Colors for a fall wedding include various harvest hues. There are endless possibilities for combining these warm palettes that can also include some choices from the cooler side of the color wheel.
List of Autumn Wedding Colors
Some of the most common colors used for fall weddings include:
- Rich red
- Burgundy
- Rust
- Sage green
- Bronze
- Gold
- Copper
- Wheat
- Off-white
- Pumpkin
- Taupe
- Mocha
- Marigold
Fall is a season of change, so it's difficult to pick a single color palette. Instead, you can choose from several groups of colors depending upon whether it's early fall, mid-fall, or late fall. There's a wide range of vibrant colors, muted tones, and even metallic shades that symbolize the season beautifully.
Early Fall
In the early fall, the sun is still vibrant and the colors of the harvest are rich and beautiful. If you're getting married in September or early October, the best colors to use are reds (from apple to burgundy), pumpkin, marigold, green, and cream.
Radiant Reds
It seems that no matter what the season, apple red is always right for the occasion. Fall weddings are no exception, as juicy red apples are a symbol of the fall harvest. You can use red as a main color or just as an accent, but it's a surefire way to liven up your color scheme. Use lighter and deeper shades of red to add depth to your color scheme.
Bright and Warm
Colors like marigold and green make perfect fall wedding colors because they embody the bright warmth of the season without overwhelming the senses. In this way, they're just like fall-it's bright, warm, and not overdone. It's simply, classically beautiful.
Mid-Fall
Getting married in mid-to-late October or early November? Your color scheme should shift a bit away from all of the vibrant colors that accompany the early fall. Instead, try metallics like bronze or gold, burgundy, rust, and perhaps even shades of brown. Peach, burgundy (or wine), and red, combined with a few pops of sage green or wisteria, make a stunning set of fall wedding colors that really captures the essence of the season. It's romantic and classy, plus it's easy to find flowers that really fit in with the theme.
Think Orange
All shades of orange-including peach-are great for mid-fall weddings. If you're planning a Halloween wedding, you may even want to consider featuring true orange in your decorations. Even if you're not getting married on or right around Halloween, orange is one of the top picks for mid-fall weddings.
Dusty rose tones look beautiful against peach, orange, and even rust. Other complementary fall shades include browns, wine, and burgundy. Red looks best as an accent color when used during the middle and late fall.
Metallics Add Spark
Shades of bronze, copper, and gold make for a beautiful color scheme. They can also be used as accent colors in the ribbons on the flowers, the decorations at the weddings site, or to enrich the reception hall's beauty. If you're getting married somewhere with lots of earth tones, using metallics can make it seem as though you spent much more money on the decorations than you did.
Not everyone looks their best in deep bronzes, coppers, and so forth, so keep your wedding party's skin tones in mind when choosing bridal party dresses.
Late Fall
Late fall is very versatile. You can use the deep, rich colors like chocolate or red-tinged plum, and go for a metallic theme with pops of color to welcome the coming winter season (such as apple red or pine green) mixed with cream and mocha, or go for a nearly monochromatic theme using pale gold, cream, and shades of brown.
Subdued Neutrals
One of the most beautiful ways to welcome winter when you have a late fall wedding is to choose a pale, neutral, monochromatic color scheme with golden accents. That means lots of browns: mocha, tan, caramel, cream, off-white, beige - whichever mix you prefer. Make sure you add gold to give it a hint of glitz and a whole lot of glam.
Adding a bit of red, green, or silver can also be a nod toward winter wedding colors.
Create a Seasonal Color Palette
Suppose you don't just want one fall color surrounded by neutrals. You can create a fall palette of colors and incorporate more by looking to the color wheel for ideas.
- You can anchor your color scheme with a fall color you love and then choose another color or two to the left or right of that color family on the color wheel like deep red accented with orange. You can choose a color between those two (like red-orange, in this case) or even a shade from the opposite side of one of your main colors, like red-violet (the other side of red on the color wheel), for very small details and visual interest.
- Another option for even more contrast is to go straight across the color wheel for another color to use. For example, if you're using pumpkin, a blue shade will make a gorgeous addition to your bouquets and table settings. Deep purple and yellow also work in this way.
- You could choose a monochromatic look that doesn't involve neutrals, like maroon with pink, and any reddish-pink shade in between.
Once you've chosen two or three colors, you can add neutrals--cream, white, chocolate, brown, black, or metallics--to round everything out if you still feel as if something is missing.
Choosing Accent Colors
When choosing wedding colors for a fall ceremony, you'll of course need one or two main colors and then a couple of accent colors. The earlier it is in the season, the more color-everywhere-you can get away with. Of course, it is your wedding, so if you want to use watermelon pink and lime green in late November, don't let seasonal restraints hold you back. If you're looking for guidance when it comes to playing to the tones of fall, here are some tips on choosing your accent colors:
- Early Fall: Even if your main color or colors are pretty vibrant (pumpkin, for example), you can get away with brighter accent colors. Small amounts of apple red wouldn't look out of place, for example.
- Mid-Fall: In mid-fall, subdued, muted, and earthy tones are popular. Try accenting in colors that are also muted, cream or other pale neutrals, or hints of metallic tones. Using a single bright pop of color, such as yellow in a cast of orange and rust, will also bid farewell to the passing of summer and still flow nicely with the color scheme.
- Late Fall: Late fall calls for rich, warm colors, and metallics. Light gold makes a beautiful accent color whether your color scheme consists of light neutrals or the deepest, velvety colors available. If you choose a darker palette, bring light to the decorations by adding in hints of cream or champagne. For other accent colors, don't be afraid of red and pine green.
Three Color Combo Examples
Ultimately, your wedding colors, regardless of season and where they land on the color wheel, should be a reflection of your and your spouse's personalities, the vibe you want your ceremony to have, and what you're just drawn to as you look through bridal magazines and read articles. Here are a few three-color schemes to get you started, though:
- Berry, pink, and cream
- Red, white, and silver
- Plum, marigold, and forest green
- Maroon, pink, and white (or cream)
- Mint (or sage), chocolate, and cream
- Persimmon, deep blue-green, and a touch of yellow
- Sage, taupe, and rose
- Maroon, peach, and yellow
Celebrate Autumn in Color
Fall colors are rich and vibrant, celebrating both the fruitfulness of the season and the blossoming of your nuptials. Use your color palette as a reflection of you, your future spouse, and your union. Don't be afraid to stray from the "rules" if a shade grabs your attention and it's outside the traditional fall palette. Simply anchor that color with others that you love and create your dream wedding.
