While every season has its charms, there is something truly magical about the fall.
From the cozy-spiced food and beverages to the rich orange and brown color palette of pumpkins, autumn leaves, and bountiful harvests, a sense of nostalgia and wonder characterizes the season of change, making fall the perfect time of year for a wedding. In our experience, a classic southern farm wedding is the perfect setting to get the best of everything the fall season has to offer.
The fall season itself spans from September through November, giving you a range of weather, lighting, and natural background color variations for a gorgeous and idyllic wedding.
If you or your loved ones are planning to get married in the fall, our list of the top 10 fall wedding tips will ensure the bride, groom, and guests have the most memorable experience to celebrate the beginning of the next chapter in the married couple’s life.
Nature-Inspired Invitations
The ultimate fall wedding begins with perfect themed invitations. Whether you are designing your own invitations or having them done professionally, be sure to add a leafy border and integrate fall-themed motifs such as pumpkins or falling leaves into your design. An orange-brown font print can further round-out your fall wedding invitations. Polish them off with metallic gold or copper accents for the ultimate fall vibe to your wedding invitations.
Fall Season-Inspired Wedding Color Palette
Add fall colors to your accessories, decorations and fabrics. From the napkins to the tablecloths and name cards, incorporating rich rust-brown, burgundy, forest green, blood orange, and mustard yellow font are just a few color possibilities for adding the fall palette to your wedding.
Seasonal Florals and Foliage
While most of us picture autumn leaves going from green to brown as the trees shore-up for winter season, there are plenty of flowers that bloom specifically in the fall. Incorporating these can give your wedding a lively feeling. Some great fall-blooming flowers we recommend include African Daisies, Canna Lilies, and Garden Mums, all of which add rich, natural fall colors to your wedding.
Decorate your reception table with items like a cornucopia, decorative gourds, and acorns to symbolize the fall from the moment your guests enter the venue.
Comforting Fall Cuisine
No wedding is complete without great food. When it comes to throwing the best fall wedding, lining up your cuisine choice with the harvest season is an absolute must. Given that fall is traditionally harvest season, you have a wide array of vegetables, fruits, and meats to add rich flavor and aroma to every course of the meal.
Some great fall themed foods include hors d’oeuvres like smoked pumpkin deviled eggs and butternut squash bruschetta, appetizers like grilled apples with prosciutto and honey, and a classic fall themed main course of pork chops with apples or pumpkin lasagne for a vegetarian option, although these are just a few examples of great fall foods for an epic wedding banquet.
Fall-Themed Wedding Cake
The autumn season has no shortage of amazing sweets, so going with a fall themed wedding cake is an easy choice. Some great options we like are gingerbread cake with pumpkin frosting, pumpkin spice cake, apple spice cake, or a chocolate pumpkin cheesecake if you really want to go all-out.
Cozy Up Your Venue
With the shortening of days between September and December, the weather can start getting chilly, especially in the evenings and the deeper you get into fall. The typical Alabama Halloween day, for example, has an average low temperature of 46 degrees. With that said, we recommend thinking about cozy venue options.
If you are doing a wedding in late fall, consider an outdoor ceremony in the mid-afternoon and provide some outdoor heaters near the seating area. Dinner should be served indoors, ideally with a roaring hearth fireplace or gas fireplace to provide warmth and atmosphere for the post-ceremony festivities.
Layered Bridal Attire
The comfort of the bride should never be ignored when throwing your fall wedding. With that said, consider a layered wedding dress to ensure the brisk fall season does not spoil the festivities. Incorporate bridal attire like a fur stole or cashmere cardigan to compliment the fall wedding dress and keep the bride comfortable throughout the ceremony.
Fall Themed Wedding Arch
Your fall themed wedding arch can capture the essence of the harvest season. Decorate the arch with autumn maple leaves, oak branches, and fall blooms. You can include some evergreen branches for additional deep green color.
Add some brightness with marigolds or sunflowers, and top it off by hanging some amaranth. Consider flanking the arch with pumpkins or lanterns for the ultimate fall vibe.
A well-done autumn wedding arch will give the appearance of the wedding party emerging from a quintessential autumn forest, with the lanterns providing ambient light to fully round-out the harvest mood.
