Fall might not be the first season you think of for a wedding, but if you do, it’s a wonderful win. Autumn has so much to offer. From the last bursts of fading foliage, to the slightly cooler weather and potentially surprising finds for weddings venues, there’s a lot to enjoy about getting married in the fall.

Nature’s color palette in the fall season is different from that which you can find in the spring and summer, but there’s still plenty of inspiration to go around. When you begin planning your fall wedding color palette, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the options.

Draw Inspiration From Nature

While fall might be the season in which nature prepares to go to sleep for the winter, it still puts on a pretty show for all of us in the meantime. Just a few of the brilliant colors displays you’ll find in the fall come from:

1. Fall Foliage

Green, yellow, orange, red, purple, brown — these are just a few of the colors you’re likely to see blazing from the treetops during high autumn. Why not draw on this natural sight as you choose your autumn wedding color ideas? Why not combine a flaming orange with a deep plum? What about a soft brown with a rich green?

2. Autumn Flowers

There are several blossoms out there that brave the chillier temperatures to brighten our gardens in the fall. A few plants you might look to for color ideas include:

• Chrysanthemum
• Celosia
• Aster
• Dianthus
• Alyssum

A fall bouquet might include smoky-blue asters and tiny blue alyssum blossoms. You might choose a monochromatic color scheme for your fall wedding, selecting different shades of red.

3. Harvest

If you’re searching for colors for a fall wedding, the warmth of annual harvest-time colors guarantees you collection of comforting, hearty colors.

Look at the natural shades you’ll find in pumpkins, squashes, tomatoes, green beans, and peppers. You’ll see shades of brown, orange, green, and other earth tones. Any of these would make lovely fall colors for weddings. Why not try different shades of green? What about oranges and reds?

Think Earth Tones

Common wedding colors for the fall are often based around earth tones. We’ve mentioned many of these colors already, but a more complete list might include:

• Plum
• Burnt Orange
• Burgundy
• Dark Green
• Mahogany
• Maroon

These colors are all a bit more muted than the vibrant shades of summer, and stronger than the delicate colors often found in the spring. Moreover, these colors can all be combined with one another in a variety of ways. Plum might look perfect with dark green, or burnt orange and burgundy could be the right fit for your fall wedding.

Mix and Match Your Earth Tones

The same color theories that we applied to both spring and summer weddings can also apply here. Let’s look at some examples.

1. Complementary

If you’re looking for colors on the opposite side of the color wheel, you’re guaranteed to have a bold and exciting color palette. For the fall, think about trying maroon with dark green for a look inspired by an autumn forest.

2. Monochromatic

Autumn offers so many colors to choose from, but sometimes it only takes one. Why not choose a gorgeous red, and mix things up by using different shades and saturations of this single tone?

3. Analogous

Can’t decide on just one or two colors? Why not choose three, all from neighboring slices of the color wheel? For example, you might select shades of red, pink, and purple for your autumn wedding.

Avoid a Halloween Look

Earth tones make beautiful wedding looks for the fall, but you’ll want to be careful of straying too far in the direction of Halloween decorations. Orange and brown, for example, can look lovely together, but you might want to consider muted tones of each instead of the brightest shades.

To avoid Halloween confusion, why not try mixing it up by throwing a neutral or metallic shade into the mix? You might use plum, green, and gold, for example. Or why not use red, orange, and gray? All of these are excellent ways to break up the more traditional fall color palette.

Browse our selection of fall decorations for some color palette inspiration.

Chapter 2: How to Choose Color Palettes for Summer Chapter 4: How to Choose Color Palettes for Fall