Obsidian & Wayne’s Gothic Halloween-Themed Wedding!

The offbeat bride: Obsidian, Secretary
Her offbeat partner: Wayne, Warehouse

Location & date of wedding: Royal Canadian Legion Hall Maple Leaf Branch No. 66 on October 14th, 2006 in Toronto, Ontario

What made our wedding offbeat: After knowing my hubby for about 13 years we finally up and decided to get hitched. So we got engaged with a 4 carat garnet ring that I chose, then got down the nitty gritty and planned a wedding for 10 months in the future.

We wanted a small budget wedding with all the trimmings on a limited budget; sit-down dinner, unique centerpieces, nice table linen, dj etc for about 50 people. I always knew that the colours would be red and black and that it would be set in my favourite season, fall. We wanted a big plain room that we could decorate ourselves and would serve as an all-in-one venue, that wouldn't break the bank that had a bar and room for dancing.

I asked my MOH if she knew of a place like this and she recommended the Legion where her husband rented for his magic card games, as it was $361.00 to rent the place for the night and was what we described.

We went to have a look, it was square and large with burgundy carpeting surround a hardwood floor and a small stage for a dj to set up and a bar at the end. We put down $100.00 that night and booked it!

I made all the bouquets and head pieces for the girls from a lot of red velvet roses and black roses. I decorated the mini jack o' lantern centerpieces with the same flowers and decorated the arch with more roses and black tulle and red Christmas lights.

We had a roast beef dinner rather then offering two options. and our sing-a-long song was to “Barrett's Privateers”. Our marching music was “Mack The Knife” for the bridesmaids and “Loch Lomond” for my Scottish father and I, as this was the first song I ever learned.

Our spider cake was supplied by a bridesmaid and we cut it to “The Addams Family Theme” song with a meat cleaver. Our guest favours were 300 jello shots on a 3 foot cupcake stand and Halloween chocolate hand that I got on Ebay.

I got my red and black wedding gown on Ebay, along with my black veil. Pretty much all of the of the wedding stuff was purchased on Ebay: our rings, my jewelery and hoop skirt, our arch, our flowers, our butterfly wings, our invites, our table cameras, our personalized disposable napkins etc.

Our Usherette was dressed like a 1920's theatre usherette and my brother, who was the sword “ring” bearer did a Katana sword dance for us.

Our biggest challenge: Finding enough red and black wedding related items to include in the wedding. Trying to stay within the $4,000.00 budget that we set for ourselves, which my father donated to us. We managed to! And making so many sub-themes balance out without going over the top with any one of them.

My favorite moment: When people laughed at the little jokes that we included in the ceremony itself and when people started to applaud when we all bowed at the end while “That's Entertainment” by Judy Garland played.

My offbeat advice: It is your day, whether it be a big or small budget wedding. Make it about you. You aren't going to enjoy your day if nothing reflects your personality.

Enough talk — show me that wedding porn: Click the photo below to see stunning shots of Obsidian and Wayne's Red and Black Gothic wedding!

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