The autumn season represents change and reflection. Leaves fall to prepare the ground for hibernation, children go back to school, and a new harvest begins.
You and your partner have decided to take the plunge and tie the knot. While it’s a wonderfully exciting first step towards a life together, planning a wedding can be a huge undertaking. It’s common for couples to want their big day to be a celebration of their love, an expression of their personalities, an experience for their guests, and a day they will never forget, all while going off without a hitch. Every little detail needs to be considered and every possible choice to be explored before deciding on the right one. From the venue to the photographer to the flowers or wedding invitations or personalized party favors, all aspects of the wedding need to be purposefully chosen and carefully planned out and executed.
What most couples immediately decide on is a spring or summer wedding because they are the most popular times of the year to get married. Photos on social media on websites or in bridal magazines mostly show a happy couple on a sunny, summer’s day, outside surrounded by lush greenery and family and friends dressed in formal summer clothing. While there is nothing wrong with wanting a spring or summer wedding, it’s important to think about the other options: fall and winter.
Winter weddings are not for everyone, especially if you dislike cold weather. You won’t necessarily need to plan the wedding to include an outdoor portion, but for a lot of people, even thinking about going outside in the winter makes them want to cozy up with a blanket and stay inside with a hot drink. While they can be beautiful and picturesque, there are a lot of elements to consider when hosting a winter wedding that you would not have to think about for a wedding in any other season.
So, if you are looking for something different, why not have an autumn wedding? The autumn season is a beautiful time of year to get married. The season represents change and reflection as the leaves change color from green to bright reds, yellows, and oranges and fall to the ground to prepare for the coming season. Hot, sticky weather fades away in place of crisp air and mild temperatures, as the sun sets earlier but illuminates the earth with rich tones. A feeling of change embraces everyone, and it feels natural for friends and loved ones to come together and celebrate a new harvest season.
Embody the spirit of the fall season with a truly grand celebration of love—your wedding. Play on the magic of the colors and the beauty of change and move into your new long and wonderful life with your partner in the perfect season to represent it.
The goal of a wedding is, of course, to celebrate your and your partner’s love with your loved ones and closest friends, but you also want to make sure everyone has a good time, eats good food, and remembers your big day. If you aren’t sure where to start planning the details of the wedding, it can seem like a daunting and overwhelming task. With so many facets to consider, and with so many moving parts to take into account, you will want to make sure nothing is overlooked or any decisions are made in haste.
Hiring a wedding planner to help you organize your big day is a good idea if you truly are lost and aren’t sure where to begin, but it can be a costly venture to add to your list of expenses revolving around the wedding. If you aren’t afraid of putting the planning work in yourself, you can search for fall wedding ideas online on bridal websites, get inspiration from social media sites like Instagram and Pinterest, and browse bridal magazines to help give you an idea of what you want your wedding to look and feel like. No two weddings are alike, so even if you gather your ideas from magazines or social media, you can always add a personal touch or little twist to make it your own.
Whether you want a luxurious or extravagant wedding or a small, intimate gathering, a city celebration or a party out in the country, or a unique wedding that nobody has ever seen the likes of, you can find inspiration and wedding ideas for fall on the Internet. To get you started, here are a few planning points to make your wedding a celebration you will always remember.
Guide to Budget-Friendly Weddings
Choose a theme
The best weddings all have a cohesive theme or a certain vibe they want to portray. It makes the entire affair seem cohesive and organized, and it shows off your and your partner’s personality and style as a couple. A good, well-chosen theme should be able to pull together every aspect of your wedding and harmonize them all, from the invitations to the venue to the centerpieces, as well as every other detail or major element.
The many styles and motifs of autumn make for a great choice when deciding on a wedding theme. You can base your theme on the specific month when you decide to have your wedding as well.
Choosing Your Wedding Theme by the Month
- Blending Summer and Fall:
- September weddings offer a unique opportunity to infuse the vibrant energy of summer with the cozy ambiance of fall. Celebrate this blend by incorporating both summer and autumn elements into your wedding motif, capturing the essence of two beautiful seasons.
- Destination Choice – Mountains in Autumn:
- For couples who share a sense of adventure and a love for nature's beauty, consider planning a mountain destination wedding. September serves as the ideal month to witness breathtaking fall foliage, transforming mountain resorts into picturesque backdrops.
- Benefit from Transitional Weather:
- Enjoy the best of both worlds during September. Relish the warm, bright days perfect for outdoor ceremonies and receptions. As the sun sets, let the crisp evening air set a romantic mood, perfect for cuddling up and sharing special moments with loved ones.
- End the Night with a Warm Glow:
- Elevate the outdoorsy and adventurous theme of your wedding by lighting up a bonfire as night falls. Not only will this provide warmth, but it also offers a cozy spot for guests to gather, share stories, and celebrate your love under the stars.
- Diverse Decor Inspirations:
- September weddings provide a canvas for varied decor themes. Whether you're drawn to rustic charm, classic elegance, contemporary trends, or chic bohemian aesthetics, there's ample room to let your creativity flow, ensuring your wedding feels truly personalized.
If you are looking for October wedding ideas, you could go with a warm, homey theme complete with oranges, browns, and yellows as the color scheme to bring out the fall colors and leaves changing, but also to emphasize the harvest vibes. You can use pumpkins, not as Halloween decorations, but as decorative accents to enforce the autumn feel. October is all about pumpkin spice, so why not jump on that trend with pumpkin decorations?
Looking for something more eclectic? If you and your partner love Halloween, why not theme your wedding complete with spooky decorations? Maybe you both are big fans of the creepy holiday or love Tim Burton movies, but whatever the inspiration behind it, a Halloween wedding would be one to remember.
Embracing the Spirit of Halloween in Your Wedding Theme
- Creating an Eerie Color Palette:
- Select a blend of oranges, blacks, purples, and greens to complement white, crafting an otherworldly yet elegant wedding color scheme. This combination is both striking and true to the Halloween theme, setting the stage for a unique matrimonial celebration.
- Engaging Guests with Themed Decor:
- Encourage guests to immerse themselves in the wedding theme by incorporating quintessential Halloween decorations. Envision a venue adorned with spider webs that catch the light, jack-o-lanterns casting a warm glow, and other iconic holiday ornaments. Alternatively, for those preferring subtlety, suggest less pronounced decor that hints at the theme without overwhelming the senses.
- Floral Arrangements with a Twist:
- Suggest bouquets that break from tradition by featuring orange and black roses, introducing a mysterious and romantic air to the floral arrangements. Such unexpected details will catch the eye and become a talking point among attendees.
- Bridal Party Attire with Halloween Flair:
- Recommend that the bridal party incorporate the theme into their attire in a tasteful manner. Suggest adding touches like orange and black ribbons, pocket squares, and ties to their dresses or suits. These elements can offer a nod to the theme without sacrificing the formality of the occasion.
- Ambiance through Attentive Detailing:
- Propose the draping of black sashes across chair backs to inject a sense of drama into the seating arrangements. Enhance the tables with centerpieces that include candles that flicker and dance, casting shadows and creating an intimate atmosphere that complements the theme. These details can turn an ordinary setting into an extraordinary thematic experience.
2. Pick the perfect venue
November weddings can take on a more traditional theme, possibly revolving around the familial feeling of Thanksgiving. Adding deep reds, oranges, and browns to the color palette will make your wedding feel homey and rustic, but cozy and familiar.
Cozy Autumnal Wedding Touches:
- Warmth-Inspired Ceremonies:
- Consider the romantic allure of a ceremony conducted around a crackling fire or before the hearth of a grand fireplace. This setting encourages a sense of intimate gathering, reminiscent of cozy evenings wrapped in blankets, sharing stories, or watching beloved films with loved ones.
- Harvest-Style Tablescapes:
- Imagine the dining area set in the style of a Thanksgiving feast, evoking the warmth and welcome of a family gathering. Tables adorned with tall, elegant candles and lush bouquets composed of red, orange, and yellow flowers can create a vibrant yet intimate centerpiece that mirrors the bounty and beauty of the season.
- Natural Rustic Accents:
- Bring a touch of the wilderness inside with natural wood decor elements. Use branches, wooden slabs, and other forest-inspired items to craft a rustic ambiance that seamlessly blends the outdoors with the indoor venue. These organic details can transform a conventional setting into a woodland retreat, perfect for an autumnal wedding.
Your venue will most likely be the biggest chunk of your wedding budget, so you want to make sure it matches your theme well. There are many directions you can take if you’re looking at venues to match your autumn wedding ideas, so explore each option carefully and consider how it fits in with the theme. If you close your eyes and imagine your wedding, what does it look like? Is it inside or outside? Is it in a rustic cabin or under the stars in a garden? What do you imagine as your perfect wedding venue?
For the outdoorsy couple, imagine an outdoor ceremony, saying your “I Do” in front of a backdrop of mountains and a clear blue sky that moves to a reception in a garden, complete with twinkling lights and greenery at every turn. Imagine a bonfire off to the side, near where the band is playing, and people are dancing and enjoying the warmth from the flames during a cool, crisp evening. It’s the perfect romantic place for a couple who loves being outside.
3. Plan your menu to match
For the couple that wants to have a more intimate wedding setting, a rustic cabin in the countryside or a cottage overlooking a lake or river sounds picturesque. You can decorate the venue either to look upscale, draping fabric and twinkling strands of lights along the ceiling or walls to contrast the hard nature of wood with softness or emphasize the rustic and cottage-like feel by decorating the way mom would – simple and understated.
Your menu should feel cohesive with your theme and make sense with the location, as well as play on the fall motif.
Tailoring Your Wedding Menu for All:
Highlighting Traditional Warm Dishes
- Offer Comforting Classics:
- Choose dishes that evoke a sense of warmth and comfort, such as stews, roasts, or traditional casseroles that resonate with a home-cooked feel.
- Create a Memorable Experience:
- Select menu items that guests will reminisce about, ensuring each dish is not only comforting but also leaves a lasting impression with its unique flavors and presentation.
Accommodating Dietary Restrictions
- Ensure Inclusivity:
- Prepare a diverse menu that thoughtfully includes options for guests with common dietary restrictions such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and lactose-intolerant diets.
- Offer an Abundance of Choices:
- Go beyond the basic requirements and provide a variety of choices for each dietary need, allowing all guests to enjoy a full, satisfying meal.
Giving your guests lots of choices is a surefire way to receive compliments on the food after your celebrations come to an end.
Your dinner meal is next up, and who doesn’t want to feast in autumn?
Autumn Wedding Menu Ideas
Classic Thanksgiving Dinner:
- Suggest a traditional Thanksgiving meal ambiance.
- Get creative with a turkey dinner.
- Accompaniments: potatoes, stuffing, steamed vegetables.
Upscale Rustic Dining:
- Offer an elevated dining experience.
- Begin with a hearty stew or warm salad.
- Main dishes: fillet of beef, fish, or for the adventurous, roast duck.
Intimate Family-Style Serving:
- Perfect for close-knit weddings.
- Social dinner approach with main courses on sharing boards.
- Promote guest interaction and dining flexibility.
First Bites - Post-Ceremony Treats:
- Make a lasting impression with the initial treats.
- Crowd-pleasers: sliders and bacon-wrapped delights (scallops, asparagus, cheese-stuffed mushrooms).
- Comforting options: loaded potato skins with sour cream, and deep-fried mac and cheese balls.
Seasonal Considerations:
- Rustic, traditional weddings: focus on hearty comfort foods.
- Early autumn, outdoorsy settings: blend in summer-inspired dishes like salmon on bread or bite-sized salad
Lastly, the dessert is what will finish off the meal and leave an impression on your guests. Pumpkin pie is an obvious autumn choice, but also consider caramelized bread and butter pudding, carrot cake, or chocolate mousse with truffles and cream. You could also treat your guests to a coffee and cake bar, offering different flavors of coffee, like vanilla, mocha, caramel, cinnamon, or of course, pumpkin spice.
4. Decide on the best wedding favors
Fall wedding favors are in no short supply when it comes to picking something creative, yet memorable, such as personalized wedding glasses. The season lends itself well to gift ideas since it represents change, family, and warmth, so give your guests a gift that thanks them for supporting you on your important day.
For the bridal party:
You want to make sure your bridal party is taken care of before and during your wedding. The bridesmaids are there for the bride to ensure she’s calm and her various needs are met during the wedding, and they plan the bridal shower and bachelorette party. The groomsmen are there to calm the groom’s nerves before the ceremony and plan the bachelor party and stag do before the big day arrives. You want to send them off with gifts that show you appreciate all the time and work they put into making your big day special because you couldn’t have done it without them.
Gift baskets full of personalized items like:
- Unique wedding champagne flutes
- Travel mugs
- Flasks
- Chocolates with their names printed on the wrappers are good ways to make them feel special.
If you want to keep with your autumn theme, why not try a picnic-style gift basket complete with a bottle of wine, personalized picnic blankets, and pretty plates or glasses? You could even add your initials, the wedding date, and their initials to their favors to help commemorate the date.
If you want to go with more practical gifts, your bridal party might appreciate that more. Headphones, phone cases, and high-quality reusable water bottles are gifts everyone can get good use out of. You could also get everyone something cozier, like monogrammed blankets or customized hooded sweatshirts to keep everyone warm.
Is money no object? Treat your bridal party to a night away at a bed and breakfast to reward them for their contributions to your wedding. Customized travel totes are good gifts to give alongside a retreat to help them pack for their weekend away.
For the guests:
Practical gifts are great for your guests as a take-home, so why not give everyone a customized can cooler or koozie? If you want to personalize them, add a logo of a football team they love, or a clipart that reminds you of them. You can also customize the colors to match each person’s preferences, which would make them feel special and like you took the time to think of each person individually. You could also have a wide selection of colors and styles available for guests to choose from during the reception so they can sip from their custom koozies all night.
Outdoorsy weddings require outdoorsy gifts, so another great idea for a wedding favor is something they can grow themselves. Offer a plant pot, customized with your wedding date or their name, that comes with seeds to grow flowers, herbs, or plants, so they can nurture their gift for years to come.
In keeping with a more rustic, boho theme, why not offer guests mason jars full of dry ingredients for a stew, or full of packets of seeds? Customize the jars with a decorative ribbon and personalized tags, or personalize the jars themselves.
Your guests can continue to toast you long after your wedding day has come to an end with champagne flutes, wine glasses, beer mugs, or shot glasses. Don’t forget to give the kids a wedding favor, in the form of customized straws or water bottles.
