Bride, groom and guests don costumes for Halloween wedding at Glendale library

The stereotype claims men are scared of commitment.

But Juan Gutierrez wasn’t fazed at all — even on the scariest day of the year — when he said, “I certainly do” and married Emily Koss on Halloween evening.

The couple wed in a ceremony at the Chevy Chase Branch of the Glendale Library in the company of a few dozen family members and friends — all dressed for the occasion.

Guests included Edward Scissorhands, a mummy, a hatter and a scientist — both of the mad variety, a zebra and one sweet transvestite hailing from Transylvania.

“Halloween (is) my favorite thing ever,” bride Emily Koss said. “Our anniversary is Halloween now, so it’ll be a fun anniversary. That’s important.”

The library was given a spooky Halloween makeover for the occasion, complete with jack-o-lanterns, candles, holiday-themed treats and a mix of horror film music playing.

“We … were looking to be thrifty so we organized it ourselves,” Gutierrez said. “I hope that the pictures will help us remember everything. It’s been just a blur.”

Koss and Gutierrez met three years ago in Spain, where Koss had traveled to work as a research assistant for Gutierrez’s father. Her job was to interview older Spaniards about their lives during the Spanish Civil War.

But she didn’t speak Spanish.

“I was not a very useful research assistant,” she joked.

Gutierrez did speak Spanish and became her translator. Two weeks after they first met, he proposed to Koss in a bar with a promise ring.

Now the couple is starting their new life in Los Angeles.

“We’re very happy about it,” said Amy Koss, the mother of the bride, dressed in a rainbow wig and matching dress.

Koss said her daughter wanted to do something untraditional, and the couple loves Halloween, so it all fell into place.

“We were going to have it at home, but we were afraid El Niño would wash us out,” Amy Koss said.

Koss is on the board of the Friends of the Glendale Library, so she reached out to see what could be done.

“I called and said, ‘Help!’ and someone said, ‘How about here?’ and it’s perfect,” she said.

Glendale resident Grace Hess, who works with Emily Koss, came dressed as Wednesday from the Addams Family and said she had been looking forward to attending a Halloween wedding.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Hess said. “I think it’s unique, I think it brings out their personalities and it’s just fantastic.”

Guests Karen Martinez and Yung Do and their group came dressed as the Belcher family from the animated TV comedy “Bob’s Burgers.”

The group made the trip down to Glendale from Northern California, where Do and Martinez’s boyfriend went to high school with the groom.

“It’s interesting,” Martinez said. “It’s kind of fun seeing everybody dressed up. Definitely a different kind of wedding.”

“I think they pulled it off really well,” Do said.

Departed loved ones were represented at the wedding as well, Amy Koss said. Her father-in-law’s ashes were placed in the library, as was a shrine to other relatives in observance of Dia de los Muertos.

A harpsichord sitting in the back of the library was played during the ceremony, which Koss said her father, Max Goldman, who died last year, built with his brother.

“We brought it over here just so my father could be here to walk Emily down the aisle,” Amy Koss said.

Emily wore a black wedding dress, while Gutierrez’s suit might have been pulled from Dracula’s closet.

Emily Koss’ uncle, Barry Goldman, served as the officiant and warmed up the crowd with a call-and-response rendition of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti.”

The ceremony itself was kept short and sweet, with Goldman recounting wisdom his own father shared with him about marriage and explaining the sacrifice involved in being wed to another.

“You’re not your own man anymore — you’re your beloved’s man,” Goldman said. “You’re not your own woman anymore — you’re your beloved’s woman.

“It takes some getting used to,” he added, to a light chuckle from the guests.

Moments later, Gutierrez and Koss were pronounced man and wife, the groom stepped on a glass and the two kissed under the chuppah to a roar from their guests.

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Ryan Fonseca, ryan.fonseca@latimes.com

Twitter: @RyFons