…to my Halloween wedding party! Before you ask, no, I haven’t eloped in the past couple of days without telling you. This is all imaginary unfortunately. After having my original real-life blog party plans ripped up and thrown out the window last week I was at a loss for something interesting to contribute. But then this dawned on me!
I’ve actually been planning on starting a bridal blog for ages, though I’ve too many other things on the go at the minute to get round to it. I don’t know what it is about weddings; I’m not the most girly-girl but as soon as I got engaged last year I started pouring over wedding magazines, salivating over dresses and décor. Maybe it’s because they’re just like Halloween- a great excuse to dress up and gorge on food and merriment.
Usually I think a themed wedding’s fine if it’s subtle and tactfully done, it can add that personal charm, though too often the theme can become overwhelming and take away from the significance of the day. With Halloween, however, more is definitely more! I might have been lamenting the increasingly forgotten quiet spookiness of Irish Samhains past in my recent posts, but what I don’t think I made clear is that I really do love the modern American-ised holiday too. It has such a fun carnival atmosphere, perfect for a completely over-the-top wedding day extravaganza. Plus, I’m a huge Tim Burton fan and, well, that just goes without saying.
In reality himself and I will probably just grab a some family and friends and head off to Italy for a few days to do it on the cheap. The pennies aren’t too plentiful and the minute, I’m afraid. But for this evening at least I would to like you to join me on a little journey of imagination, where budgets are limitless, the sun always shines, and time stands still. Let us begin…
The Location
*To begin with I'm going to have to ask you do a bit of mental picturing.*
While neither of us are religious, I at least have a spiritual side and the thought of a quickie in a registry office seems rather pointless to be honest. Our original plan when we got engaged was to have the ceremony in a four-thousand-year-old pre-Celtic ring fort up on a hill near where we live, but for the day that’s in it some hallowed ground seems more appropriate. As such, the wedding proper would be held in this overgrown churchyard exactly half way between where we both grew up.
Like any graveyard worth it’s salt, this place has countless stories to tell. And it’s definitely haunted too; the other day when I went to take these photos, my mum’s dog went completely uncharacteristically crazy at one of the tombstones. The poor wee thing was terrified. Anyway, I don’t have time to get into it’s history right now, but I’ll just tell you that it dates from the sixth century and is so much more beautiful in real life. You can check out loads more photos of it on my Flickr page, though they really don’t do it justice.
We’d have the service at around 5pm, just catching the fading evening light. In reality the weather would probably be atrocious but this is a fantasy, after all, and in this reverie it would be dry and smoky, with mist hanging over the fields the way it’s wont to at this time of year. Then when the sun sets the fog would lift to reveal a huge harvest moon and a blanket of stars hanging over the lough which the grand ballroom of the reception hotel looks onto.
This is said hotel. Not much to look at is it? Well bear with me. Built in the mid-nineteenth century, this place once oozed Victorian charm. Even as late as the 1980s it was described by one travel writer as being a worthy setting for an Ealing comedy. I had vintage photographs of it to show you, but I’ve forgotten them so you’ll have to take my word for it. It doesn’t really matter though, because this is what it looks like today. Partially gutted by a fire a couple of decades ago, it now lies abandoned overlooking the shore front of our town.
I’ve never been inside myself but from what I hear I imagine dusty chandeliers, once grand but now creaky sprawling staircases, hallways like those in The Overlook, cobwebs and candelabras… Perfect really!
Again, it’s high up there on the haunted scale too. My secondary school was right around the corner from it and I’ve heard many an urban legend about the entire area encompassing the hotel. Some were about rooms in the main building itself, others about a particularly cursed house next to it, and loads about students from the school holding séances in and around it. Every one had a tragic or otherworldly ending. I wish I’d time to tell you some of them, maybe I’ll do a post on it another day.
The Décor
I think the graveyard is pretty enough in itself not to need any embellishment, and the hotel is almost eerie enough not to need much work done to it either. There’d definitely be no need to tidy it up too much; we could keep all the spider’s webs and dust layers for effect. (Personally I think the rats could stay as well but I’d say some of the guests might not be too keen on that.) There’s also a heap of antique furniture lying around inside on account of a local manufacturer once using it as a storeroom. All we’d need to do is drape old white sheets over anything that didn’t have a tatty charm.
That being said, weddings are such a wonderful excuse to get crafty. Wherever and however I get married, for example, I’m definitely having paper flowers. Let the real ones grow where they are, I want to make my own! And when it comes to DIY Halloween décor the mind literally boggles. Here are a just a few ideas for inspiration:
The Dress
Ah yes, the dress. Now this is where I become undone. It’s also a perfect example of the gulf between my real life plans and my fantasies. Whereas I actually plan to get a really simple and plain tea length number, my imaginary dress could be almost anything. Well, anything except one of your typical strapless, poofey get ups. I’ve included here just a tiny example of ones I love, and these are only the those I think would suit Halloween. You know, I’ve so many inspirational gowns bookmarked I could start a whole blog for them alone!
Masks
One of the most enduring elements of the traditional Halloween is the custom of wearing masks. Back-in-the-day folks believed they’d prevent them from being recognised by any of the wandering souls returning for their annual visit. If there’s any truth in that then we’d definitely need to don a few for protection in our haunted reception site.
Food and Drink
One thing that’s wonderful about a Halloween party is that the food can double up as decoration. Just take that most wonderful Autumn delight, the toffee apple. They look and taste yummy, and we could attach little name tags to them and use them as place settings and favours.
We could also put the insides of all those turnips we’d have carved to good use in the hearty banquet of Irish seasonal treats we’d be laying on: vegetable broth dished out from a giant cauldron and served with wheaten bread; coddle and cabbage and bacon and champ for the main; baked pears, apple tarts, and berry crumbles for dessert. Later in the night we’d serve tea and barmbrack for supper.
All this would be washed down with as many beers and ale we could muster, as well as whiskey, red wine, cider, and even mead. Oh, oh, and absinthe poured over sugar for that dry ice effect.
As for the cake, instead of going all ‘Corpse Bride’ and ghoulish I think an old fashioned vintage style classic tiered creation would fit better with the old world atmosphere of the location. And, like in bygone days, we’d have little trinkets baked into it for luck.
Entertainment
After we’ve recovered from the feasting we’ll need something lively to get us back on our feet, like a decent ceili band. They’re always good for a laugh and suit all ages. We’d have to have a fair aul dose of rock thrown in there too though, for after when all the mammies and daddies have sneaked off to bed. And what better band for it than one of my all time favourites (and his too!) The Smashing Pumpkins. Don’t forget this is a fantasy people, so we’d have the actual guys themselves playing! We could get in The Pixies too for pure 90s heaven.
While we waited on those guys to set up we could take a stroll down to the beach for a huge bonfire. The path down would be lit with luminaries and before returning to the party guests would get paper lanterns to release into the sea air. Hell, we may as well throw in some fire works too. It is Halloween after all.
Just For Fun
Finally *phew* I’ve just a couple of ideas for other little quirky finishing touches. I can’t believe how long this post has taken me, and to think that this is the shortened version! I would never have gotten it published on time if I’d included everything I’d planned on. Maybe I really will have to start a wedding blog… Anyway, I love the idea behind these little cards from
HandyKane that guests can fill out and leave for you to read in coming years. With our friends and family I dread to think what they’d predict for us. I’d say it’d make good reading though!
And how about getting an arty friend to alter your zombify some of your wedding snaps as a gift, something like this wonderful art print from
Corpse Key Co.
Well there you have it, folks, a little run down of my imaginary Halloween wedding. Thanks for reading and I hope I haven’t bored the arse off you all! I’d also say a special hello to any newcomers who have found their way via
Vanessa and her wonderful party. I hope to be visiting all of your little corners of the web shortly!
I’ll leave you now with a little video from the aforementioned Smashing Pumpkins. They actually have so many better songs than this, some really beautiful ones that would be perfect for a first dance, but I love this video. I generally love all their videos, though this is probably the freakiest and most Halloweeny. I’ve also had weird dreams based on it in the past, but we’ll not get into those now…Anyway, thanks again for stopping in. Hope you all have a fantastic Halloween!
