Spooky weddings don’t just belong at Halloween. Karina and Jeff proved it with a gothic summerween slasher celebration in the middle of Arnos Vale Cemetery this June.

The choice of venue raised eyebrows. Some people called it “kooky”, but for Karina it was personal. She used to go there to read during a hard time in her life and later discovered her great-grandparents were buried there. “Even though I never met them it made me feel more connected to the place and its beauty,” she told us. They also had a hearse limo for the day instead of a normal car, “I really felt like Morticia Addams!” she said.

The couple first met on Hinge in October 2023. They went for sushi and then to Fear at Avon Valley for their first date. “Jeff held my hand through the scare mazes, and I held his during the rides; especially Freddy’s Revenge”, the bride laughed. “I loved it but Jeff was not a fan at all!” They bonded over music, films, 00s nostalgia, and a matching sense of humour. A year later, outside the iconic Witch House in Salem, Jeff proposed.

Their wedding pulled from Summerween and slasher summer aesthetics. Black and forest green set the tone, with skulls, horror references, and a ceremony that made space for memory as much as spectacle. Karina wore one of her Nan’s rings and kept a memory table for her, also mentioning her in her vows. “She was more of a mother to me than a grandmother and I lost her in December 2023,” she explained. “I think she would be so happy to know everything worked out okay for me and I am loved.” She walked down the aisle to The Girl by City & Colour while Jeff teared up waiting for her. Together they left the ceremony to New Found Glory’s Kiss Me.

Foxglove and Black handled all the décor, flowers, and stationery, bringing the couple’s vision across multiple spaces in the cemetery. The reception included a fire pit for toasting marshmallows, a stone-baked pizza stall, and a horror-movie themed table plan. The top table was Salem, decorated with a model of the Witch House they had bought on their trip.

For entertainment, they choreographed a dance to Type O’ Negative’s Love You to Death and followed it with a playlist that moved from 90s and 00s cheese into a heavy final hour of metal, pop punk, and goth. The floor saw both the Monster Mash and a Slipknot mosh pit. Guests posed with Scream masks in the photo booth while Jeff recreated the Michael Myers mask moment from when he first asked Karina to be his girlfriend.

Katina’s dress was by Hannah Black Bridal and she found it on Vinted! She then had it altered to fit her perfectly. The décor and florals were their biggest spend but its not one they at all regret, “Becky turned my vision into reality, more than I could dream of,” said Karina. “She set up everything for three different locations on the day, I couldn’t have been happier.” They budgeted £17k and went £1k over, admitting that small things like cutlery and caterer plates nearly slipped through the cracks. “A wedding has so many more moving parts and I wish we had started with some kind of master list before we made our own,” said Jeff. Luckily Karina’s spreadsheet skills saved the day!

Looking back, both wished they’d slowed down and soaked it in more. They also learned the value of time. “Book as much time for your venue as possible even if it’s only an extra hour,” Jeff said. But neither would change the way they pushed against tradition. “It’s not about being quirky for the sake of it; it’s about being true to yourselves”, he continued. “Our wedding perfectly reflected the things we love as a couple, a morbid curiosity for pushing the boundaries of anything conventional… so we went all out.”

Karina agreed: “Some of us dream of black lace, a cemetery and a soundtrack that includes both The Cure and Limp Bizkit. A wedding should reflect who you are, not just what tradition expects you to be. You want skull centrepieces and a Halloween themed table chart in the middle of summer, you do it.”

Karina has followed Rock n Roll Bride since 2013 (!!) after growing up without seeing weddings like what she wanted represented anywhere. “Think about it, when you watch films about weddings: they all look the same. Somewhere over the top, financially unreachable spectacles, yet traditional. Hollywood doesn’t put alternative weddings in films, so I never saw that growing up in my teens or 20s. It’s been brilliant seeing how much more visible and accepted alternative weddings have become, but it isn’t unless you physically look for it. I never expected to be part of Rock n Roll Bride, feels a little surreal, so thank you!”

But Jeff got the last word: “Live fast, die old with a smile on your corpse”. We couldn’t agree more.