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8 Beetlejuice Wedding Theme Ideas for a Strange & Unusual Day
Published Friday, Aug. 30th, 2024
Strange and unusual love: Plan a goth wedding inspired by the Tim Burton classic, Beetlejuice
Plan a Beetlejuice inspired wedding ceremony and reception based on the 1988 Tim Burton cult classic! Here are 8 fun ideas to help you plan a sweet and spooky ceremony.
1. Channel the glam-meets-gothic style of Lydia Deetz: Red wedding dress & custom red tuxedo
The red Beetlejuice wedding dress is iconic! Channel Lydia Deetz’s glam-meets-goth style with a tiered red wedding dress and veil, or go with the burgundy Beetlejuice wedding tuxedo… the ruffled dress shirt is optional but that bowtie is a must!
Lydia Deetz's red wedding dress is iconic! Jenna Ortega wore a full-glam twist on the classic Beetlejuice wedding dress on the red carpet at the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Venice Premiere in August, 2024. Both variations are stunning, the vintage vibe and the reimagined look! (Photos: Left: Screenshot from Beetlejuice 1988 via IMdb, the wedding scene / Right: Jenna Ortega, by Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
2. Cast your wedding officiant as the charismatically deviant bio-exorcist himself
Ask a friend to officiate your wedding in costume, or hire a professional wedding officiant who’s eager to go the extra mile – performing the wedding dressed as the bio-exorcist Beetlejuice himself!
A classic Beetlejuice costume, makeup, and styling will transform your officiant into a ghost with the most: a little hairspray, white foundation, a lot of eyeshadow, black and white striped jacket or accents, and even some lime green hair highlights.
Having a friend officiate your wedding is a great choice, especially while playing such a fun role! They can get ordained online to officiate a wedding with AMM for free, and our online ordinations are legally recognized in every state* (although it’s much harder in Virginia, where we’re seeing what our options are).
- Get ordained online free with AMM
- Weddings by State: Minister Registration Requirements
Beetlejuice wedding script inspiration! “Well, what do we got here tonight, kids? Ooo, we got a wedding!” This is an especially fun idea for a Halloween wedding or elopement! (Photo: screenshot from Beetlejuice, 1988, via IMdb)
3. Add your favorite Beetlejuice quotes & memorable moments to the wedding ceremony script
Add your favorite Beetlejuice quotes and memorable moments from the movie to the wedding ceremony script. There are so many to choose from, so turn on the juice and see what shakes loose!
For example, a unique wedding entrance based on Beetlejuice: Instead of having the couple walk down the aisle toward the wedding officiant – have them make their entrance first. Once they’re standing at the altar, they’ll say “Beetlejuice, beetlejuice, beetlejuice!” Then watch as the officiant steps out front to start the wedding, with the familiar quote, “It’s showtime!”
Or, ask your wedding officiant to welcome guests with a new spin on one of the best Beetlejuice quotes: “Well, what do we got here tonight, kids? Ooo, we got a wedding!”
The possibilities are endless! Personalize one of the free wedding ceremony scripts in the AMM Wedding Officiant Script Library to get started:
The Beetlejuice themed wedding attire above is gorgeous and wonderfully elegant, a great example that this wedding theme cam be as campy or classic glam as you want it to be, depending on how you style it!
4. Use fake fingers for the wedding ring exchange
Remember when Beetlejuice pulled a detached finger from his pocket to present Lydia with a wedding ring? That scene is so much fun, and it would be a shame to miss an opportunity to include severed finger props in your wedding… right?
During your wedding ring exchange: Slide your wedding rings onto two fake fingers and give them to the ring bearer, put them in your pocket, or set them on the wedding altar, until it’s time for the ring exchange.
Related: 12 Examples of Wedding Ring Exchange Wording for the Creative Officiant
5. Beetlejuice themed wedding vows
The wedding vow exchange is when you and your partner make your promises for marriage. Writing your own wedding vows is an opportunity to add your personal touch and personality to the ceremony, to really speak from the heart, and to reflect on the nature of your relationship.
If it feels right, adapt a quote from the film that you’ll both recognize and add it to your wedding vows! Here are a few Beetlejuice wedding vow examples (adapted from Beetlejuice quotes, Beetlejuice 1988):
- “My whole life was a dark room before I met you. One big dark room.”
- “They say that live people ignore the strange and unusual. But I myself am strange and unusual, and I think you are too. I promise to always embrace the strange and unusual parts of life with you.”
- “The world is more alive, more fun when we’re together! I promise to be a loving husband to you, to respect and cherish you, to adore the strange and unusual parts of you. So marry me, marry me, marry me, and make me the ghost with the most, babe. I love you today and always.”
- Browse more Wedding Vows Examples
6. Include a dark love poem as a wedding reading
Consider adding a dark love poem to your ceremony as a special reading in honor of Lydia Deetz’s love of poetry. Choose a poem from the article linked below, or add one of your personal favorites to the wedding ceremony script. Wedding readings are often included before the wedding vows, after the officiant’s introduction, but their exact placement in the ceremony is up to you.
For a poem that true fans of the film will appreciate, try the first few lines of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Romance,’ written early in his career. Beetlejuice refers to Lydia as ‘Edgar Allan Poe’s daughter’ in the movie, making these lines a perfect fit for the theme:
“Romance, who loves to nod and sing,
With drowsy head and folded wing,
Among the green leaves as they shake
Far down within some shadowy lake,
To me a painted paroquet
Hath been — a most familiar bird —
Taught me my alphabet to say —
To lisp my very earliest word
While in the wild-wood I did lie…”
(Public Domain, courtesy of the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore)
- Browse more Wedding Readings
This is a Beetlejuice fans wedding dream come true! Themed wedding by hakeemandjasmine (Instagram) pic.twitter.com/c2Nf9lQKxu
— Loot Wear (@lootwear) December 14, 2018
If a costume wedding just isn't your style, plan a more traditional wedding with subtle references to the Tim Burton classic. Then, take a few photos with monster masks and props to commemorate the day!
7. Follow your wedding ceremony with a seance
“Hands vermillion, Start of five. Bright cotillion, Ravens dive. Nightshade’s promise, Spirits strive. To the living, let now the dead come alive!”
(From the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, read by Otho during the Beetlejuice seance/exorcism scene, Beetlejuice 1988)
Follow your wedding ceremony with a ‘seance’ that sets the tone for a spooky dance party and wedding reception! This fun twist on the Beetlejuice seance scene doesn’t have to be an actual seance (unless you want it to be) – it just sets the mood for the party to follow.
To set the stage, decorate a large table in the center of your reception with red candles, black lace, and eerie green lights. Have friends gather around the table and hold hands to repeat the spooky chant above, taken from the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, as you sip custom cocktails and champagne to toast your marriage.
If you want to change out of your wedding clothes into something more comfortable (wedding costume change!), place your wedding dress and suit on the table as part of the spooky decor.
8. Dance to Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)
And of course, no Beetlejuice wedding party would be complete without a dance to Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), by Harry Belafonte. In one of the most unforgettable scenes of the entire film, the spirits of Adam and Barbara possess Delia and Charles Deetz during a dinner party. The ghosts make The Deetz dance to Day-O, as Otho and their other guests sing backup. Put this deep cut on the playlist and watch the party come to life!
Watch the original Beetlejuice wedding scene below:
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'Til Death Do You Part! These decorative marriage certificates features unique designs and bold gothic style text -- a perfect way to commemorate a love that will last until the both of you are nothing but bones... a sweet and spooky love to last for all eternity! Choose your favorite and order now from the AMM Store! Both designs can be personalized with printed details from your wedding day.
Above: Sweet and Spooky Skulls Wedding Certificate & Full Moon and Bats Wedding Certificate, for sale in the AMM Store.
More Tim Burton Wedding Theme Ideas
- Victor’s Wedding Vows From Corpse Bride
- Jack & Sally Inspired Wedding Vows from The Nightmare Before Christmas
Screenshot from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
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Why AMM? American Marriage Ministries is an inclusive nondenominational internet church that ordains and trains ministers to officiate marriage ceremonies. We are a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit church, and help people from all backgrounds and beliefs become ordained ministers for weddings. Our online ordination is free, accessible, and never expire.
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Become an ordained minister online with American Marriage Ministries and officiate wedding for friends and relatives. (Photo: martinedoucet / iStock)
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