By Emily Younker
eyounker@joplinglobe.com
Dressed in white with teased hair and blackened eyes, Stephanie Womack walked down the leaf-strewn path in her father’s arm.
Her groom, Joe Womack, waited at the end of the path, wearing a werewolf mask and a black T-shirt.
The Womacks were married Saturday afternoon at the Haunted Hollows Spook Trail in Joplin in a costumed, Halloween-themed outdoor wedding.
“It (Halloween) is our favorite holiday,” Joe Womack said. “It always has been. It’s the only holiday (in which) you can basically dress up and scare people, and get away with it.”
Stephanie Womack said she thought a Halloween wedding would be fun because she has loved dressing up in costumes since she was a little girl.
Leona Huffman, the bride’s mother, said that when her daughter first approached her about a Halloween wedding, she thought it was unusual.
“But this is not my wedding; this is my daughter’s wedding,” Huffman said. “It’s something to do together, so they’re happy. And what more can a mother ask for her daughter than her happiness?”
Like many mothers on their daughter’s wedding day, Huffman was snapping pictures during the ceremony and admitted to shedding a few tears.
“She looked cute,” she said of her daughter. “She made a good bride of Frankenstein. All in all, they’re happy, so it’s been a happy day.”
Deborah Stevenson, Joe Womack’s mother, said she thought the wedding was great.
“We wanted it to be a homemade wedding, where you do everything at home and not buy a bunch of stuff at a store,” she said. “You know, just like you were when you were a kid and your mom made your costume.”
Stevenson, who was dressed as a killer nurse, said her family doesn’t always like to follow tradition.
“This made him (Joe) happy,” she said. “He’d always planned to be married on Halloween.”
Stevenson said she helped Stephanie Womack choose the bride of Frankenstein costume, an ironic twist to her fiance’s werewolf costume.
“I am a monster-movie addict, and it just kind of fit,” she said. “The Wolfman and Frankenstein were mortal enemies.”
Thelma Farmer, who owns bridal and floral shops in Joplin, performed the ceremony dressed in black with a pointed witch’s hat.
“This is awesome,” she said. “It’s a wonderful, grand adventure, however they chose to play it out. They really mean business here.”
Angelic Qubic, the maid of honor, said she thought a Halloween wedding was unorthodox at first, but the idea grew on her.
“Joe and Stephanie are a little unorthodox,” she said. “They like Halloween and scary movies.”
Dressed as a schoolgirl, Qubic said the wedding “fits them and turned out well.
“You see them (the Womacks) together, and it was perfect for them,” she said.
On the job
Because the Womacks work at the spook trail — Joe as a werewolf, Stephanie as a bride of Frankenstein — they said they planned to relax with their families Saturday afternoon and spend Halloween night working at the trail as usual.
Joplin Metro
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Monster-movie fans say vows on Halloween
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