Couple Barred From Halloween Marriage Ceremony At Sleepy Hollow

The Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow, the site of the classic Washington Irving story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow“, was to be the site for the wedding of Jim Nieves and Lisa Panensky, with bride and groom and all their guests in full Halloween costumes. But Rev. Jeff Gargano, pastor of the historic church, has denied the couple their long-planned wedding, saying, “You can feel the holiness of the church. Imagine a historic grand place like that being used for a costume party.”

The couple have already invited guests from as far away as Germany, and say they may have to hold the service in their home. “If this was in another town, I could see more of an issue, but it’s Sleepy Hollow, so I’m so confused it’s such a big issue,” said one of Panensky’s co-workers.

This is a great way to build negative awareness of your venue: display behavior that would make “Footloose”’s John Lithgow proud. It’s not as though these guys were planning a Satanic rite, or even asking that the pastor to don a costume and lead the party in drunken revelry. At the same time, given their predilection for gothiness, I’m completely surprised that the couple didn’t go for Gargano’s offer to marry them in the nearby graveyard. What could be more Halloween-y than that?