How to Decorate for an Outdoor Fall Wedding
Outdoor weddings in autumn can be a breathtaking sight, with the natural backdrop of red, yellow, and orange leaves falling from tree branches. Learn how to incorporate these colors and decorate for your outdoor fall wedding.
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Things You'll Need
- Tent/canopy (Optional)
- Small bare tree
- Instructions for guests
- Leaf die-cuts
- Ribbons
- Round tables
- Chairs
- Round tablecloths
- Table runners or overlays (Optional)
- Chair covers (Optional)
- Medium-sized square tray
- Pillar candles of varying heights
- Small pinecones
- Small cornucopias
- Fall-themed potpourri
- Place cards
- Cake table
- Linen for cake table
Instructions
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Choose an outdoor venue such as your backyard, a winery or a park. If it has foliage in the background, it will require less decorating since it will be naturally beautiful. Consider keeping the ceremony in a tent or canopy in case it rains or gets too chilly and windy. You must have adequate heating available that will keep the area heated. You can rent outdoor heaters from party rental shops or purchase them from Lowe's or Home Depot. If you decide to go with a tent or canopy, the place you reserve it from should provide you with heating. However, there may be an additional charge for this service.
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Use colors such as burgundy, rustic orange, golden yellow and hints of brown throughout the decor elements, so that the whole theme ties together and promotes consistency.
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Place a burgundy aisle runner in the center and scatter colorful leaves along the edges. Arrange chairs on either side of the runner. There are various options available in renting chairs. Padded chairs are a bit more expensive to rent, but they don't require chair covers since they are already elegant. You can also rent banquet chairs or folding chairs and place chair covers over them if you'd like. If chair covers are used, you can go with fall-colored chair covers and sashes, such as burgundy or orange, or choose white and use a colored sash. Stick a leaf at the center of the sash, above the bow. Tie-back chair covers are also popular, in which a fall-themed ornament can be used to tie the chair cover in the back instead of a sash.
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Place a small bare tree with branches in a decorative pot on the table. Then, place a basket full of small leaf cutouts in red, yellow and orange with a hole punched in each leaf. You can make these at home by cutting colored construction paper in the shape of a leaf, or you can purchase leaf die-cuts online or from a scrapbook store. Place another basketful of small ribbons in your color scheme. Type out instructions for guests, directing them to write a message on the leaf and to tie it around the tree branch with the ribbon provided. Frame the instructions and place it at the center of the table.
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You can use gerbera daisies, mums, roses or hydrangeas as your main flowers in your bouquet and centerpieces. Orange and burgundy gerbera daisies are a popular color combination that is used in many fall weddings.
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For the reception, rent round tables and place eight to 10 chairs per table. You can use a white tablecloth with a satin burgundy or orange table runner, or you can use a colored satin or organza overlay. Create an autumn-themed landscape for your centerpieces. In a medium-sized square tray, place three to four pillar candles of varying heights. The candles can have scents such as pumpkin harvest or cinnamon. Places small pinecones, cornucopias, mums and fall-themed potpourri around the base of the candles in the tray. Light the candles just before guests arrive. For place cards, use fall-themed place card holders or place standard place cards on the table and scatter leaves around the table. Choose a fall-themed cake such as a white marble cake with leaves coming down in a diagonal direction over the tiers. Place the cake on a table with white linen and burgundy organza overlay.
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Tips & Warnings
Be sure to have an alternate location if you schedule an outdoor wedding.
Be especially mindful of candles at an autumn wedding since the foliage is much drier at this time of year.
Resources
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