Our Top Autumn & Winter Wedding Styling Inspiration

Autumn and winter weddings are growing in popularity as brides and grooms look to alternative times of the year to tie the knot.

As well as potentially making a saving on an ‘off peak’ date, the cooler months have plenty to offer wedding couples who desire an atmospheric seasonal celebration. From the muted daylight that fades beautifully into dusk, to the comforting food and drink options, rich florals and foliage, plus sparkler and firework entertainment. These truly are magical seasons in which to wed.

And so, whether you’ve already snapped up an autumn/winter wedding date or you’re tempted by the romance of this most wonderful time of year, we’re here to help inspire the styling elements of your big day.

As professional wedding planners and event stylists, we can assist with the logistics and on the day management of your celebration, as well as ensuring it stands out from the crowd and reflects you as a couple with wow-worthy decor.

Based in Cheshire, we’re proud to work with the very best North West wedding venues but also love to travel further afield and have delivered our award-winning services all across the UK. So, if you love what you see, be sure to get in touch to arrange a free consultation and discover how we can bring your autumn/winter wedding dreams to life.

Now, on with the inspo, covering everything from the most fitting seasonal settings to the perfect colour schemes, themes and styling.

(Above image by Adam Hudson Photography)

Wedding Venue

The first step to achieving your big day wedding vision is to decide on your setting. This will form the backdrop for your celebrations, and so you will want to think about the mood you are keen to create, the look you want to project, and, of course, where you can see yourselves saying, “I do”.

For autumn and winter weddings with large guest lists, grand, spacious and historic venues tend to prove popular. Think regal manor houses, enchanting castles and listed halls that offer spectacular staircases, ornate features and scenic views.

Meanwhile, for those wanting a more intimate seasonal soiree, rustic settings such as barns, woodland retreats and farmhouses are ideal, featuring beautiful natural materials in wooden beams and bare stone walls.

Alternatively, if an industrial wedding venue is more your vibe, old mill buildings and warehouses can look particularly striking when decked out with an abundance of lights. Just make sure such venues are well heated!

Wedding Colour Scheme

Perhaps one of our very favourite elements of wedding styling, the colour scheme! This will really help to set off your big day styling and give your celebrations a cohesive look throughout. You can weave your chosen hues through everything from your stationery, cake and flowers to your decor and attire.

For autumn weddings, many couples are drawn to the wonderful colours of nature at the time of year, so burgundy, burnt orange and mustard yellow tones. Alternatively, at the other end of the colour spectrum, some choose more muted tones of the season, like soft browns mixed with pale pink and peach.

Rich jewel tones lend themselves well to both autumn and winter celebrations, adding a beautiful luxe feel to the proceedings and reflecting the berries and fruits of the seasons. Choose from the likes of emerald green, amethyst purple, magenta pink and ruby red.

Meanwhile, for winter colour schemes, we will forever love the simplicity and style of an all-white wedding. For something extra refined, go for a monochrome mix of black and white or, if you love a little glitz, nothing quite says ‘party’ like a glittering metallic theme, be it silver, gold or bronze.

Wedding Theme

Not everyone chooses to theme their wedding, but for those getting hitched in autumn and winter, there are possibly some of the best options to embrace.

Top autumn wedding themes include Halloween, Harvest and Rustic Woodland, while in winter, Christmas, Winter Wonderland and Great Gatsby prove popular.

You don’t have to go too full on or literal with the theme. For example, a Halloween wedding doesn’t need to be an absolute scare-fest centred around a purely black and orange palette. Instead, you can incorporate subtle styling nods, such as painted pumpkin centrepieces, skull candles or votives, and “Till Death Do Us Part” stationery, signage or neon lighting. Colour-wise, you can play around with chic greys, romantic crimson reds and luxe gold.

However, should you want to go all out with a theme, such as Christmas, calling in a professional wedding stylist really can help as we have an Aladdin’s cave of spectacular props and decor to bring your vision to life! Think giant wreaths, full-height Christmas trees, artificial snow and fairy lights galore!

Wedding Ceremony Styling

Styling elements you’re going to want to think about to enhance your autumn/winter wedding ceremony include setting the scene at the entrance, creating a jaw-dropping aisle and framing those all-important vows.

We love a tree-lined aisle for an autumn wedding reflecting the season’s colours in rich red, orange and yellow tones, then a scattering of leaves along the pathway to complete the vision.

Meanwhile, for winter, there’s nothing like a candle-lit aisle accompanied by beautiful white-flowered trees or luxurious all-white floral arrangements placed on clear perspex plinths.

Decorative and blossom trees also make for striking entrance decor, while stunning floral arches and chuppahs are perfect for making an impact at the top of the aisle.

Wedding Breakfast Styling

Perhaps one of the most memorable elements of a wedding is the reception meal. Not solely for the food being served up and the speeches being read aloud, but also the ambience created through carefully-considered and swoon-worthy decor.

For those wanting to make an autumnal statement, look to bring the beauty of nature outdoors, indoors. Dress tables with log-slice centrepiece stands, seasonal fruits and blooms, pine cones, leaves and, of course, pumpkins!

Winter couples, meanwhile, might prefer to take inspiration from the festivities of the season, adorning tables with sequin table cloths, coloured glassware, elegant candelabras and metallic plate chargers and cutlery.

Decorative trees again make show-stopping centrepieces, especially when finished with suspended tea-light filled globes providing soft, romantic lighting on dull autumn/winter days.

If you’d prefer fresh or faux seasonal blooms as centrepieces instead, you could pick elevated arrangements on stands, low floral table runners or small posies in individual bud jars and vases. You could even opt for a combination of centre displays, alternating the design from table to table.

Other areas to consider include the backdrop to the top table, which could be a plush flower wall, twinkle light backdrop or cool neon sign. Then there’s the seating chart/place settings – one of our favourite details to get creative with and deliver something truly individual. For autumn, we love a seasonal tree table chart with seating details hanging from colour-coordinated ribbons, or for winter, pretty pine cone place settings.

To help create depth and warmth during the cooler seasons of the year, it also helps to use a mix of fabrics for tablecloths, runners, chair decor and finishing touches. For autumn/winter weddings, we love the likes of hessian, silk, organza, velvet and twine.

Wedding Lighting

Without a doubt, lighting is a super important styling element for autumn and winter weddings.

The days can be a little bleak, and natural light might be lost by late afternoon. As such, we have somewhat of a ‘more is more’ mantra when it comes to lighting for weddings in these seasons.

For rustic autumn weddings, festoons and fairy lights look fabulous strung from beams. Both also look particularly effective in urban wedding settings, softening exposed brick walls and metal pillars.

An abundance of candlelight is a must for elegant winter weddings, placed everywhere from staircases and fireplaces to the aisle and reception tables. Mix up the styles and heights for an extra luxurious feel, choosing from lanterns, hurricane vases, floating candles, tapered candlesticks and sweet, twinkling votives.

Come evening, you can keep the illuminations going with the addition of light-up letters, LED dancefloors and statement neon signs.