‘Dead wedding’ Halloween theme transforms Dublin home
The display draws scores of people to the area including schoolchildren and this year is in aid of Breast Cancer Ireland.
The front of a house in north Dublin has been transformed into a “dead wedding”, featuring bride and groom skeletons and a gagged mother-in-law, in a bid to raise money for charity.
For the last 12 years, Alison Stafford has decorated the front of her Clontarf home with a themed set of decorations for the Halloween period.
This year is titled the “dead wedding between Gertrude and Bartholomew” and includes the bride and groom as well as wedding guests and a hearse.
It draws many people to the area including schoolchildren and this year is in aid of Breast Cancer Ireland.
“It started off kind of small, and my kids were small back then,” said Alison. “I’ve always had an interest in Halloween and as the years went on, I started to do more of a theme.
“I’ve done a “dead and breakfast”, “witches’ huts”, pirates, the circus theme, graveyard scenes.
“It was always a set design and a story rather than throwing out every Halloween decoration I have.
“Myself and another woman who is the talented one who is able to actually put it all up, I come up with all the ideas, and she’s the one who assembles it all.
“This year is the “dead wedding between Gertrude and Bartholomew”.
“It’s turned into a community event. Everyone really supports it, all the schools and some local creches come around.
“It’s a lot of fun but it does mean I have to stay around the house the whole time to make sure they don’t fall down in the weather.
“As it’s themed, it means that I have to put a lot of thought into it. So usually it would be the end of August, beginning of September, and I have a different friend who sketches it together for my friend who assembles it.
“It takes about that long. Then I have to decide, if this is a dead wedding, what do I need – so things like a dancefloor.
“My husband, who is a funeral director, got the hearse for me. I knew I always wanted to use a hearse, so I was always going to use it on my last one.
“I usually have one thing that inspires the whole theme.
“I try and make it as fun as possible. I’m not going to say it’s a lot of pressure, but it can be because everybody wants to know what the theme is.”
Alison sources materials from charity shops and friends and has some items made for the set.
She has previously raised money for Temple Street Children’s Hospital and this year has raised for some 12,000 euro for the cancer charity.