1) Location
Make sure that wherever you host your wedding, that it’s somewhere that is accented by the natural beauty of the season. A quiet Victorian style church surrounded by trees in their fall colors makes for some incredibly brilliant wedding photo opportunities. Mountain settings are simply stunning if you can get your location reserved before that other bride does!

2) Set the Tone
It’s good to plan ahead and make your guests aware of your fall themed wedding in advance. This may help to steer them in their choice of fashion accessories such as maple leaf broaches or autumn color handkerchiefs. Set the pace by sending our leaf save the date cards or wedding invitations with a fall or autumn feel to them. There are tons of wedding invitations places online including Get Married’s shop which carries some nice unique wedding invitations that you won’t find anywhere else.

3) Fall decorations
It’s also important to make sure that your guests can enjoy the seasonal colors whether they are inside or out by decorating the tables with centerpieces that use colorful leaves, straw, dried flowers, and pumpkin colors. Keeping within the brown and yellow spectrum of colors will be eye catching. Small details like using a Leaf Guestbook or maple leaf place card holders make very dramatic statements. Handmade tablecloths and doilies also give a small town feel that adds a nice touch.

4) Fall wedding favors
Give your guests fall wedding favors that will help them to remember the occasion. They may not remember details, but when they get to take home fall themed wedding favors like copper leaf bottle stoppers, place card holders, or simply any of the many ideas that are available out there, you give them a point of reference to remember the occasion. If leaves or pumpkin type gifts aren’t your style, at least try and manage to stick to your color palette.

5) Dress Color
In some people’s eyes, the only potential downside to a fall wedding is the dress color. An off white wedding dress is normally a safer bet with fall weddings. primarily because a bright white dress can clash with your fall motif. Be sure to stick to the color coordination since you are the focal point of the day. If you’ve inherited a white dress or refuse to walk down the aisle in anything but white, it won’t ruin the day, but it’s that attention to detail that will set the bar. Also ensure that the wedding party and especially bridesmaid dresses will help to support your color choices.

6) Food
Your fall wedding menu should highlight food of the autumn season with selections like pumpkin pie, pecan pie, squash, zucchini, and apple cider with cinnamon sticks. Don’t forget your vegetarian guests as well. Likewise your wedding cake should also have fall colors and decorations incorporated into layers or decorations. Placing the cake on a light brown or dust yellow tablecloth surrounded by leafs would be a great eye catcher.

7) Everyone knows
Out of all of the great fall wedding tips that are available out there, be sure that you keep the color coordination on the top of everyone’s mind. Let your wedding planner know your plans so that they can inform all of the right people and monitor the situation for you. The caterer needs to know that you want your menu seasonal so that they can plan accordingly. It’s just very important that everyone is aware of your autumn motif to make sure that they don’t add something to the mix to clash with your flow and feel of fall.

8)Lighting
Make sure that whoever is in charge of decorating, that they keep the lighting subdued and not bright white. All of your colors can get washed away in bright white light. Keep lighting off-white or yellow to keep the ambiance flowing even in the air. If the DJ will be supplying lighting as well, be sure that they know of your color plans so that their “disco lights” don’t ruin everything you worked so hard to create. But more importantly, be sure to let your wedding photographer know about the yellow lighting since yellow plays havoc on white balance. It’s best they know as far in advance as possible.

Here are some questions to help you create a unique reception:

1. Do you enjoy any hobbies? How can you incorporate them into your reception? Perhaps you and your sweetie love the water: What about a nautical theme, or a wedding aboard a yacht. Maybe you are history buffs. Why not have your wedding at a favorite historical site, and bring historical elements into your wedding reception?

2.  Do you have a unique cultural background? Why not incorporate some of the culture’s unique traditions into the ceremony and reception? Everything from the attire to the menu could reflect your heritage.

3. Do you have a fondness for a particular season or holiday? If you love the winter, have a winter wonderland wedding theme. If the fall is more your thing, bring a harvest theme into your celebration.

4. Do you enjoy the arts? You could bring artistic elements into your décor by getting married at an art gallery. The wedding reception could even include a guided tour of the gallery.

5. Do you love the outdoors? Holding an outdoor wedding reception at one of your favorite outdoor haunts could be a soul-satisfying experience.

6. Do you love to travel? You could bring your love of travel into your wedding by having a destination wedding. If you’d rather stay put for your nuptials, name tables after places you’ve visited, and offer foods from some of your favorite destinations.

7. Do you have a favorite restaurant? Why not have a unique restaurant reception there?

Food stations are fun for your wedding guests because they allow guests to sample foods that they otherwise might never have tasted, and they get everyone mixing and mingling.

Although you might not have as many food stations as a large wedding, a smaller guest listwill allow you to splurge on foods that might otherwise be out of your budget.

Love seafood? Have a seafood station. Love prime rib? Go for a carving station.

You can also create stations that reflect your ethnicity or your locale.

Here are 18 ideas for food stations that will tantalize your taste buds:

Asian Station

Rice and noodle dishes, along with spring rolls, pan fried dumplings, and Thai dishes like satay chicken or pad Thai. A dim sum station is another option.

Mexican Station

Fajitas, quesadillas, tacos and nachos with lots of yummy toppings.

 Pasta Bar

A variety of gourmet pastas. Offer a cold pasta bar, a warm pasta bar or both.

 Crepe Station

Dessert crepes like crepes suzette, cherry crepes with whipped cream, or hazelnut and chocolate crepes. You could also serve dinner style crepes such as chicken paprikash crepes, seafood crepes and grilled veggie crepes.

Salad and Veggie Bar

Greek salad, Caesar salad, bean salad – the options are endless. You could also include grilled veggies.

Cheese Station

A selection of domestic and international cheeses from gourmet cheese makers. Pair with a variety of wines, both red and white.

 Perogie Station

Offer a variety of perogies stuffed with mashed potatoes, potato and cheddar, or feta. Offer toppings such as bacon bits, sour cream and chives.

 Mediterranean Station

Hummus, tabouli, souvlaki, pitas and grilled veggies.

 Potato Station

Baked potatoes with buffet style toppings like bacon, sour cream, chives, chili, cheese, and guacamole. You could also have a mashed potato station with toppings such as sour cream and chives, bacon, cheddar cheese, mushroom or seafood sauce. Serve in martini glasses.

 Mac and Cheese Station

We’re not talking Kraft Dinner here. Have a chef cook up some gourmet mac and cheese and offer a variety of toppings to make it even more decadent.

 Children’s Food Station

Having more than a handful of kids at your wedding? Have a kid’s station with kids’ foods such as mini pizzas, French fries, veggies and dip, and chicken fingers.

Soup Bar

Perfect for fall and winter weddings. Offer a variety of homemade soups, like seafood chowder, minestrone, lobster bisque, butternut squash soup, chicken gumbo, or asparagus soup. What about gazpacho, vichyssoise or borsht?

 Raw Seafood Bar

Oysters, sushi rolls, shrimp cocktail, crab salad, smoked salmon.

 Fish and Seafood Bar

Lobster, crab legs, scallops, salmon.

 Carving Station

Roast tenderloin of beef, prime rib, ham or rack of lamb. Turkey is a great option for fall and winter weddings.

Dessert Station

You could have a lot of fun with this. Offer a wide variety of home made desserts or stick with a theme like chocolate.

 Ice Cream or Gelato Station

A variety of gourmet ice creams or gelato with lots of delicious toppings to choose from so guests can create their own sundaes.

 Espresso Bar

Espresso, gourmet coffees and teas – and don’t forget the hot chocolate for the kids. Have cinnamon, whipped cream, nutmeg, cane sugar and cream on hand.

When it comes to choosing a location, two heads are better than one. Sit down with your spouse-to-be and make a list of potential sites. He might think of places that didn’t even cross your mind.

Keep the following in mind when deciding on a location:

Size

Ideally, you should visit a venue beforehand to get a feel for its size.

Because you are having a small wedding, you might feel dwarfed in a venue that is too large. Conversely, if you are having several dozen guests, you want to make sure that you don’t feel cramped.

Budget

Chances are, not all small wedding venues will fit into your budget. If you’re on a tight budget and the venue you want is beyond your price range, think about having a brunch or cocktail reception at the venue instead of a plated dinner.

Meaning

Is there a place that has special meaning to both of you? Maybe you have a favorite bed and breakfast or a restaurant that is special to you. Choosing a meaningful location will help personalize your wedding.

Practicality

Would you rather get married inside or outdoors? If an outdoor wedding sounds more appealing, keep in mind that it can be more stressful (you are at the mercy of the elements!) and more expensive than an indoor wedding. If you’re the adventurous type and your idea of a perfect wedding is on the side of a mountain, don’t forget that your guests might not appreciate having to hoof it up the mountain in their Sunday best.

Availability

You might have the perfect spot in mind for your wedding, but are you sure the venue hosts weddings? If so, you’ll also have to find out if it has noise and alcohol restrictions.

Flexibility

If you are flexible with the time of week, and the time of day you want to get married there will be more small wedding venues available to you. There’s a greater chance that your chosen venue will be available on a Sunday night, than on Saturday. Remember that no matter what you choose for your wedding date, it’s best to start your search for a venue early. Places can book up over a year in advance.

We wanted to give the single best piece of advice we could give anyone who is new to planning their special day: Stay Organized!

In our professional opinion, what ends up costing our clients the most money is not staying organized with payments, expectations from vendors and being clear on what they want from their event. There’s a lot of thinking that goes into planning an event and the best way to stay on top of everything is make sure that you have as much information as possible and to keep it in an neat and easily accessible manner.