‘Count’ Performs Frightful Wedding in Neptune
By DENISE HERSCHEL
Patti and Ken Manuel, both Neptune ministers, married their friends Jay and Donna Wilson of Philadelphia at a Halloween party Saturday in Neptune.
The youngest guest was only one-month-old and the oldest 80 years of age but they, along with about 100 others, joined in some spooky fun at a Halloween bash held at the Shark River Hills Firehouse in Neptune Saturday.
Pattie and Ken Manuel, aka the Bride of Frankenstein and the Count of Manuel Manor, are Neptune residents who love a good party, particularly when it involves the Halloween holiday.
Every two years they throw a huge Halloween gathering for family and friends at the firehouse as well as decorate their front and back yards with every scary prop and costume imaginable. And, although Pattie Manuel said this was to be the last year for their Halloween gala, friends and relatives are trying to persuade her to keep with the Halloween tradition.
We had planned on this being the last year but everyone keeps wanting us to do it again so we might just have another party in a couple of years, she said.
This years gathering was particularly memorable for everyone who attended because they were surprised to find that the party was not only about costumes about wedding attire as well. Jay and Donna Wilson of Philadelphia are Halloween fanatics and agreed to have their special day marked by all things associated with the spooktacular event. The Manuels, who recently became ordained ministers and are able to perform civil ceremonies, married the couple at their party to the amazement of their family who thought it was only a Halloween party they were attending.
We met Donna and Jay online at a Halloween forum which is a place where Halloween fans like us meet and discuss ideas. Its a cool place to check out. Weve been getting together once a month with them and another couple at our house to build Halloween props for our yards. They mentioned that they wanted to get married. So we agreed upon doing it at our party but agreed to keep it a secret from everyone else. This was a trial run for us. It was the first time we did a wedding ceremony. I wrote the ceremony and the vows, said Pattie Manuel.
After the ceremony, the couple took to the floor for their first dance and local DJ Bill Barbato spun some Halloween tunes as Spiderman, a dead bride, an undertaker and a nun among others danced with their fellow costumed characters.
The Manuels Halloween extravaganza takes about a year of planning. Details are key to the success of the party and it showed. The buffet style dinner was complete with a Plexiglass coffin which the groom designed to sit on the dining table. Food included not only traditional favorites such as fried chicken, sausage and peppers and meatballs but brain dip with crackers and a cheese eyeball skewers concoction. Dessert wasnt complete without a chocolate fountain, an ice cream bar and a kitty litter cake. A costume contest was held and first prize in the adult category went to Stewie and Brian from the television show Family Guy and first prize for the children was awarded to the dead bride. The prizes for adults were gift bags containing a bottle of wine, Halloween goblets, popcorn, movie candy and a selection of Halloween movies. Even the Manuels party invitations were unique – handmade coffins with lined pillows and a skeleton clutching the invite inside each one.
We love Halloween because it is a lot of fun and an excuse to get together and have a good time. With Christmas the decorations have to be nice and perfect. With Halloween the worse it looks the better. Halloween gives everyone a chance to be a kid again, said Pattie Manuel.
And the Halloween fun is not over yet for this fun-loving duo. The Manuels are having their annual yard haunt October 30th and 31st from 6:30 pm to 9 pm, weather permitting at 33 Country Club Drive in Neptune.
Mark Crego of Neptune was frightful in his ghoul getup at a party Saturday at the Shark River Hills Firehouse in Neptune.
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