Twelve couples get married during Halloween ceremonies at the Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder's office

While some people celebrate Halloween by trick-or-treating, these couples celebrated it by getting married.

Some people celebrate Halloween by trick-or-treating. Twelve local couples marked the day by getting married at the Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder’s office in Santa Rosa.

“There’s no point in spending $30,000 (on a wedding),” said a “Beetlejuice”-inspired costume bride, Katrina Roman, who married Kevin Peters, both of Petaluma, in an afternoon ceremony in the Registrar’s Wedding Garden.

Peters wore a maroon suit with a green shirt, similar to the suit worn by Michael Keaton in the wedding scene of the 1988 film ‘Beetlejuice’. Roman wore a red off-the-shoulder dress with a red veil, almost identical to the dress that Winona Ryder’s character Lydia Deetz wore in the film, complete with heart-shaped sunglasses with red jewels. Shannon McLaughlin, clerk-recorder-evaluator specialist, officiated the ceremony.

As for why she would marry Halloween, Roman said she didn’t celebrate the spooky day growing up, but now it’s one of her favorite days and she loves making her costumes.

Roman’s mom, Velma, also got into the Halloween spirit, wearing a Michael Keaton-inspired black-and-white striped “Beetlejuice” costume. She and Peters’ mother, Vipha, acted as witnesses.

For Maria Meza and Julian Reyes of Petaluma, another costumed couple, the ceremony was memorable not only because of their non-traditional wedding attire.

“It’s a day we won’t soon forget because it’s Halloween. I have never worn a costume before and this is the first time I have worn one,” Meza said as he dressed a police officer. Her new husband was dressed as a prisoner.

The Meza and Reyes families attended the ceremony with Meza’s daughter Jennifer and son Carlos as witnesses.

After kissing his bride, Reyes was captivated by Meza.

Even some of the district staff wore costumes. Judith Sevilla, assessment specialist at the District Secretariat, who led Meza and Reyes’ special day, dressed in the form of the traditional Mexican character “La Catrina” in honor of Día de los Muertos.

The Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder’s Office has officiated 784 weddings, according to Chief Deputy Clerk-Recorder Amanda King.

Up to eight ceremonies per day can take place at the office by appointment. According to the County of Sonoma, a ceremony costs an additional $60 on top of the cost of a marriage license website.