me not to buy anything Christmas-y to boycott retailers trying to make an early buck…well except for the Charlie Brown holiday clock that chimes music on the hour, every hour::
1. Yes, the ceremony wasn’t too Halloweenie….but I still had my Halloween on and most people didn’t know it 😉 (Think beginning of the Wizard of Oz)
I think my dress cost less than $50 to make overall…well not including labor. But the best part is knowing I didn’t need to rip one seam. That’s right folks a big level up in sewing!
2. We also added charms to the sand… each charm was a memory Larry and I made with the boys and we told them that there would be many more to make. IE there was a dog and a few cats, lots of sea creatures and beach themed ones, different ones for the holidays, etc. They totally loved this and out of all the things they made sure was going to FL with them was their little sand bottles (we made smaller ones to go home with them).
3. Reception: You forgot to mention the “Candy Bar!” We had red and white wine for the adult guests but that was it for alcohol… so instead of a liquor bar we instituted the Candy Bar. A free-for-all oasis of as many things sweet, sugary and Halloweenie for children (of all ages). Surprisingly the children were more well behaved, despite some possibly early on-sets of sugar highs, than most adults are when alcohol is introduced to a wedding reception. I commend the children!
The cake topper was a custom made (by my Mom and myself) “Nightmare Before Christmas” (Tim Burton) theme with Jack Skellington and Sally… and the other figures in the middle of cake tiers.
The food was awesome and the most expensive part of the wedding exspenses… but we felt it was worth while and the caterer was beyond awesome… we found too many caterers trying to pull fast ones on us with prices, hidden fees or flat out didn’t want to cater because we had too small of a guest number… not this guy and to top it off he made makes everything and selects all the ingredients from local growers. He didn’t charge nearly enough for all the effort… but he enjoys what he does and we are truly thankful for it!
May not be the most ideal thing for a wedding* overall but every little detail was for us and a small but important piece for my boys. Life has handed me its fair share of lemons but Im starting to make and enjoy my lemonade!
*(I just found I don’t like the phrase “civil ceremony” btw …it seems to downgrade the special day to me… like we went to the courthouse or something. There was a TON of planning involved, saving money, working things out, stress…did I mention stress?)
Eek – didn’t mean to annoy you on ‘civil ceremony’. I was just hoping to preempt questions from readers who might have been puzzled about the location. (Obviously I thought it was an absolutely lovely wedding, or I wouldn’t have posted about it. Thanks for filling in all the details!)
No worries.. I didn’t realize it bothered me until I read it. At least not enough that I won’t possibly send a goodie box from where Im at currently in the world (or it gets crammed into my checked baggage and gleefully delivered in person) 😉
Whew! I’d hate to risk the goodie box.
Congrats, I didn’t realize you were working on a manuscript!
Thanks! Yes, my editor at Liguori Publications just hit the submit button to move it on the next person in the chain. The plan is to have the e-book version out early this spring, and the print version (same book) is a Fall 2013 release, which means anytime from Aug-Nov.
The topic is a detailed how-to on getting kids to behave at religious ed so you can actually teach, instead of fleeing at the first opportunity, and deciding you just can’t teach because it was such a disaster at the start.