Halloween is not just a day for ghosts anymore. It can be an elegant, fun wedding day too. There are several great benefits to celebrating your big day on Halloween.

• Many vendors are in less demand on Halloween. As a result, they may have special incentives or discounts. It may also mean that you have more varied times and options available.

• Though Halloween is considered a major holiday, it does not cause the travel interference that Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s seem to pose, especially in large cities and suburbs. In fact, travel is often less costly at this time. If you plan to travel right after your wedding, you can have a fantastic honeymoon even if you are getting married on a budget!

• A large array of organic, colorful, beautiful, and inexpensive decorations are widely available including gourds, squash, and various colors of pumpkins. Leaves, nuts, fall berries, feathers, and so on can replace or add color to many elegant floral arrangements. Potted mums in shades of yellow, burgundy, rust, or white also are an inexpensive alternative to traditional flower arrangements.

• If you really want to make a bold statement with your wedding, Halloween is a great way to do so! It’s already a non-traditional day for weddings but it also allows for creativity that is not normally seen in a traditional wedding. A wedding using primarily black, for example, will highlight other colors and create quite a bold color scheme - black and bright red, black and orange, or black and white. A black wedding dress can also be elegant and eye-catching; the key is to make it classy, not trashy.

• Your wedding website can also capitalize on Halloween and be a bit scary. For example, you could write about how you met in the form of a ghost story.

• Wedding venues can also play a role in the theme of your Halloween wedding. A beautiful hall, for example, with more mood lighting and décor can create an ambiance of richness without becoming tacky while playing up the spooky theme.

While the above reasons are great ones to have a Halloween wedding, there are a few caveats you should consider:

• Though many houses of worship have gothic, spooky architecture that would be fitting for a Halloween wedding, many do not allow Halloween theme weddings. Some may permit a traditional wedding on Halloween but not one that is dark, demonic, or scary. Make sure to ask your venue what is allowable.

• Halloween, historically, is a holiday that celebrates superstition, lost souls, and darkness. This “dark celebration” can be offensive to many older or conservative or traditional guests. However, a classy, elegant wedding will quickly overcome those concerns.

• With so many options for Halloween weddings, it can be easy to go overboard. Take a step back and put your future in perspective. Make sure that the choices you make now will be the same ones you’ll love when celebrating your 50th wedding anniversary. For example, an elegant, black wedding gown and raven feather bouquet may be beautiful years later; however, the skeleton make-up may not.

For a memorable wedding day, you might choose the most unusual day of the year – Halloween! With unique affordable options, a Halloween wedding can be a show stopper if you keep your creativity in balance with elegance and class.