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When Elizabeth Griswold and Glenn Barbagallo first met as college students 35 years ago, neither one of them envisioned they would be getting married dressed asvampyres, reciting lines from a Victorian-era "bonding ceremony," and consecrating the marriage by drinking wine which contained drops of their own blood in it.

But, hey, life takes many unusual turns, right?

Griswold and Barbagallo, both 53, first met in October 1980 on the campus of the County College of Morris. The two began dating in early 1981, but full-time jobs and their studies caused the two to drift apart.

According to Griswold, social media reunited the two kindred spirits in 2012. However, the reunion was platonic — catching up on their lives, talking about cars, and playing Words with Friends. It wasn't until May 17, 2014 when Griswold invited Barbagallo to see her race her 2009 45 Year Anniversary Mustang GT, nicknamed "Graycie," at Island Dragway in Great Meadows that things took a more ghoulish, er, serious turn.

"We went to dinner in New Hope, PA with my dog Zeus at Fran's Pub," said Griswold. "They allow dogs, and they had outside seating so we could enjoy the full moon."

Shortly after the two started dating, Griswold gave Barbagallo an ultimatum. Griswold was beginning her third season work as "Sparkles," a vampyre, at Frighfest at Schaefer Farms in Readington.

"I told him him that I work Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights for the next five weekends," said Griswold. "So I told him I would see him in November or I could teach him how to put on lipstick."

Barbagallo, happily, opted for the lipstick.

The wedding date

While the couple's wedding was a considerably more baroque affair, the proposal was quite simple.

"Glenn took me to the Mohawk House in Sparta for my birthday dinner," recalls Griswold. "He got down on one knee, declared his love, and asked me to marry him."

The couple chose September 19 as their wedding date, for very practical reasons.

"Glenn and I discussed looking for a meaningful date, an anniversary of some sorts," said Griswold. "Then common sense took over. We couldn't have the wedding during the last week of September through Halloween as Schaefer Farms is running Frighfest."

The couple decided the easiest way would be to celebrate their wedding on September 19, one week before the beginning of Frightfest. This day assured the farm would be free, and that the couple's "graveyard" would be open for the ceremony.

The venue

The farm was not the couple's first idea for their wedding venue.

"Glenn and I have both been married before, and our first weddings were traditional," said Griswold. "We decided we wanted to explore the growing trend of unique venues."

The couple kicked around the ideas of having the wedding on a beach, in the woods, by a waterfall, or at a race track, since both Griswold and Barbagallo have car racing experience.

"We talked about having the wedding at the starting line, and then after saying 'I do,' jumping into our cars and racing each other," said Griswold. "It's not very romantic, and quite loud."

When Griswold suggested they have the wedding at Schaefer Farms at the graveyard they "haunt," Barbagallo was immediately on board.

How they made the wedding special

If Barbagallo and Griswold had done their ceremony in character in their graveyard at the farm, it would've been special enough.

However, the couple decided to go full-throttle vampire.

While the 120 guests sat awaiting the arrival of the bride and groom, they were treated to a luminary spectacle — 60 candles adorned the altar and torches lit the aisles.

Kristy Schaefer, who plays the character of Madam Babushka at Frighfest, handed out "love potions" to the guests.

The women in the bridal party arrived to the graveyard in a classic 1966 Miller Meteor hearse and walked down the aisle to"Entry of the Gladiators" by Julius Fucik (it's the classic circus song).

Then the bride entered in a 1970 Superior hearse. Pall bearers slid her metal coffin out of the hearse, slid the coffin into the upright position, and opened it.

"Jonathan Todd (the acting father of the bride) could not bring me out of my vampyre's sleep," said Griswold. "He ran to the front of the graveyard to Glenn, who awakened me with love's true kiss. He swept me into his arms and tried to leave."

Barbagallo was "convinced" to stay, and the couple walked down the aisle to Shania Twain's "From This Moment."

The couple was married by Jamie Cals, an ordained minister and actor at Schaefer Farms. The ceremony was topped off by a Victorian-era "bonding ceremony" that was slightly tweaked to fit a legal marriage ceremony.

"Jamie bound our left wrists together to symbolize how our hearts were now tethered," said Griswold. "Our rings were placed in a goblet of red wine and drops of our blood were added. We each took a sip of the wine to symbolize our heart's devotion."

Where they splurged

According to Griswold, the couple splurged on "absolutely nothing."

Where they saved

The wedding was truly a team effort — the dinner was potluck, the music was provided by Griswold's son DJ Matty G, and the cake was brought in by a guest. The dinner was actually shaped into a zombie corpse. The head and feet were meatloaf (with onions used for toenails), the stomach had meatballs and kielbasa, and the legs were different pans of pasta.

Most memorable moments

The epic nature of this wedding did not stop at the sip of wine.

After the ceremony concluded, the couple and their bridal party broke into a flash mob performance of "The Time Warp" from the cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

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