Masquerade balls are the stuff of fairy tales—princes disguised behind elaborate feathered masks, and princesses bedecked in jeweled headdresses and silver face paint. If you’re getting married in late October and you’re feeling festive, embrace the holiday season by hosting your very own Halloween themed costume wedding!
Dress up as your favorite character or simply be yourselves, costumed in your wedding finery as your guests surround you in their fanciful masquerading garb. Make the costuming eco-friendly by providing organic or soy-based face paints, hair products, and makeup. You can set up makeup stations in the bathrooms for guests to touch up their cat whiskers or add some drama to their Cleopatra eyes.
Pumpkins
No Halloween wedding is complete without an army of wickedly carved jack o’ lanterns. Have your friends help you carve the day before your wedding (if you carve too far in advance, your edges may wilt). Be sure to fit each pumpkin with an LED light or a soy or beeswax candle. Consider hiring a carving artist to create a large decorative pumpkin with your monogram, your names, the date, or all three. Decorative pumpkins are stunning centerpieces. Use mini pumpkins as place cards. Simply attach a small piece of recycled paper to each one. Create a large cornucopia on your food table to reflect one of the true meanings of Halloween—a holiday of the harvest.
Scary Decorations
Visit the Halloween store and go nuts or make your own decorations at home. Focus on the traditional holiday tropes: spiders, bats, ghosts, goblins, and ghouls. Nothing is too outrageous! If you’d rather have a more glamorous Halloween wedding, focus instead on shimmering gossamer fabrics and create a spooky mood with dim lighting, candelabras, and the occasional sound effect.
Candy
Halloween is all about the candy. Eco-friendly candy is just as delicious as its conventional counterpart. Endangered Species Chocolate is fair-trade and organic and a portion of their profits go towards protecting wildlife. These candy apple lollipops are handmade and all natural. Each one includes a slice of dried apple in the middle for a delicious chewy center. Apples are a traditional autumn/Halloween fruit, so these will suit your theme nicely.
Costumes
If you aren’t content to dress as a traditional bride for your Halloween wedding, consider dressing as a character or historical bride instead. If you love fairy tales, consider Cinderella’s bridal gown featured during her happy ending. If your tastes are a bit darker or lean towards the humorous, consider dressing as the Bride of Frankenstein, complete with teased hair and white makeup. Of course, you don’t have to dress as a bride at all. This is your wedding. You can be whomever or whatever you please!
The Green Bride Guide has everything you need to plan a green wedding. We've got a site full of inspiration -- from real wedding stories to eco-friendly wedding day items to organic gifts -- and offer the largest green wedding directory in the country!
