Helena and Josh didn’t want a big wedding and they didn’t want a church. What they did want was fog, foliage, and something that felt a little haunted. They landed on a plan that involved flying to New England with only two guests – Helena’s mother and Josh’s son Dexter – and getting married in front of an old water mill, just after Halloween, wearing outfits that wouldn’t look out of place in a Hammer Horror film.

They live in Nashville, but neither of them wanted to get married in Tennessee. “To put it bluntly,” Helena said, “we definitely didn’t want a cookie-cutter, typical ceremony at one of the many churches here in the Bible Belt.” She was raised in a town of 300, where the only buildings were churches. Josh had grown up in Catholic and evangelical circles. “Throw a rock, you hit a church, no joke,” she said. “We did not want to be affiliated with any Christian or religion period for our wedding. Having a wedding and inviting people in our family from all those various Protestant/Catholic backgrounds, then our friends that are in the goth/alt/metal scene…. it would not mesh well. We have a few open-minded family members and friends we would have been thrilled to have had at the wedding, but we decided to do our own thing.”

Planning something that avoided religious overtones, clashing values, and awkward small talk became the priority. So they skipped all of it and started looking north. The final location was the Grist Mill at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts. They were the first couple to ever hold a wedding ceremony in front of it. They were also the first to get married there before noon. The ceremony took place at 9:30am. “That left the next couple of hours for photos, then whatever we wanted to do,” Helena said. “The best part of the location was the hire fee was just a It simple donation to their historical preservation and a photography deposit. That thrilled us being history lovers.”

Helena wore a vintage Gunne Sax gown and made her own dried flower bouquet. Josh wore tweed, also vintage. Together, they wanted their day to pull from the 1960s and 70s, drawing on the colour palettes and costuming of horror films from the era. “The attire, hair, and general style were inspired by the Hammer Horror films. Clothing and makeup style of The Love Witch. A good friend of ours said some of our wedding photos gave Black Sabbath vibes!”

Maël, their photographer, leaned fully into the look. The images have the feel of an old film still: warm tones, eerie textures, a dreamy haze. The setting also gave them a visual that felt both timeless and slightly strange.

They planned the entire thing in three months. “We lucked out our five-year dating anniversary landed on a Saturday,” Helena said. “I threw the idea to Josh by saying, ‘Hey, want to spend Halloween and our anniversary getting married?’ He was gung-ho about it.”

After the ceremony and photos, the four of them drove to Rockport, Massachusetts, where they stayed in a cottage decorated in Art Nouveau style. It doubled as a honeymoon. “We spent the next two days exploring Salem, Gloucester, and other Massachusetts towns with Dexter and my mother. It was a dream come true.”

They haven’t had a reception yet, but they’re planning a big shindig with their favourite people soon. For now, they’re glad they did it their way. “Don’t overthink or overdo the wedding,” Helena concluded. “Plan the wedding how you want your wedding to be, not how your family and/or friends will think it should be.”