Happily Ever After

What better way to start a marriage than in an enchanted forest. Surrounded by leprechauns and fairies, that's where Samantha Zenahlik and Andrew Phythian recited their vows on Halloween night at Quinn's Hot Springs Resort.

"I've wanted to get married on Halloween for years, even before I met Andrew," said Sam, who was given away by her father, Jim Zenahlik, dressed as a wizard, as was her brother, Caleb, who played the music as she walked down the aisle. Her other brother, J.J., also donned in wizard garb, served as the minister. Andrew said he was all for her idea of getting hitched on Halloween from the moment she brought it up. "It's totally her personality and it's both of our favorite holiday," said Andrew.

The theme was the "Enchanted Forest." Andrew and his side were the leprechauns, including the little boy ring bearer, and Sam and her side were the fairies, all with handmade wings. It took the bride and her mother, Shelby, more than five hours to make her 47-inch tall wings. It took them weeks to create the smaller fairy wings for the other four parties in the wedding.

Sam is a server at Quinn's and Andrew is a dishwasher. The couple met four years ago and live in Plains. Family guests traveled to the wedding from Anaconda, Spokane, and Denver. Denise Moreth, the resort's general manager, said they've done a lot of weddings at Quinn's during her 17 years, but this was the first Halloween wedding.

J.J. was ordained a minister last summer just so he could preside over his sister's wedding. Included as part of the ceremony, J.J. wrote a fairytale story about fairies and leprechauns being mortal enemies until one day, a leprechaun fell in love with a fairy and a strong bind was formed between the two races. Also incorporated into the ceremony was a hand-fasting ritual that dates to the ancient Celts, symbolizing a binding promise to each other.

Although the wedding party dressed in the fairytale theme, many of the near 70 guests got into the Halloween spirit with their own disguises: Little Red Riding Hood, an angel, a scarecrow, a karate woman, and a hippy, to name a few. The dinner room was decorated with skulls and Jack O'lanterns and for those kids that missed Trick or Treating because of the wedding, they received a witch's cauldron of goodies.