Did you know that historically June was the choice for weddings, because, in years gone by, many people only took real baths in that month? In modern times, the tradition continues, albeit we bathe more frequently. Weather is also a factor in the popularity of June, but while summer continues to be in the number one spot, in many places, especially in the Hudson Valley, fall is coming in as a tight second. Specifically, a poll recently taken in New Jersey, indicated that June got 15 percent of the couples and 13 percent chose October.

The wedding industry has reacted to these figures with ideas, services and products that are season-specific.

Fall Wedding Ideas

The Venue
The first planning choice that couples make is to select their reception venue. For the couple looking for an intimate venue for an intimate reception, the Valley is replete with charming inns, historic sites, quaint old century churches, "vintage" meetinghouses, barns, wooded glens, steam-side pavilions and much more, with all providing the colorful fall foliage backdrop. For those looking for a natural setting, add vineyards, orchards, knolls and hilltops.

Couples should be mindful of the accouterments such venues supply. Fall weather can be anything from summer scorching to fall freezing, so alternative inside venues, fireplaces, heated floors and the like are important items to check on.

The Décor
Decorating for a fall wedding is a delight, because the fabulous fall foliage presents nature's foundation. Fall themes can include . . . Halloween theme (complete with skeletons and spiders) Harvest theme with cornucopias, fruits, pumpkins (real or fake), gourds, wheat sheaves, dried fruits, and dried flower wreaths, turkey or pheasant feathers, jack-o-lanterns (real or fake), and paper bag luminaries. Fall Color Scheme using fall's traditional color of reds, oranges, browns and yellows can be mixed and matched with cornucopias, acorns, and leaves. Your florist can offer you a choice of fabulous fall flowers including, chrysanthemums, roses, Gerber daisies, yarrow, leaves, and berries.

Wedding Attire
The choice of seasons will influence your choice of clothing for the bride, et al. Ecru, cream, ivory and eggshell will harmonize with the fall color scheme, better than stark white will. Bridesmaids will complement the theme deep gem stone colored dresses. The groom and his ushers can match their vests to the attendants' dresses. Fall is the time of year that a bride can move away from chiffons and lightweight fabrics and indulge herself with rich, luscious heavier-weight fabrics such as brocades, satins and velvets. Weather is an important factor in selection of attire, because a sudden fall back to a summer hot day, can melt anyone who is overdressed. Wedding attire consultants advocate "flexible," styles, such as dresses with jackets, capes, shawls, scarves and the like that can be adjusted according to the ambient temperature

For bridal couples who want to involve their guests in the wedding theme, a costumed, Halloween wedding is the perfect choice. Guests and the couple can come costumed, and headgear or masks can be distributed at the entranceway. The kind of decor and party favors are, as you would imagine, seemingly limitless and, because Halloween is celebrated with such vigor, many items can be purchased at reasonable prices, giving a little help to your budget.

Fall Foods
You can choose to have a "seasonal" menu and serve a traditional fall dinner, roasted turkey with all the trimmings, right down to pumpkin pie for dessert, but of course, you can also choose from many other fall menu options, including pheasants, Cornish hens, roasted quail, or standing rib roasts. The food bonus for a fall menu is that you can select a heartier soup and/or appetizer, a heavier meat entree with sides of fall weight. Even presentation can be fall-oriented with, for example, a creative chef use "bowls" of pumpkins shell, decorations of dried fruits and nuts, and cool-weather beverages such as mulled apple ciders. The plentifully available apple can be the basis for dishes from soup, through dessert, through wedding cake. Even the wedding cake can take on a fall flavor, veering away from traditional summer cakes and selecting carrot, spice, apple, marzipan, pumpkin and nuts, in and on the cake.

The Trimmings
Inventive party favor designers get really creative manufacturing theme-related items. Choose chocolate pumpkins and turkeys, to candied or caramel coated apples, maple syrup candles or syrup, local jarred honey and preserves, mini pumpkins, jarred ornamental multicolored corn, bagged bread-baking flour and many other options. These decorative party favors will do double duty as thank you gifts and table decorations.

The Hudson Valley is just one magical place that brings the fall color carpet into view and invites bridal couples to stage their weddings on it.

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