fantasy favors

I don't know if I've mentioned this on the blog before, but I'm planning two weddings. One is the fabulous Hallowedding you will be attending, orange and brown and black, costumes encouraged, brimming with pumpkins and candy and autumnal goodness.


The other wedding is a made-up wedding where it is not Halloween, it is warm outside, my colors are purple and grey and everything is very chic.
This wedding will not be happening.
I don't regret our wedding date, but it does rule out certain details that don't fit the holiday or the season. Outdoor weddings on October 31st are VERY RISKY in Nebraska, since we've had several Halloweens canceled for snow and few children have known a season where their costumes didn't incorporate a parka. So that's out. Also, nature will deny me lilacs, which are very sentimental to me, and were I to be married in the spring, they'd be frickin' everywhere. In mason jars.

I don't think I'm the only bride who does this. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am not the only person who had big elaborate plans for their wedding that they secretly hold in their heart just in case they magically find, oh, several thousand extra dollars to contribute to their wedding. The elaborate, poster sized wedding invitations. The custom made Stephanie James dress. The lighting designer projecting tree branches onto the dance floor (actually I could do this myself, were my venue willing, but I highly doubt they are capable).

And oh, wedding guests, if I had the money, the favors you would get!

Now, let me just say that in my brain, I don't care about favors. They're cute, sure, but if they're missing from a wedding I don't really care. I really liked getting martini glasses from Jen and Jon's wedding, and the individual Jones Soda from Vince and Sarah (yummy AND adorable!) and Brandon and Mura (whose wedding I still need to cover...damn) made donations for their guests. These were all great. We're doing a candy buffet for ours--painfully trendy, yes, but it really fits with it being Halloween and if people leave their favor on their tables then I get lots of candy. Win. Win. Win.
That's my in my brain.

But my heart, Maria, but my heart....

IF I HAD THE MONEY, or if I could somehow cut our guest list down by 100 people and not be torn apart by guilt, I would lurk around ebay for months and give everyone amazing vintage Halloween goodies.
You're kind of lucky I don't have the money, actually, because what I consider amazing vintage Halloween goodies some people consider "Old Crap"
Like the candles! Oh vintage candles! You beautiful waxy sirens.Cupcake picks, which remind me of the cupcakes you get at grocery stores (in a good way) and totally make me swoon. (That sounds like the wedding is getting to my head but you'd be wrong, suckas! I've always gone crazy over useless cupcake decoration. SO THERE)
Or just tiny little pointless plastic toys (which could also go on top of cupcakes!)
But they're averaging about $5 a piece (and I don't think Jesus would forgive spending that much money on stuff most people would throw away) and there's no guarantee I'd be able to find 150+ of any one item so....more pointless longing.

However, I might find some place for these sort of findings if not in the hands of my guests.

(Oh, and if you search "vintage halloween" on ebay you get something that is not vintage, classic, or classy, but still makes my heart ache a little bit with kitschy nostalgia:
HALLOWEEN MCNUGGET BUDDIES!Can you smell that? I think it's the nineties.)