Apple Theme Weddings

Apple of My Eye. This theme goes hand-in-hand with autumn weddings, but there’s no reason why you can’t take your apple-themed wedding in other directions, too. Outside of the fall feel, we see more and more apples as florists and designers “modernize” their creations with fruits and vegetables, succulents and herbs. But let’s start with some autumn-style apple ideas …

Creating Ambiance with Apples

The fall sort of apple feel brings to mind places like Vermont, the glory of New England, and venues like big, airy barns with dark-paned glass and mysterious farming equipment slumbering on the grounds. To focus on apples is to zero in on the sweet-yet-tart heart of a harvest festival, with a more focused palette than the usual oranges, reds and yellows.

MORE: Find Apple Inspired Favors | Guide to Wedding Favors | Best Place to Buy Wedding Favors

Ways to bring the theme alive:

Hold your ceremony in an apple orchard, and your reception in a big, grand barn. Wind twinkle lights around the rafters and hang rustic lanterns. Bring in the props and objects that say fall to hold food, drink and decorations: wine barrels, galvanized buckets, fruit crates, hay bales. Galvanized tubs are wonderful for holding specialty sodas in glass bottles with an old-timey feel. Hay bales under a plank make great serving tables, and even seats.

String red or green apples together into long, shiny garlands using super-strength microfilament (fishing line). Hang the results from the rafters and bare-branch trees. Toast your love with a special pouring of sparkling cider. Instead of the usual wedding cake, serve up a few rich spice cakes with a dusting of powdered sugar. Treat your guests to the mouth-watering pairing of fresh apple cider and cake donuts.

Pour small green or golden apples into tall, clear cylinder vases. Top with a pillow of roses or chrysanthemums. Large, sturdy apples make ideal bases for table numbers. Smaller ones make adorable place card holders: pin on leaf-shaped tags that display your guests’ names.

MORE: Find Apple Inspired Favors | Guide to Wedding Favors | Best Place to Buy Wedding Favors

Apple Theme Centerpiece Ideas

• Use raffia to bind up bundles of birch branches (find at any craft store), wheat or bittersweet. Surround each bundle with cinnamon-scented
  votive candles or miniature apples.
• Fill canning jars or milk buckets with old-fashioned flowers
  like daisies, mini-mums or heather.
• Place sparkling cider bottles on wooden cutting boards. Heap
  with gold-painted apples and unshelled walnuts.
• Place florist foam in a galvanized bucket and fill with daisies
  and apples.
• Create apple candles by carving a tealight-shaped hollow in each apple, and float in a glass bowl.
• Fill a tall, fluted vase with small green apples. Top with a
  tight arrangement of red or pink roses.

Apple Wedding Favors & Decorations

Favorite favors that have proved their worth at apple and autumn-themed weddings:

• Candied or caramel apples, tied off with a pretty ribbon in your colors
• Caramel apple kits in a bag
• Individual jars of apple butter (personal, homemade, sure to be remembered)
• Mini bottles of sparkling cider
• Personalized teas or coffee
• Mini-apple candles
• Your grandmother’s famous fall recipes in a special booklet

Apple-Themed Food

Anything savory sets off this evocative fall theme. Some favorites: roasted chestnut soup or pumpkin bisque, french bread with white cheddar cheese and toasted almonds, roast turkey or rotisserie chicken, fruit crisps, mini molasses cookies, kale and roasted root vegetables.

The Pink & Green Summertime Theme

You don’t have to stick to autumn for your apple wedding theme.
Another popular look (especially in summer) comes from the fresh school of thought that likes to pair pink with apple green.

Pink roses and baby green apples look chic and sleek together. So do green apples and pink gerber daisies. The key is repetition: line up a small army of miniature apples for place card holders, and go simple with your flower treatments, so they look like a color block and aren’t overcomplicated.

Bright, sassy ribbons and contemporary square-shaped vases help pull this look off. Consider polka dots, sashed cocktail-length dresses, and possibly a third color, like purple or coral. As for bridesmaids in bright apple green? Deee-licious!