Guests Arrive in Full Halloween Costumes to Couple's Surprise Wedding

A couple who usually throw an annual Halloween party decided to switch it up this October and get married at the same time—without telling their guests.

One partygoer went viral after sharing her hilarious DIY costume on Reddit. Madeline Horwath, posting as u/Sturgeon_Swimulator, shared an image of herself dressed up in a DIY costume on October 31. Her outfit was inspired by the cartoon character Lisa Simpson from the iconic American sitcom The Simpsons.

The post, titled "I went to a Halloween party that turned out to be a surprise wedding, this was my wedding attire," has received over 11,300 upvotes.

The newlywed couple Kristen Hallen, 32, and Nathan Hall, 33, who live in Chicago told Newsweek the party and surprise wedding were initially a joke proposed by the former.

Speaking to Newsweek, Hallen, a marketing manager, said: "No one knew about the surprise. At the party, we made an announcement an hour after it started at around 7 pm, we said: 'If you haven't guessed it already, we're getting married in 10 minutes.'

"The room exploded with so much cheering, it was really incredible. We are both active in the Chicago comedy community, and let me tell you what, a room full of comedians knows how to cheer.

"It was truly exactly what we'd envisioned. It was a costume party, with a side of a wedding. Our ceremony was performed by our closest friend Paula Skaggs, who was dressed as Elvis for the party. It was a short ceremony that was funny and incredibly heartfelt."

Nathan Hall's cousins were asked to read the first two stanzas of "Monster Mash" during the ceremony too.

Horwath described the wedding that took place on October 29 as the "most fun and silliest wedding ever."

Speaking to Newsweek, the New Yorker cartoonist said: "I received an invite to the engagement and Halloween party of friends. I didn't intend to wear a costume until I pieced together the clues that it was a wedding. I only had one day and a limited budget to come up with an outfit that I knew I would not be able to make look very neat.

"Being a massive Simpsons fan, I thought the Floreda costume would be perfect. I made sure to tell friends who were going to get a costume and be on time; sure enough."

The outfit is identical to Lisa's ensemble for the "geography pageant" in Season 5, Episode 10. Lisa was supposed to turn up in a rubber suit shaped like the state of Florida. However, Lisa's dad Homer put his DIY skills to the test and came up with the questionable garment.

Horwath described the wedding that took place on October 29 as the "most fun and silliest wedding ever."

Horwath revealed she didn't spend more than $20 on her foam creation, a fraction of the average cost of a wedding guest outfit, according to Bank Rate, a consumer financial services company. On average, a wedding guest spends $155 on wedding attire.

For some people, Madeline's outfit may leave them scratching their heads but for The Simpsons super-fans, it makes total sense.

For those who don't know, the animated sitcom is based on a "dysfunctional nuclear family from Springfield." The Guinness World Record states it "has played a central and highly influential role in popular culture for over three decades. After a record-breaking 31 seasons and 684 episodes, it continues to hold up a mirror to American society and reflect back a distorted, satirical, and, most importantly, hilarious view of the world today."

The 33rd season of the long-running animated comedy show The Simpsons drew in an average of 1.95 million viewers, according to a Nielsen survey.

So, it isn't surprising to see other The Simpsons fans making references to the episode in the Reddit post's comments.

One person said: "That's great! You're clearly the only one that night who didn't have help from their parents!"

Another wrote: "At least it wasn't a surprise funeral!"

"A surprise wedding sounds like an awful idea," said another.

Responding to a comment, Madeline said: "No no it was so much fun. People were in lovely costumes and family was in on it. Everyone knows the couple LOVES Halloween. LOVES it."

Another Redditor said: "I'm really hoping it was your surprise wedding and this will forever be your wedding dress!"

Update 11/04/22, 12:19 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the newlywed couple and photos from the wedding.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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