Long-sleeve wedding gowns, rich color palettes, barns or campgrounds as venues have made fall weddings as alluring as the traditional summer celebration.
The most popular date to get married this year is Oct. 20, a Saturday, according to wedding planning and registry site Zola. Summer has traditionally been the most popular season to get married, but couples are falling for rustic decor and changing leaves, apple orchards and sheer or lace capes. The other top wedding dates this year were all in September or October — except for one, Aug. 18., a Saturday. Zola looked at the data of 500,000 users.
“October is the biggest month,” said Julian Ribinik, a wedding photographer in New York. His company received 20 inquiries for Oct. 13, a Saturday, making it another popular fall date. Oct. 20 was the second most popular day to get married this year, according to wedding site The Knot, who surveys its own users, and Aug. 18, another Saturday, was the first.
How did fall get to be so popular for weddings? It used to be a very unpopular time to get hitched, said Anne Chertoff, trend expert at WeddingWire. People chose October because they could save money on venues, but then everyone started doing it for the same reasons. Campgrounds make for nice photos, but can’t host weddings until after summer, and barns took center stage for Instagram-worthy FB, +0.61% photoshoots, Chertoff said.
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In October, 40% of couples chose the fall to say “I do,” up from 30% in 2009, The Knot found. September and October are tied for the most popular month with 16% of weddings hosted for each, followed by June with 13%. It all depends on where you wed. Even though fall boasts beautiful foliage, New York won’t see much change in color until November, Ribinik said. A summer wedding in Vermont might also be less sticky and more bearable than one in Louisiana.
Couples looking to save money may not find the fall to be so cost-effective anymore. Price largely depends on the venue and the region, Jennifer Spector, “newlywed-at-large” at Zola said. Vineyards are beautiful three out of four seasons for most areas, so price won’t fluctuate as much as perhaps a beach or orchard. Couples spend between $19,182 and $31,970 getting married, but most actually spend less than $10,000, according to CostofWedding.com.
Because winter weddings come with risks of freezing conditions or snow, they’re the least expensive, Chertoff said. Except if they’re holidays: Employers may have to pay time and a half to their staff on New Year’s Eve, Spector warned. Wedding insurance can help mitigate some of those risks, and various insurance companies offer policies for disasters, including extreme weather, vendor problems, accidents and military deployment.