Elegant Halloween Wedding Inspiration
Play off the Halloween mood with locally available dark colored foliage and carefully curated vintage place settings to create a dark, glam, and sophisticated Halloween Wedding. Oh, did I mention it's inside an old dairy barn?
It is no secret that Dairyland (Snohomish, WA) is one of my favorite venues. It is literally a big blank canvas that fits nearly any style and definitely any color pallet. I dreamed up this style shoot while looking at the two reclaimed iron chandeliers Amee Quiriconi and John Beal repurposed from the Lake City Way Elk's Club. The black metal had a charm to it which I hadn't seen used in an event. So I made it happen with a styled bridal and wedding inspiration shoot.
The theme of this Styled Wedding Inspiration is Dark elegance. October in the Pacific Northwest brings in many changes in the area, most notable may be our never ending rain, less daylight, and gorgeous changes in color. The area that was lush and green in the summer becomes a mood-filled yellow, orange and burgundy play land. Keeping in line with my love of all things locally-sourced, I kept it very Washington with a team full of Snohomish County wedding pros and locally sourced or repurposed everything.
The first thing I purchased for this styled wedding inspiration shoot was the black taper candles, then I designed everything else around them. I wanted the moody Halloween touches to be obvious, but not the focal point.
Candles come in many colors and are an easy way to bring unique elements to your wedding. Candles are also a great way to shop small or local, handmade businesses. I often find a great selection of candles at my local thrift stores. Repurposing something that would otherwise be thrown away my number one tip for saving money on decor.
For example, take a look at the urn Paeonia Pine's (aka, me!) floral centerpiece was arranged in. This was a thrift store find. It contained a worn out silk arrangement that I carefully removed. I cleaned up the urn and it was ready to have new life! My favorite part of it was the worn paint, which played well with the worn whitewash of the barn.
While we are on the topic of flowers, all flowers used in this styled wedding inspiration session were from Field to Heart, a local, woman-owned flower farm in Snohomish, WA. Danielle has beautiful flowers available, does u-cut flowers so you can pick exactly what you want, and will even have a DIY flower party in their potting shed to help you create your bouquets. It is a great way to get guidance if you want to go the DIY flower route.
My favorite part about using local flowers is the excitement of finding out what is going to be available the week of. Unlike commercial facilities that grow in greenhouses or in warmer regions and then transport flowers around the world, local farmers are at the mercy of the climate and must learn to grow what naturally thrives in the Pacific Northwest. The blooms are always beautiful and add depth and variety to any color pallet, which is exactly Paeonia Pine's aesthetic.
What about the greenery on the barn door?
One of my favorite things in October is the climbing ivy plants changing from green to yellow and burgundy. I wanted to bring that inside, making it appear autumn was creeping its way inside the barn. The greens are from my verbinium tree in my back year. Verbinium are also known as a snowball tree for the white puffs of flowers in late Spring. Through the early summer they drop those lovely little flowers all over, but come Autumn you'll again appreciate the tree as it's leaves begin to shift to a deep green and lovely red. It is another part of the shift in seasons I could not leave out.
There was another vendor on the shoot who favors using local and often edible flowers is Pacific Northwest Cupcakes. Lauren does not make only cupcakes. Through her artisan bakery she provides organic and locally sourced cakes and confections. Her signature style is her genache drizzled almost-naked cakes decorated with locally sourced botanicals. Lauren loves using the edible flowers that Danielle of Field to Heart grows in her recipes.
Lauren also works behind the scenes with the florists at weddings and events to use the same flowers, colors and textures as the rest of the floral decor. This process uniquely ties together multiple elements of your wedding day for one cohesive look.
Enough talking about it. Here are photos of her drool-worthy cakes and cupcakes.
But first, you've got to know - Pacific Northwest Cupcakes bakes vegan and gluten-free!
