Stylishly spooky tips for a Halloween wedding

If you’re tying the knot around 31st October and fancy having a little fun with your big day, then a Halloween themed wedding is the perfect choice. And it doesn’t need to be ‘terrifyingly tacky’ either. A Halloween theme can encompass everything from an elegant burnt orange colour scheme and  chic gold pumpkin place settings to a full on Gothic delight, complete with a castle, cobwebs and plenty of flickering candlelight. Just read on for some creatively creepy inspiration...

1 Find a suitably gothic setting

A dramatic castle, rambling old manor house or even picturesque ruins are the perfect backdrop for a Halloween wedding. Laura and Ben had a modern venue but arranged for photos to be taken at a nearby ruin, which looked amazing with her elegant sheath dress and Tom’s black tie suit. “After the wedding we went back to our special place, the top of Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower in Wales,” she says. “It’s unbelievably beautiful there, with some wonderful castle ruins overlooking the estuary."

2 Add some fun spooky touches

If you’re going all out with the Halloween theme you’ll love this wedding at Danby Castle, in North Yorkshire, where newlyweds Lewis and Katie incorporated everything from skeletons and coffin-shaped place cards to black and red flowers and a spine-chilling wedding cake.

“I love Halloween,” says Samantha Gilchrist of The Gilchrist Collection, which represents Danby Castle. “It’s a time of fun and magic, making it the perfect theme for a wedding. We see lots of lovely weddings across our venues, however this one really stands out. Danby Castle also has some beautiful ruins for the photographs, which was ideal.”

3 …or go understated and autumnal

If the full gothic romance is a bit too much, why not go for beautiful autumnal colours as a tasteful nod to the season? Emma and Tom had an autumnal, rustic/woodland theme for their October wedding. “The main colour was burnt orange and tables were named after trees. We also used lots of log slices and pumpkins for decoration, as well as leaves and bunting that I’d made out of autumnal-coloured material.”

For their October wedding at elegant Chatsworth House, Lucy and Josh went for lovely golds, coppers and browns with burgundy and burnt orange. “I made all of our decorations fit into that aesthetic,” she says. “Place settings were personalised mini pumpkins, that doubled as favours, and we used mini 'crackle effect' LED pumpkins instead of tea lights.”

John and Suzanne mixed royal blue and orange with glass fish bowl centrepieces filled with orange and purple flowers. Favours were Terry’s Chocolate Orange Segsations and the three-tier cake had two small pumpkins on top, to represent the newlyweds.

4. Shady ladies…

Get your maids involved in the Halloween fun, with elegant black bridesmaids dresses. It’s the ideal nod to the theme, but also very sophisticated. You can even treat them to matching pairs of black shades, to complete the look!

Plus, black is a perfectly practical choice, too. Lots of our real brides choose it, whatever the season, because it's stylish, flattering and, even better, your maids can wear their dresses again after the big day.

5. Trick or treat?

Favours and table settings are where you can have some real fun with this theme. Think ghoulish goblets for the drinks, flowers arranged in large pumpkins and frightening favours of ghost-shaped sweets or treats in little coffin-shaped boxes. Why not create some fun creepy cocktails too, like a Black Magic martini or a Pumpkin Pie punch? Get the kids involved with personalised trick or treat bags filled with spooky stickers, face paints and simple costumes, such as cats’ ears or vampire fangs.

Harry Potter fans Helen and Carl really went to town with their magical theme. “We had everything from creatures and invisibility cloaks to wands as favours," says Helen. "We also had paper flowers, made from the Harry Potter books. The themed wedding cake had flags, a map, candles, potion bottles and quills. When we cut it, everyone put their wands in the air and confetti cannons went off!”

6. Finish with some terrifying tunes

For the afterparty, mix a suitably devilish playlist (Think the Ghostbusters' theme tune, 'Time Warp', 'Monster Mash', 'Thriller' and more) with some fun decor. We love Georgina and Toby’s stylish 'Til Death Do Us Party’ dance floor sign. It’s perfect for creating that chic Halloween vibe!

So, whether you go for autumnal brights, creepy chic or ghoulish and gothic, we hope we’ve inspired you to have a bit of creative fun with your Halloween wedding. After all, why be serious when you can be seriously spooky instead!

Happy Halloween!

Click here for lots more wedding ideas from our brilliant real life brides. Also, for more inspiration, check out our Instagram, Facebook or TikTok accounts. And, once your frighteningly fabulous big day is finished, please send us the pictures. We’d love to see!

*Danby Castle images: Angela Waites