Fall is becoming the prime season for weddings. If you're planning on holding your wedding during the fall months, we've created this helpful guide to some of our favorite finds for fall floral arrangements, fall wedding decorations, invitations, bridesmaid dresses, and more.
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Fall Wedding Ideas and Decor
Image credits and shopping sources: 1. Table Runner and Garland from BeesFlowered on Etsy 2. Wildflower Tie in Fall Colors from Fonzbury on Etsy 3.Fall Wedding Table Numbers from Silver Moon Templates on Etsy 4. Stretch Satin One Shoulder Dress from Anthropologie
These are our favorite fall wedding ideas that we've picked up after years of looking at fall wedding inspiration. These shoppable ideas are designed to help you easily find those special details for your autumn wedding. This post will help you find all the elements from invitations to decor, dresses to flowers, plus fall food, and favors -- all of them perfect for an autumn wedding. Plus we'll share ways to use the rich fall colors of the season in this fall wedding inspiration post.
Where to Find Fall Wedding Decor
Fall wedding decor takes a lot of inspiration from the colors we generally see naturally occurring during the fall season. Fall wedding colors are inspired by the harvest bounty of apples, pumpkins and gourds as well as the changing leaves. Fall wedding decor is also often heavily influenced by rustic wedding and boho wedding styles, but we're also going to show you some fall wedding decor ideas that will suit both rustic and glamourous black tie events.
Things To Love About Fall Weddings
While spring and summer weddings get a lot of the spotlight; they are just the start of the wedding season! Fall weddings are just as popular; if not more so!
Fall is filled with gorgeous natural colors, plus the cooler days mean you won't have to worry about sweating through your outfit, the bright sun making everyone squint, and those unpredictable summer thunderstorms.
Fall in our region of the country has some of the prettiest days of the year. Sunshine peeks through when you least expect it, and the fall light and foliage just look so pretty in pictures. Outdoor fall wedding ideas vary a little bit from traditional indoor weddings since you may wish to take into account the weather as well as the natural atmosphere.
The best part about fall weddings is that nature does a lot of the decorating for you. We see rustic elements like hay bales, blankets, and wedding venues like wineries and farms and other settings that have changing trees and natural elements as a part of their inherent landscape.
If you and your love are planning a fall wedding; here are a few of our best fall wedding ideas you might wish to include. We hope they'll inspire you!
Fall Wedding Invitations
You'll want to set the tone for your fall wedding early with your wedding invitations! Something with an organic motif or that coordinates with the colors you'll use in your wedding is always a good idea. We love this invitation from Etsy. Places like Minted and Etsy have many more fall invitation suites to choose from for the season.
Wedding Accessories
Wearing a fall-themed accessory can be another beautiful way to give a nod to the season. Adorn your hairstyle or your bridesmaids' hair with a beautiful flower crown in fall colors or a romantic hair accessory like this.
Bridesmaid Dresses for Autumn Weddings
We especially love shades of cinnamon and red for fall weddings but gold, soft sage green, and burgundy, mauve and plum of course are great colors to use in your bridesmaid dresses!
We did a whole post on fall bridesmaid dresses as well as fall mother of the bride dresses, filled with dresses in autumnal colors. You might also love these velvet bridesmaid dresses that are perfectly suited to the fall season.
Fall Wedding Dresses
Fall is the perfect time to wear a long sleeved wedding dress, or a beautiful autumn-inspired wedding accessory. You can also add a layer to a strapless gown with wraps or a cape for your wedding dress.
Fall Attire Ideas
Of course, all attire is one of our major focal points for fall weddings. In case the weather is chilly, you may wish to include this information on where to find wraps for wedding guests!
Give your guests ideas for what to wear with these fall wedding guest dresses, and velvet dresses for weddings.
Fall Wedding Decor
It's obviously a great time to get creative with fall motifs and natural harvest inspiration like apples, pumpkins, flowers of the season, colors that reflect the harvest and the changing leaves. While things like pumpkins, leaves, mason jars, and fairy lights are a classic fall wedding theme, don't feel limited to a rustic theme or just those traditional hues. A fall wedding can look great with touches of sage green, cream, copper, gold, and other colors as well. Table decor is one of the places where the vision for a wedding reception comes alive. Choosing fall florals as well as a table setting with warm-toned silverware, plates, napkins, and chargers in your wedding colors along with candles and low florals
Also if you want to have a formal fall wedding, don't feel like you have to go along with all of the natural outdoor and rustic style. A formal fall wedding could be very upscale and sleek, using gold and bronze tones, or deep red and gold tones. Grab inspiration from many sources and your wedding planner will help you bring your vision to life.
Table runners, signage, and candles and florals can be a great way to add a little autumn to your wedding! Check out these velvet pumpkin pillows, or cute white pumpkins for decorating tables or your event space.
Fall Flowers
It can be beautiful to select blooms for your fall wedding centerpieces and bridesmaid bouquets that reflect the colors of the foliage and the flowers that bloom during this season.
If you find some fresh flowers are out of season, fall is also a great time to use dried flowers as the muted tones lend themselves perfectly to the fall style. Your florist will be able to tell you which flowers are best for your intended color scheme, mood, and season of your wedding.
In fall we also see the use of fresh fruits and vegetables like apples, pumpkins, and gourds, which can go a long way in creating a chic and natural fall atmosphere.
Wedding Drinks
Fall weddings are the perfect time to welcome your guests with a signature fall cocktail, like a cider mimosa or an apple cider mule.
Signature drinks that use apples, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and other flavors of the season are a great idea. Your caterer and bartender will undoubtedly have creative thoughts for creating a signature drink. Mini bottles of cinnamon whisky, or apple cider with a customized label can also be a great idea.
To make any drink even more festive, try fall drink stirrers, fall cocktail napkins, or fun garnishes like a cinnamon stick, dried apple slices, or fall candy on a toothpick for a garnish.
Fall Wedding Food
Fall is also the perfect time for cozy foods; maybe your reception will feature a firepit - in which case - do s'mores with these cute personalized marshmallows! Tasty treats like homemade pie pops, caramel apples, apple cider donuts, and pumpkin pie are all perfect for the season. Popcorn, cookies, or fall candies can all be given as favors in a bag.
Personalized marshmallows for fall wedding favors and firepits from Candy With at Twist on Etsy
Fall Wedding Cake Topper
From a "fall in love" sign to elements like dried fruits, flowers, or fondant. Adding a little bit of fall color to your cake is yet another way to celebrate.
Fall Wedding Theme Ideas
If you're looking for a way to pull all of these ideas together into a cohesive look, here are some fall wedding theme ideas including color schemes, and decor items that you might want to include.
Fall Rustic Barn Wedding
This classic theme can use colors like burnt orange, mustard yellow, and deep brown.
The decor might feature wooden farm tables, lanterns, hay bales, burlap accents, and vintage string lights.
Signature details and special touches might be: a cozy fire pit for s’mores, mason jars, and a plaid blanket station for guests
Pumpkin Patch Wedding
If you have a pumpkin patch that hosts weddings nearby, see about making that your venue. Colors can be drawn from the natural pumpkin palette of pumpkin orange, sage green, and ivory.
Play up the pumpkin theme by using pumpkin centerpieces and aisle decor. Other elements that will blend well include hay bales, corn stalks, and apple baskets or crates.
Fun details to add might be mini pumpkins as escort cards, a cider bar, pumpkin pie instead of cake, and a pumpkin decorating station for a fun interactive activity for your guests.
Glam Mixed Metals
While we love some of the rustic fall styles, fall can be sophisticated and glamorous as well. For a more unique and sophisticated fall wedding, try a mixed metal color scheme using warm tones like bronze, gold, copper, and rose gold. See our picks for gold and neutral bridesmaid dresses as well as rose gold and copper bridesmaid dresses.
To create this chic atmosphere at your venue, work with your coordinator or venue to have metallic tones in the signage and decor, tablescape runners, gold and copper candle holders, and plenty of metallic elements in everything from the place settings.
To add to the glamour create moments to remember like a champagne tower, a wedding cake with golden details, a live jazz band, and luxurious metal elements like brocades in everything from the bridesmaid dresses to the table runners. Adding a chic fall formal dress code for your guests will ensure a sophisticated take on the fall wedding style.
Fall Forest
A fall forest wedding would include the moody styles of the changing fall forest. Colors of emerald green, deep blue-green, gold, and forest brown would be the perfect palette. Check out our green bridesmaid dresses for inspiration.
Decor elements like mossy centerpieces, wooden stumps for seating, twinkling fairy lights, and greenery garlands add to this fun forest theme.
Special details could be a ceremony in the mountains or a forest clearing, , forest-inspired favorsmini saplings to plant, wildflower seeds, or little acorns, and a live folk band to add to the fun feeling of the day.
Fall Winery Wedding
Holding a fall wedding at a winery is always a good idea. The natural color palette that comes to mind is inspired by the wines and accent colors like merlot red, blush, and gold. The winery itself might have some of the decor items ready to go like wine barrels and the vineyard makes a great setting for both vows and photos. You can add elements like grapes or grapevine wreaths, and bouquets that use vines.
Special details could include wine and cheese pairings for guests, personalized wine bottles as favors, corks with well-wishes, wine slushies, or even grape stomping on display.
Halloween-Inspired Wedding
If you and your partner are fans of the spooky side of fall, then a Halloween-themed wedding might be for you. A color palette of black, deep plum, and silver would make this theme come to life. Decorate with plenty of candles and dark and moody florals. For a special touch, add masks for a masquerade ball-style reception. Halloween-themed cocktails in moody colors, and hosting your wedding in a venue like a castle or mansion will complete the halloween-style vibes.
Harvest Festival
One of the fun elements of the fall season can be the country fairs and harvest festivals that are held during the fall season. Colors like apple red, and sunflower yellow, are a natural choice for this. Tables and the venue could be decorated with wicker baskets filled with seasonal fruits and vegetables, cornucopia centerpieces, and checkered tablecloths on community-style tables. Top this off with a farm-to-table meal, pie station with different flavors, carnival style games, popcorn, and harvest wreaths on the chair backs or at the entryway doors.
Past Seasons
This post was originally published in September 2018. Here are some of the ideas we presented then. Products are likely out of stock, but the ideas remain classics.
1 | Fall Flower Bouquet from The Flower Patch on Etsy 2 | Hair accessory for a fall wedding created by the Honeycomb on Etsy 3 |Velvet bridesmaid by Jenny Yoo, Photographed by This Modern Romance. 4 | Personalized wedding blankets and shawls from Where to Get on Etsy
