7 Creative Autumn Equinox Wedding Ideas

7 Simple Wedding Ideas to Celebrate the Color, Comfort & Joy of the Autumn Equinox

 

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The Autumnal Equinox is one of the most auspicious wedding dates of the year, promising balance, harmony, and cozy abundance in your marriage. This year, the Equinox – also known as Mabon, Alban Elfed, or Mea'n Fo'mhair – arrives on September 22, 2025.

 

On the Autumn Equinox, day and night are in perfect balance. Equal time is spent in light and dark, celebration and reflection, infusing this auspicious fall wedding date with celestial symbolism, history, and magic. The fall equinox is considered one of the most potent times of year to honor harmony, nature, and the cycle of life – which makes it the perfect day for a wedding between two loving equals. 

 

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Add in vibrant foliage, crisp autumn air, and a bounty of festive season food and drinks, and it's no wonder that weddings, handfastings, and vow renewals have been held on Mabon for centuries! 

 

Below are seven of our favorite ways to celebrate an Autumn Equinox wedding to help you start planning.

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(Photo by Habib Hosseini / Pexels)

 

 

7 Autumnal Fall Equinox Wedding Ideas

 

1. Celebrate with an Outdoor Wedding

 

Take advantage of the crisp fall air and vibrant colors by bringing your celebration outdoors! Choose a spacious backyard, a picturesque courtyard, aromatic garden, or colorful forest for your wedding ceremony and leave Mother Nature in charge of decor! Surround the ceremony space with fall flowers, blessing stones, crystals, and spicy aromatic incense.

 

For couples who practice Earth magic, outdoor weddings also provide the most powerful energy for spiritual bonding, bringing you into close connection to the Earth and other elements.

 

Consider the weather: Some regions can be damp and rainy in the fall, so you might want to prepare with clear (or colorful) wedding umbrellas, rain boots, backup tents, and lined blankets to place on outdoor seating. Plan a morning or midday wedding to beat the early sunset. And if snow is common in your area, you might want to arrange an indoor venue with an available outdoor space – to cover all your bases! 

 

Related: The Ultimate Wedding Emergency Kit Checklist: 45 Essential Items

 

 

2. Include a Handfasting Ceremony

 

Add a special handfasting ritual to your wedding ceremony in honor of the Autumn Equinox. During a handfasting ritual, you and your partner will join hands while your wedding officiant ties a colorful cord or ribbons around your wrists as a symbol of your union. Personalize your ceremony by choosing meaningful handfasting cord colors or a symbolic knot, including a Pagan wedding blessing, or by writing your own handfasting vows. 

 

• How to Include a Handfasting in Your Wedding Ceremony or Vow Renewal 

 

 

3. Cozy Cider Unity Ceremony

 

Put a seasonal spin on a wine unity ceremony by toasting with cider! Cider can be served hot or chilled, dry or sweet, still or sparkling, alcoholic (fermented) or non-alcoholic. 

 

As the perfect fall flavor, cider can be substituted in any popular wine unity ceremony, such as a traditional wine toast, a wine box ceremony (placing love letters into a box of wine to drink on your first anniversary), or a wine blending ceremony (blending two unique wines together, followed by a symbolic toast). All of these can be done with cider! 

 

Visit your local cidery or ciderworks for a pre-wedding sampling to find your favorite varieties, then stock up for a unique unity toast, unity shot, or to share at the reception with guests. Stick with classic apple ciders or experiment with other types, such as Pumpkin Cider, Honey Cider, Blackberry Cider, or Hopped Cider.  

 

 

(Photo by Inga Seliverstova / Pexels)

 

 

4. Add a Ceremonial Wedding Bonfire 

 

Light a bonfire as part of your post-ceremony festivities! Mabon is a time for community, to celebrate the bounty of life and the coming winter. Combined with a wedding, this is the perfect chance to gather with friends and family around the fire to enjoy a hearty fall feast, drinks, laughter, and dancing. 

 

Then, share your favorite moments from your ‘love story,’ write down things you hope to manifest in your marriage on slips of paper and place them in the fire, or make offerings to the gods and spirits of autumn! The bonfire wedding tradition has been around since the earliest Pagan marriage rites, and is a perfect symbol of the cozy abundance of the Autumn Equinox. 

 

If a bonfire isn’t possible for your venue, add a unity candle ceremony instead. This popular ritual incorporates fire and light for powerful symbolism on a smaller scale.

 

 

5. Decorate a Fall Wedding Arch & Altar

 

Decorate your wedding arch with vibrant autumn leaves, acorns, apples, seasonal sprigs of greenery. Drape colorful fall fabrics as a stunning backdrop for your wedding vows and photos. And arrange a ceremonial wedding altar with symbolic items of harmony and harvest – like acorns, apples, and gourds, fresh baked bread or wheat grains, flowers, candles, crystals, incense, runes, photographs, and more. 

 

Related: Pagan Wedding Altars : An Illustrated Look at a Year and a Day Altar

 

 

Fall Equinox wedding witchcraft: Cast a circle, decorate an arch, and arrange a ceremonial wedding altar with meaningful items as part of the marriage rite, including herbs, flowers, candles, crystals, incense, runes, and photographs. For Eclectic Pagan, Druid, and Wiccan weddings, couples might also place an athame, pentagram, hearth stones, wand, or amulet on the altar as part of spellcasting. (Photo: Stanislav Hubkin / iStock)

 

 

5. Greet the Day with a Nature Walk

 

Create a mindful wedding experience with a day-of nature walk. Gather with your loved ones on the day of your wedding to walk beneath the trees, along the water, or under an open sky, and shake off any lingering wedding stress as you breathe in the crisp autumn air. This mindful walk will calm your spirit, gently stretch your joints, clear your mind, encourage spiritual connection, and get you ready to walk down the aisle. 

 

For a truly seasonal nature walk, visit an apple orchard in the morning to pick apples you can enjoy with guests during the reception! 

 

 

6. Play with Autumn Elixirs and Equinox Magic

 

Harness the power of the Equinox in your post-ceremony celebration with homemade elixirs, aperitifs, and seasonal cocktails. 

 

Fall wedding cocktails & mocktails ideas: 

 

Blend a popular after-dinner aperitif with coriander, fennel, cardamom, and mint, steeped with brandy, berries and figs (ala The Aroma Therapist recipe). Or create delicious mock cocktails for fall! Consider a mulled apple juice; a negroni mocktail made with grape juice, coriander, and cardamom; or a spiced pear, pumpkin and ginger mocktail.

 

Serve these special seasonal drinks alongside fresh bread with marmalade or honey, a hearty fall feast, or an assortment of fall fruit pies. 

 

Related: Dry Wedding Drinks: Non-Alcoholic Wine, Beer, and Spirits for Your Ceremony and Reception

 

 

Choose seasonal fall ingredients and flavors for your food and drink menus, such as pear, apple, and cranberry. (Photo by Ivan Samkov / Pexels)

 

 

7. Fall Herbs as Wedding Favors & On the Altar

 

Honor the harmony and abundance of the fall harvest on your wedding day by handing out herbs as wedding favors. Herb bundles make a creative, cozy gift that delights the senses! Visit your local farmers market for fragrant bundles of parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage, cilantro / coriander, and chives, and arrange them with colorful ribbon or twine. 

 

You can also include fall herbs in the wedding ceremony for their magical properties; many people use herbs and other plants in their practice of witchcraft and ritual, including parsley (for protection and cleansing), sage (to promote wisdom and bring emotional strength), rosemary (welcomes love, wards off negative energies and spirits), coriander (to promote love, passion, and fertility), and chives (to ward off evil and negativity).

 

• Magical Herbs for Your Wedding Ceremony, Handfasting, or Vow Renewal

 

Herbs as favors or altar decor for fall equinox wedding ceremonies? YES! Herbs and aromatic plants awaken the heart and delight the senses for an unforgettable Mabon wedding that’s steeped in history and magic. Many fall herbs also have symbolic and magical properties that can add deeper meaning to the day. (Photo: Svetlana Vysokos / iStock)

 

 

Need a Wedding Script for Your Autumn Equinox Wedding?

 

If you're looking for the perfect wedding officiant script to go along with your magical equinox wedding, consider the original options below. You can use these wedding scripts as-is, or personalize them with details from your relationship, special readings (like poems or blessings), or another creative unity ceremony. 

 

• Fall Wedding Ceremony Script with Reading From "Harvest Moon"
   
• Forest Themed Wedding Ceremony & Elopement with Ring Warming Unity Ritual
   
• Pagan Handfasting Script with Fire, Flowers and Offerings
   

 

Browse all Wedding Ceremony Scripts

 

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Autumnal Fall Leaves Marriage Certificate

 

This nature-themed marriage certificate captures the spirit of brisk autumn days and all the joys of a festive fall wedding! Illustrated with colorful fall leaves, acorns, and a pair of sweet woodland moths, this unique wedding keepsake can be displayed in your home year round. 

ORDER THIS MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE!

Above: A nature-themed fall wedding certificate, only at AMM!

 

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