DIY Budget-Friendly Halloween Wedding With Fancy Dress

Josh and Shandre weren’t afraid of being a little kitsch and over-the-top with their wedding theme. They wanted to tie together a movie theme, with Halloween, while keeping a very home-y atmosphere. They asked their family and friends to dress up as their favorite movie or Halloween character so it felt less like a traditional wedding and more like a house party celebration, which is exactly what they achieved!

They undertook a lot of DIY and concentrated on the things that mattered! Their biggest expense was the food, from their favorite Indian restaurant, and they didn’t spend ages concentrating on getting ‘perfect’ photos, instead just stopping for a few formal portraits before being fully immersed in being present in their day. Unusually, it was Josh instead of Shandre that took the lead for all the planning.

Together they put together props like their Halloween ‘kissing booth’ photo booth, Josh designed the invites and stationery and friends helped put together a Trick or Treat table and hand-carved pumpkins. Shandre baked six bundt cakes with a friend the day before the wedding, enjoying decorating them with cute Halloween decor. In lieu of flowers, they tried to keep things eco-friendly and opted for reusable centerpiece decorations. The bride walked down the aisle with a candy bouquet made by Josh. He also wrote sweet messages on the back of the bouquet for her to read on the day.

For outfits, Shandre dressed as her own modern-day version of Juliet eschewing a conventional dress for a 2-piece outfit bought for under $30 and home-dyed with tea. She paired it with Steven Madden platforms and angel wings from a party shop. Josh dressed as Neo from The Matrix, with a custom-made coat. Their bridesmaids were dressed as Tinkerbell and Takanashi Rikka.