It’s decorative gourd season y’all! Time for pumpkins and squash and cornucopias full of fall goodness. If you ask me, decorative gourds are vastly underutilized in weddings. Which is a shame, because they make for awesome and affordable decor (see: APW’s take on a colorful pumpkin centerpiece). And do you know where pumpkin decor gets super affordable, as in… free? At your friendly neighborhood pumpkin patch. So if you’re planning a fall wedding and want to get seasonal (but not, you know, full-tilt graveyard), maybe this is the obvious answer you’ve been overlooking. I mean, hello:

At least that’s what APW readers Karena and Justin figured out when they accidentally stumbled onto their pumpkin patch wedding:

We knew we wanted an outdoor wedding since we both love nature, gardening, and vegetables. So I cold called a bunch of local farms, and the people who said yes were a pumpkin patch. We were thrilled, and it was perfect for an October wedding. It was their first wedding ever, but they loved it and wanted to do more, so it’s become something of a thing.

We went all in on personal details. My husband and the groomsmen caught the fish we served (I know). I made jam for everyone as favors, we did mad libs instead of a guestbook, named tables after places we’d hiked, and had vegetables in the bouquets. I am an Irish dancer, so we thought it would be a fun touch to have the Healy Irish Dancers come show off their skills.

Possibly the best part of getting married in a pumpkin patch is that there were lots of kids’ activities—hay rides, a corn maze, hula hoops, corn hole, and head in the hole.

Justin’s mother, Barbara Smith, made the cakes. And Screamin’ Mimi’s donated ice cream, because the owner set us up on blind date.

So Happy Halloween, y’all. We’ll be mulling cider and drinking in this festiveness all day.

P.S. Here are ton more ideas for fall weddings that don’t scream Jack Skellington.

Image CreditJessamyn Harris Photography

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