Rather than getting married under the hot summer sun, choose a cooler season like autumn. The fall features some of the most beautiful backdrops for your wedding photos, and there isn’t nearly as much competition for venues, photographers and cake decorators.
Here are our A+ tips on planning an unforgettable autumn wedding!
1. Pick a Fall-Inspired Location
There are a few options where you could hold your wedding. Two lovely options to think about are indoor and outdoor settings. For example, you can have your wedding indoors but bring a bit of that rustic nature inside, or you can get married amidst the beautiful trees and have a back-up plan in case of inclement weather. If you decide to do an outdoors wedding, you can keep a basket of wool blankets for guests in case the ceremony gets cold. The blankets can even be flannels in the shades of your color scheme.
One of the key reasons for choosing a fall wedding is the beautiful outdoor foliage. Other venues that would make for a gorgeous outdoor backdrop are holding your ceremony at a vineyard, near a cabin, or an open field next to a barn. You can even celebrate your wedding at a neighbor or family member’s back yard if they have a large backyard with trees that would look compliment the ceremony.
Claire Thomson Photography
2. Decorate with a Fall Color Palette
Look to the outdoors for inspiration for your wedding color scheme. In the fall, the leaves are turning yellow, red and brown. Shades like burgundy and gold match the rustic nature of the outdoors quite nicely–not to mention they provide a seriously posh theme for your wedding photos.
You can also use nature to your advantage by plucking a few freshly fallen leaves and incorporating them into your decor. The browns, reds and oranges look great lining the aisle or as part of wedding reception centerpieces. Rather than flower girls, your little ones can dust the aisle with leaves instead.
3. Go Bold with Bridesmaid Dresses
Perhaps one of the easiest areas for incorporating a fall color scheme is your bridesmaids dresses. Don’t shy away from choosing bold colors. Out of all of the seasons, autumn works the best for statement colors dresses, flowers and accessories.
4. Dot the Reception with Rustic Flower Arrangements
You might be surprised to learn that you’ll have a wealth of seasonal flowers to choose from. Instead of choosing spring or summer flowers like lilacs, choose chrysanthemums, amaranth, black-eyed susans and celosia. If you’re in the mood for traditional bouquets, roses are always in-season.
Levi Stolove Photography
5. Serve a Deliciously Festive Wedding Cake
Let your cake decorator know that you want the cake to represent your favorite season. Naked cakes, where most of the buttercream frosting is scraped off to reveal the cake underneath, are particularly great for an autumn wedding because they mimic the rustic nature all around you.
6. Send Guests Home with Something Nice
Your theme can even extend to your wedding favors. For instance, these cute heart-shaped faux wood frames direct guests to their seats at the reception, but can also be taken home as a parting gift.
Go with useful wedding favors, like these pumpkin bottle openers. Every fall, you as well as your guests can reuse this bottle opener, which would be a sweet reminder of your special day.
Now you have everything you need to plan a great autumn wedding.
