Halloween Weddings: Traditions, Themes, and Planning Tips

(Updated October 2025) 

Halloween weddings may seem unconventional, but they offer unique opportunities for creativity, symbolism, and practical savings. From thematic décor to seasonal benefits, marrying around Halloween can make your celebration both memorable and budget-friendly.

 

Why Consider a Halloween Wedding

Halloween is more than just a spooky holiday—it’s a chance to host a wedding during a less busy season, take advantage of vendor discounts, and incorporate festive fall décor. Holiday weddings have historical roots in choosing meaningful dates and symbolic timing, making Halloween a modern continuation of this tradition.
 

Benefits of a Halloween Wedding

Financial Advantages

• October and early November are generally less expensive months for booking vendors, venues, and travel.

• Hotels and reception halls often offer special incentives or discounted rates.

Seasonal Décor Options

• Take advantage of fall-inspired decorations like pumpkins, gourds, autumn leaves, and colorful potted mums.

• Incorporate Halloween elements like candle lanterns, vintage props, or subtle spooky accents without compromising elegance.

Halloween Wedding Themes and Ideas

Costume Weddings

• Guests, bridal party, or even the couple can wear costumes for a fun and creative celebration.

• Consider subtle touches if older or conservative guests are attending.

Elegant / Classy Options

• Black, deep purple, or autumnal color schemes can make a dramatic and stylish wedding.

• Add seasonal floral arrangements and sophisticated décor to keep the celebration classy. (Hobby Lobby sell a variety of centerpiece selections at a reasonable price).

Choosing the Right Venue

• Venues like barns, historic homes, or private estates allow more flexibility for a themed wedding.

• Church weddings may require moderation in theme; consider timing, guest preferences, and decor restrictions.

  Depending on where you live, October's can tend to be unpredictable for outdoor venues like a woodland wedding. 

Halloween a less busy holiday

When it comes to holiday weddings, events planned around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s present busier schedules, and more expensive travel reservations, hotels, etc. Halloween does not pose that issue. Not only can you find better deals for venues, but if you plan a honeymoon following a Halloween wedding, you can often enjoy cheaper travel-related prices. For instance, if you want a beach wedding, the shoulder season in Florida, includes November making it a reasonable possibility.

  

Difference between Halloween wedding and Halloween theme

So far, what I’ve discussed is a wedding that takes place on or near Halloween. If you want, this can be a traditional wedding of your dreams that takes advantage of the benefits associated with the holiday. But now, let’s talk about a Halloween wedding theme. This can be as creative as your imagination allows, but if you are thinking of a church wedding, not every church is open to having a Halloween themed wedding if you dress up like the living dead. 

However, if you think it a quirky fun fit to have a costume wedding for the bride and groom, wedding party, and guests if they want to participate, then Halloween is a perfect fit.

You can even pull of an elegant classy look with the right dress in black. Add a splash of color to pull of a bold color scheme. And if someone wants to complain about the black dress, you can point to the history of the wedding dress and how traditionally women were married in their best black or dark colored dress.

 

Select the wedding venue to meet your needs

If you choose a different venue, like a large house, or an old house, or barn, you can capitalize on the freedom to choose a spooky theme with guests dressed in costume. However, one more thing to consider, if you invite older guests like a grandmother, make sure to prepare them. Historically, Halloween celebrates superstition, lost souls, and would be considered a dark celebration. This might offend some older conservative guests.

The bottom line is that if you are planning to get married, Halloween is a day that offers some positives. How or if you take advantage of them is up to you. If you decide to go for it, what a Halloween wedding would look like for you is up to you. It does offers a new avenue of possibilities. As you consider them, take a step back and think through your choices. One important question to answer is: Do you really want your wedding album to be filled with photos of you wearing skeleton makeup? If not, you can have a wedding that takes advantage of the savings and leave the costumes in the attic. The choice is yours. It’s your wedding! 

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Best gemstones for engagement rings

Diamonds are precious gemstones. I’ve known this since I was a child because it is my birthstone. I used to joke that I would get my birthstone ring when I got engaged. And that became my reality. I’d never really thought of another stone for an engagement ring because engagement rings were diamond rings. Or so I thought.

 

 

Popularity of the diamond engagement ring

Back in the early 1900s the British owned DeBeers Group opened diamond mines in Africa and diamonds became more accessible. But in the 1930s, the United States fell into economic hard times and the demand for diamond rings dropped. To boost sales, De Beers initiated a marketing campaign that used pictures of glamorous movie stars draped in diamonds. Within three years, diamond sales increased by 50 percent. 

It turns out that the popularity of diamond engagement rings can be traced back to De Beers when they launched the slogan, “A Diamond is Forever.” That was 1947. The diamond's durability (10 on the MOHS hardness scale) carried a message that marriage is forever, and its purity and sparkle became representations of the depth of commitment shared by engaged couples. The meaning associated with the diamond is that of purity, love and fidelity. 

Durability of gemstones

But what kind of engagement rings did we wear before diamond rings? Engagement rings can be traced back to Ancient Rome. The first rings were crafted from flint and bone, and then from copper, silver, and gold in the 2nd century CE. 

As for gemstones they've have been collected by rich and powerful people throughout time as a display of wealth. People in the Middle Ages commonly believed that gemstones held medicinal power that could heal and gemstone rings were used as an antidote for sickness, poisoning, or to ward off evil. Some of these old superstitions are still associated with the modern meanings connected to these rings.

Engagement rings get a lot of wear, and the durability factor of diamonds is one of the reasons they are a popular choice for rings. They are the hardest stone in the world on the MOHS Hardness scale. The most popular gemstone choices other than diamonds include sapphire, ruby, and emerald. Of these, Sapphire and Ruby are the hardest. Emeralds are only rated 7.5 to 8 and will require more care because they can chip or break easier. Other common gemstones for engagement rings include: Aquamarine, amethyst, morganite, opal, and tanzanite. However, many of these stones don’t wear well for people who plan to wear their rings every day.

If you are thinking of selecting a stone other than a diamond, I recommend you choose from gemstones with a rating of 8 or higher for daily wear.

 

Gemstones with MOHS scale number of 8 or higher

Ruby (9): Ruby is among the hardest of the precious stones which makes it a beautiful and wise choice for an engagement ring. These fiery colored gems make a stunning choice when set with diamonds. Most modern rubies are treated to increase their color, transparency, or to mend fractures. With this in mind, I want to point out that vintage ruby  jewelry is less likely to be treated, and may have visible imperfections. 

Ruby meaning: Rubies are thought to have a bold, fiery energy and are attributed with several spiritual properties including healing (mind and body), love, energy, passion, positive visions, vivacity and balance.

1 Carat Natural Diamond And Red Ruby Round Cut Bridal Engagement Ring

 

Sapphire (9): Of the sapphire’s alluring beauty and rich colors, the deep, vivid blue is the most desired traditionally, but sapphires are available in a range of colors, including: fuchsia, green, orange, violet, yellow, and an exceptional padparadscha hue (ancient Sanskrit word used to describe the color of a tropical lotus flower) which is a stunning blend of pink, tangerine and salmon shades. 

Sapphire meaning: heavenly favor, innocence and truth, strength, good health and vitality, and protection against negative energy and spiritual discord.

 

Diamond Sapphire White Gold Ring

Topaz (8 to 10): The most common color of Topaz is blue, but it is also available in colorless, pink, yellow, and peach hues. 

Topaz meaning: Nobility, love, passion, and purpose and because of its fiery energy, this gemstone is also associated with self-esteem and good fortune.

Spinel (8 to 10): Spinel owes its gorgeous color to chromium, much like rubies and emeralds do, and is available in a wide variety of colors: black, blue, brown, green, lavender, red, violet. Red is the rarest color and so more expensive. Blue is the second rarest. 

Spinel meaning: A stone of hope, revitalization, and joy of being alive.

Alexandrite (8.5): Alexandrite has excellent durability and doesn’t have the tendency to break when struck. When it comes to color, this stone is unique. Its ability to absorb different wavelengths of light in varied ways depending on the direction of incidence of the rays or their plane of polarization, often result in the appearance of different colors depending on the direction of view. For this reason, alexandrite is defined as a color change variety of gemstone that switches from one color appearance to another, depending on the particular type of lighting. Typically, alexandrite displays a blue-green hue in daylight, while it appears red in incandescent light. The rarest specimens of color-change alexandrite have either yellow green or plain green color.

Alexandrite meaning: Alexandrite is thought to bring luck, prosperity, intellect, and balance between the physical and the spiritual. As an engagement ring it can bring you into the balance of who you are.

14k White Gold Genuine Emerald Swirled Engagement Ring

 

Emerald (7.5 to 8): Emerald isn’t as tough as ruby, sapphire or topaz but it has fair to good durability. However, emeralds are brittle due to their inclusions and may chip or even break if knocked around. This means it requires more care in wearing than the harder gemstones, but with proper care an emerald will last for generations. 

Emerald meaning: The emerald symbolizes truth and love. In ancient Rome it was considered the gemstone of the goddess of love, Venus.

Aquamarine (7.5 to 8): Aquamarines are hard, but also brittle. They are a shade between green and blue which often display conchoidal fractures when broken or chipped. 

Aquamarine meaning: Aquamarine represents trusting and letting go. In ancient times, this gemstone was thought to be the treasure of mermaids and sailors used it as a talisman to bring good luck on the open waters.

Benefits of gemstone engagement rings

Gemstone engagement rings open the opportunity to let your personality and uniqueness shine along with your ring. Plus, it will cost you less than a diamond engagement ring. However, understand the risks associated with the gemstone of your choice so you know how to care for it.

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Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

Photo credits: Image by starbright from Pixabay