“It was a very gloomy day, not a lot of light to work with, but it actually matched the theme of the wedding and turned out great,” said Holly Aldridge, owner of About to Snap Photography, who shot pictures of the event.
A match made
The relationship between Eastman, a nurse at Saint Francis Hospital, and Pauley, a retired contractor, began — as you might expect — in a somewhat unconventional setup.
“We met through his cousin and my maid of honor at Hooter’s in Kanawha City,” Eastman said.
They’ve been together ever since.
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Pauley proposed at their home just more than a year later, on Aug. 14, 2014, a couple of weeks before their respective birthdays.
“He asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday,” Eastman said.
She was indifferent, but Pauley had his own idea.
“He said, ‘Well, I know what I want to do; I’m going to ask you to be my wife,’” Eastman said.
This is Eastman’s first marriage and Pauley’s second. Pauley has two kids, Seth and Sarah.
Making plans
Eastman and Pauley have been carefully preparing their fall ceremony for the last year.
“We figured out what date and other big things we wanted first,” Eastman said.
“Then, we just took our time, buying things when we had the money.”
Having the wedding on Halloween was Eastman’s idea, but Pauley has gone along with it from the start.
“He said, ‘Whatever you want to do is fine with me,’” Eastman said.
“We’ve done it all ourselves. It’s actually been a lot of fun doing this together.”
The couple gathered a lot of the seasonal decorations, like glitter pumpkins, plastic skeletons and creepy fabrics from holiday sales.
“We got a lot during this year and last Halloween,” Eastman said.
A ‘Nightmare’ of a theme
Once they had a date and began gathering smaller items, Eastman started thinking of ways to incorporate pieces of her favorite film, “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” including the main characters, Jack Skellington and Sally, into her big day.
“I even have a tattoo of them on my right forearm,” she said.
Naturally, that kind of devotion meant putting her own twist on the typical wedding details. Members of the bridal party, for example, were decked out in Jack Skellington tights with the customary pinstripes and round skeleton head, topped off with trademark black and white tennis shoes. As for the bride, Eastman donned Sally tights complete with the stitchmarks and custom “Nightmare Before Christmas” Converse shoes.
Eastman even found full-sized figures of Jack, Sally and Zero, created by Tiffany Steele of Tiffany’s Custom Creations, as well as a custom cake topper of the skeletal couple and, yes, the movie soundtrack to play at various points throughout the ceremony and reception.
Details, details
The bride did wear white — with scrolling red tattoo designs, which matched her own.
“I do have a lot of tattoos,” Eastman said.
And when they said “’til death do us part,” they meant it, symbolizing their love with rings that were carried in a coffin-shaped box.
“Their vows were Halloween-themed,” Aldridge said. “I caught myself listening instead of actually taking the pictures because I was so into hearing what was coming next.”
The reception was planned as an old-fashioned pig roast on Lodge grounds.
“We raised the pig ourselves,” Eastman said.
Music, played by the aptly named DJ Undertaker (who arrived in a hearse), ranged from John Fogerty’s “Joy of My Life” for the couple’s first dance to country classic “Mama Tried” (for the mother-son dance) and “Just Fishin’,” by Trace Adkins (for the father-daughter dance).
Guests were given useful black stadium cups that say “To love, laughter and happily ever after” with the bride and groom’s names and the date to commemorate the occasion.
“It was the most creative wedding I’ve ever done. It seemed like everyone there loved Halloween,” Aldridge said.
The Pauleys are expected to return from their honeymoon in Walt Disney World this weekend, and plan to reside in Griffithsville.
“We’re both big kids,” Eastman said, when asked about their plans.
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