Entertain: ‘Til Death– A Sophisticated Halloween Inspired Wedding

When Shana of Society Sweets contacted me early in September with an idea to style a shoot to feature some of her amazing Halloween desserts, I was so excited!  I typically throw a big Halloween party of some sort…either a big carnival for my neighborhood, or an adult Halloween bash…but this year I didn’t have any particular plan in place.  The simple shoot quickly grew into something more when we started talking about locations.  We had both recently just been to a Hearth Gathering Dinner at RJ Imports in San Juan Capistrano, and I had left totally inspired.  I had been there many times before, but always to shop.   When I attended the dinner in July, I saw it in a different light, as an AMAZING venue for a wedding!  Shana contacted the super nice owners and asked I they might be willing to let us do a shoot there and it was on!  I rounded up a few of my other faves (Posey Pop, Brittany Gharring, Kimberlee Miller and Cherished Rentals) and we had a wedding shoot on our hands!  I hope you enjoy what we created!

I created a few paper goods, including this invitation.  The whole idea I was going for with the overall look, was Hauntingly Beautiful.  Elegant and sophisticated…ideas that could be taken and used by real brides for real weddings, but just add a little eerie factor for the fun of Halloween.  I think these invitation were a nice compliment to that sophisticated look.

I wanted the color scheme of the whole event to be black and white…and I asked Posey Pop to let the flowers bring in all of the fabulous fall colors.  She more than delivered!

Shana continued the black and white theme with the dessert table.  Chocolate sugar cookies hand-stamped with skeletons, black candied apples, fudge with homemade marshmallows, death by chocolate cupcakes, and a black and white cake. I added a simple runner made with black doilies that I found at Michaels.  It was a great addition to the rustic dessert table.

There were a couple of easy DIY projects I did for this shoot.  One was the muslin runner on the table.  I simply tore a 12″ wide strip of muslin and then ran a very loose straight stitch down each side so that I could pull the thread and gather it to create a ruffle.  SO simple and it was really pretty!

The pumpkins are on of my favorite elements.  They definitely add a “fall/Halloween” touch, and the graphic black and white really played well off of the more wild, colorful flowers.  It was a super easy project too!  Just paint or dip pumpkins in black paint, and while it’s still wet, sprinkle with black glitter.  Let dry and you’re done!

I also wanted to bring a little more texture into the black and white color scheme, so I bought a few fabrics with varying patterns and ripped them into 3″ strips and then sewed them together to make a garland.  I draped the garland behind the dessert table and over the bride’s and groom’s chairs.  I also made his and hers silhouette banners to hang on the chairs at the table.

The escort cards are quick and easy too.  Chalkboard tags with vintage keys and a few rhinestones.

and then there were the models…they were the icing on the cake.  Gorgeous girls that brought life into the pictures.  Brittany Gharring perfectly captured the look I wanted with eerie beauty.  She is amazing!

Ok, sorry for the millions of pictures.  I was just SO in love with this shoot!

Looking for more fun Entertaining ideas?  Find all of our parties and styled shoots here.  You can find lots of fun Halloween ideas in our Halloween DIY Gallery.  Check out all  of our DIYs for every occasion in our DIY Gallery.

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I hope you have a great day!
tammy