In the fifties, summer was America’s most popular marriage season. The 1954 musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” featured the song “June Bride” -- “Oh, they say when you marry in June, you’re a bride all your life.”
Today, however, fall is the most popular season for weddings, but no composer has written “October Bride.” Harder to find a rhyme?
While the world waits for the perfect autumn love song, designers Kaitlin Przezdziecki of Cheers Darling Events and Tabitha Roberts of Roberts & Co Events shared their take on what’s fresh for fall weddings.
ALHI: In a year where the trend is “non-wedding” weddings, are you seeing “non-seasonal” weddings?
Przedziecki: While couples are leaning towards more "non-wedding" weddings, we find clients are still focused on incorporating the feeling of the season into their celebration - ensuring the overall vibe and design meshes with the season and temperature of their wedding date.
Roberts: The season in our area tends to be April through June and then a big burst of weddings from September to November. However, we are seeing a lot of couples move into early fall/late summer as well as January/February to not let the weather impede upon a great time. While the cost does not vary greatly for most vendors, venues will offer off-season and non-peak discounts to allow couples to have options across the year and incentivize weddings. I love an off-season wedding as it gives us more time to tend to the client and allows us to stretch our design muscles in a new direction.
ALHI: For couples who do incorporate the season, is there a recent client who brought in fall in unique ways?
Przedziecki: Clients Laura and David wanted the celebration to feel fun and vibrant but with a nod to fall. We incorporated warm, velvet linens in a chartreuse tone and leaned into richer and more vibrant autumn colors than traditional ‘orange, red, yellow’ tones. They wanted it to be bright without feeling out of season - and I think we balanced the colors really well.
Roberts: For fall it’s always a traditional look at autumn tones and decor such as pumpkins and seasonal fall foliage. I love when clients bring in a deeper tone like dark aubergine or marigold to bring some depth to fall decor. We also find a new wave of clients leaning in to fall-inspired cocktails, garnishes like cinnamon sticks, gourds for soup bowls.
ALHI: Fall weddings can mean luxurious materials, deep colors – are you seeing those elements? Or is there a new way to “do” fall?
Przedziecki: Yes, leaning into luxe-feeling colors and fabrics -- velvets, vibrant lush colors, deeper green tones. Incorporating "hard" textures - matte black metals. Warmer lighting -- tabletop lamps, rather than candles.
Roberts: There is no right or wrong way to "do” fall, in our opinion. However, when thinking about fall, we want to lean away from the traditional oranges or browns and go towards marigolds, cinnamon, orange, copper, and rose gold tones. Ivory instead of white gives the essence of fall and gives more depth to the overall color story. Teal with amber and burnt orange is beautiful when done well. Also, leaning in on patterns that are fall-adjacent -- instead of traditional oak leaves, do a more vine-inspired print or coppery abstracts to embody the season. I really also appreciate that more tents are using deep, rich-colored fabrics to embrace the colors of the season. Trends may come and go, but we love when couples embrace color and texture for their celebration.
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