toledoblade.com --

Abbey Stahl always has loved Halloween, but that's not why she got married on the holiday.

She set the date for Oct. 31 so that she can share her wedding anniversary with her mom and grandma.

"I always wanted a fall wedding and I found out Halloween was on a Saturday, and that was perfect," the 27-year-old said.

Her parents, Chip and Becky Stahl of Holland, were married 28 years ago on Halloween and her grandparents, Charles and Edith Morfier of Bellevue, were married 28 years before that on the last day of October.

What are the odds?

"It's almost like it was meant to be," Mr. Stahl said.

Dad had matchbooks made up to document the new family tradition with all three wedding dates - Oct. 31, 1953, Oct. 31, 1981, and Oct. 31, 2009.

Abbey Stahl knows that she’ll be able to add a photo of her Oct. 31 wedding to Brad Cymbola to that of her grandparents, Charles and Edith Morfier, left, and her parents, Chip and Becky Stahl, right.
( THE BLADE/LORI KING )

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Her parents still have some matchbooks left from their wedding.

At first they didn't realize the every-28-year connection, but now the jokes have started about Abbey Stahl - who became Abbey Cymbola yesterday - someday having a daughter who will get married on Halloween 28 years from now in 2037.

The bride was the first to say that while the wedding took place on Halloween, that was not the theme for the day she married Brad Cymbola, 26.

"Everyone says, 'is it a dress-up wedding?' No, not at all," she said. "It's not a Halloween wedding, it's a fall wedding."

A fall wedding with apple red and gold accents as her colors, colored leaves tossed at the newlyweds as they left the church, and classic fall treats as table favors.

Seven women worked in the Stahl kitchen this week creating caramel apples for the 266 guests to go with other treats of popcorn balls and caramel apples rolled in nuts.

There were boundaries with no orange and no pumpkins at the ceremony, which took place at St. Joan of Arc Church in South Toledo.

But they didn't abandon the Halloween holiday altogether.

Pumpkins with candles sitting on top lined the walkway to the Hilton Garden Inn in Perrysburg, where the reception was held.

Two of them were carved into jack-o'-lanterns with names of the bride and groom.

Metal pumpkins also were centerpieces on the patio tables outside.

Still, family tradition was more the theme than the observance of Halloween.

In addition to sharing the wedding anniversary date with her mom and grandmother, Mrs. Cymbola is sharing the pearls the other two women wore as brides.

While grandma and mom wore the same wedding gown, Mrs. Cymbola got her own.

She selected an ivory dress with what she describes as an old-fashioned look. She tried on 100 before deciding on it.

Mrs. Morfier wore the same dress she wore to the wedding of her daughter, Mrs. Stahl.

The Cymbola couple became engaged in July, 2008.

They have been together since January, 2006, when they met working together while both were students at Bowling Green State University.

After they got engaged, Mrs. Stahl knew her daughter always wanted a fall wedding and she found out right away that Halloween was on a Saturday this year.

She didn't say anything.

"I just let it happen," Mrs. Stahl said.

Mrs. Morfier said it was a nice surprise when her daughter decided to get married on Oct. 31, and even more when her granddaughter did too.

"I just think it's the coolest thing that could happen," she said.

"She said to me, 'Grandma I would just love to get married on the 31st of October,'•" Mrs. Morfier said. "I told her to do what you need to do with your heart, don't worry about grandma. But she said it would be neat."

Contact Meghan
Gilbert-Cunningham at:
mcunningham@theblade.com
or 419-724-6134.

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