20 Plum and Green Wedding Ideas for an Autumn Palette With a Twist

Deep plum and bright wasabi green make an easy case for themselves, but only if every part of the day actually wears both colours instead of borrowing one and ignoring the other.

This whole celebration runs on that pairing plus ivory white and warm brass, carried from a velvet drape on the ceremony arch down to the ink on the invitation.

The motif that ties it together is trailing amaranthus and a thread of chartreuse ribbon, used differently in nearly every part: looped around a welcome sign, hung over the dining tables, left trailing loose from a bridal bouquet.

Fresh figs, plums and blackberries do similar work in the food and drink, piled on velvet, dropped into champagne, pressed into a cake glaze.

It suits an early autumn wedding best, when the fruit is actually in season and the light turns gold enough to make the velvet glow, though a warmly lit evening reception at any time of year borrows the same mood.

Indoors it wants a room with some texture of its own, panelling, wallpaper, deep curtains, rather than a bare hall; outdoors it wants trees, a terrace or a barn, somewhere the plum has something to sit against.

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The Ceremony Space

Before any guest finds a seat, the ceremony structure sets the palette for everything that follows. A plum velvet arch, a trail of chartreuse ribbon and a welcome table dressed in fresh fruit do that work without a single centerpiece yet in sight.

A Ceremony Arch in Plum Velvet and White Garden Roses

Guests have stood under a dozen bare white arches this year alone. Hers gets its drama before anyone even finds a seat: two full lengths of plum velvet swagged down either side of a plain wood or iron frame, knotted low near the base so the fabric pools rather than hangs flat.

White garden roses and ranunculus get wired into the top corner where the velvet gathers, nothing else needed to compete with that colour.

Tell the florist exactly this: a corner arrangement of white garden roses and ranunculus, wired onto a plum velvet drape, no filler greenery. For other shapes this same structure can take, 28 Wedding Arch Flowers That Frame the Ceremony has the full range.

The velvet she can buy by the yard and swag herself the morning of, saving the florist’s time for the one corner that actually needs skill. No arch to hang it from: two tall shepherd’s hooks either side of the aisle hold the same drape for a fraction of the rental cost.

Chartreuse Ribbon Streamers Hung From the Arch

Once the velvet and roses are up, the arch still reads a little heavy until the green gets its turn. A dozen long chartreuse ribbon streamers, cut in uneven lengths and knotted along the top bar, move in any breeze and catch the eye the moment the music starts.

They hang from the same bar the floral corner sits on, nothing more structural than a staple gun or fishing line needed to hold them. Ask the rental company or florist for twenty feet of chartreuse satin ribbon, cut into lengths between two and five feet and layered rather than evenly spaced.

This is the cheapest part of the whole ceremony to build herself the night before: a ribbon roll, scissors and twenty minutes. Indoors with no arch bar to work with, the same ribbons tied in a loose cluster to a chandelier or beam do the same job overhead.

A Welcome Table in Fresh Figs and Trailing Amaranthus

The first table any guest actually stops at is the one with her name on it, and it is worth more than a stack of programmes on bare wood.

Dress it in a short plum velvet table topper, a low wooden crate of fresh figs and plums spilling slightly over the edge, and a few trailing stems of amaranthus looped loosely around the frame of the welcome sign.

The sign stands on a simple easel behind the fruit, so the eye lands on colour before it reads a word. Give the sign maker these exact words: welcome to the wedding, and have a seat, anywhere you like.

The fruit she can buy at any market the morning of and arrange herself in ten minutes; the hand lettered sign is worth ordering ahead so the ink does not run if the table sits outdoors. No figs in season where she lives, fresh plums alone piled the same way carry the same colour.

The Reception Tables

Once dinner starts, the long table becomes the biggest canvas in the room. Velvet, fruit, candlelight and the smallest ribbon ties all layer onto the same surface, built from the runner up rather than scattered piece by piece.

Plum Velvet Table Runners Under White Flowers

A bare white tablecloth says nothing on its own, no matter how good the china is. Down the centre of every reception table, a plum velvet runner does the heavy lifting: it catches candlelight the way linen never does, and it gives every white floral arrangement set on top of it somewhere to actually stand out.

The build starts with a floor length ivory tablecloth, pressed smooth, a plum velvet runner laid straight down the middle, and loose white floral arrangements sat directly on the velvet at intervals. Tell the rental company: ivory floor length tablecloths with a 12 inch wide plum velvet table runner down the centre of each table.

Velvet runners are cheap enough to buy once and reuse on every table in the room, which is worth doing rather than renting. For more ways to dress the same length of table, 34 Simple Wedding Centerpieces You Can Repeat on Every Table has ones built to repeat without looking identical.

Fresh Figs and Plums Piled Down the Table

Flowers alone can start to feel formal fast, the kind of arrangement nobody actually touches. Fresh figs and plums, piled loosely along the velvet runner between the floral clusters, give the table something guests reach for without thinking, and they carry the colour of the theme without costing a florist’s rate.

Build it straight on the runner: no vases needed, just halved and whole figs and plums scattered in small clusters of six to eight pieces, with a few fresh fig leaves tucked underneath to stop the fruit rolling.

Ask whoever is setting the tables for ripe black mission figs and dark plums, kept cool until an hour before guests sit down.

This is one she can buy and arrange herself the morning of, no vendor required. Out of season, a bowl of dried figs and dark plum coloured grapes holds the same shape and the same colour for weeks beforehand.

Hanging Amaranthus Over the Reception Tables

Look up at most receptions and there is nothing to see but a ceiling. Over the main dining tables, long trailing amaranthus, hung in loose garlands from the beams or a simple suspended frame, drops that wasabi green straight down into the candlelight without taking up a single inch of table space.

The install needs a hanging point first, exposed beams, a metal frame, or fishing line run between two fixed points, with amaranthus garlands wired along its length so the trailing strands hang down to table height in places.

Ask the florist for three to four garlands of trailing amaranthus, eight feet long, wired to hang at varied lengths rather than one even line.

This one is worth handing to a florist or decorator who can reach the ceiling safely; nothing about hanging garlands over seated guests is a DIY afternoon. No beams to work from, the same amaranthus looped along a garland down the centre of the table does almost the same job from below.

Chartreuse Ribbon Tied Through Napkins and Chair Backs

A folded napkin on its own is just laundry. Tied with a length of chartreuse ribbon, left long enough to trail onto the velvet, it becomes the smallest repeat of the green that guests actually sit next to for three hours.

The same ribbon, looped once around the centre back of each chair and tied in a loose bow, carries the colour at eye level too. Give the linen company one line: ivory dinner napkins, folded simply, tied with an 18 inch length of chartreuse satin ribbon per setting.

Both of these she can tie herself the afternoon before, no skill required beyond patient hands and a pair of scissors. If chairs are already upholstered and cannot take a ribbon, the napkin tie alone still does the job.

Place Cards Tucked Into Fresh Fig Halves

A printed place card standing alone on a charger plate rarely gets a second look before a guest sits down and forgets it. Tucked instead into the cut side of a fresh fig half, name written in ink on a small card, it becomes the detail people actually photograph before they even taste the fruit.

Each fig stands cut side up directly on a small plate or napkin, with the place card pressed into the open centre where the seeds show. Have the calligrapher write names on small cards sized to sit inside a halved fig, roughly two by one inches, in a plum or dark green ink.

She can cut the figs and set them herself an hour before guests arrive, keeping them cold until then so they hold their shape. Where figs are hard to find, a small dark plum half does the same trick just as well.

Plum Taper Candles Down the Table

Nothing finishes a long table like real flame, and a plum taper candle does double duty: it lights the fruit and flowers around it, and it carries the deepest shade of the palette down the entire length of the table without taking up any width.

Brass candlesticks of varying heights stand directly on the velvet runner between the fruit and floral clusters, holding plum coloured taper candles lit just before guests are seated. Order a dozen plum taper candles and six to eight brass candlesticks in two or three heights per table, enough to light a six foot length without crowding it.

For more ways to build a whole table around candlelight rather than flowers, 26 Candle Wedding Centerpieces for a Glowing Reception is worth a look. Open flame near velvet needs a steady hand and a venue that allows it; where it does not, the same brass holders with flameless taper candles still throw a warm glow.

What the Wedding Party Wears

The people standing at the front carry the palette on their own bodies, not just on the tables around them. Dresses, ties, a bouquet and a boutonniere all take a turn with plum and green before dinner is even served.

Plum and Green Bridesmaid Dresses

A single shade of bridesmaid dress down the aisle can look flat in photographs, however good the colour is on its own. Mixed plum and wasabi green dresses, in the same fabric and a similar silhouette but split roughly half and half, give the wedding party the same depth the tables already have.

Each dress stands on its own as a simple satin or crepe gown, floor length, in either deep plum or a brighter wasabi green, with the bouquets carrying both colours so no one dress feels left out of the palette.

Ask the dress shop for the same silhouette in both deep plum and wasabi green, satin or crepe, so the fabric finish matches across the line.

Buying rather than renting here makes sense since the dresses get worn again; a mixed palette like this one also means she is not relying on a single dye lot matching across every order. Where budget is tighter, one colour worn by all with the second shade carried only in the sash still reads as the same theme.

Groomsmen Ties in Wasabi Green with Plum Pocket Squares

A row of plain black ties disappears into any dark suit. A wasabi green tie against charcoal or navy does the opposite, and a plum pocket square folded into the breast pocket keeps the second half of the palette in the same frame as the bride without anyone needing to change suits.

The suit itself stays plain, charcoal grey or navy, with the green tie knotted at the collar and the plum square folded into a simple point in the pocket. Order one wasabi green satin tie and one plum pocket square per groomsman, same fabric finish, so they photograph as a set.

Both are cheap enough to buy outright rather than rent, and they pack flat for travel. No green tie available in the right shade, a plum tie with a green pocket square simply reverses the order and still carries the same two colours.

A Bridal Bouquet of White Ranunculus, Plum Dahlias and Trailing Amaranthus

The bouquet is the one piece of the whole theme that travels with her all day, down the aisle, through photographs, into every toast.

White ranunculus and garden roses give it a bright centre, dark plum dahlias sit in around the edges, and two or three long stems of trailing amaranthus drop well below her hands, carrying the green motif somewhere no table runner can reach.

It is built hand tied, white blooms gathered first and wired at the stem, plum dahlias worked in next, with the amaranthus added last so it trails free. Tell the florist: a hand tied bouquet of white ranunculus and garden roses, plum dahlias, with two to three trailing amaranthus stems left loose, wrapped in plum satin ribbon.

This is one to hand entirely to a florist, since a bouquet that falls apart mid ceremony is not worth the saving. Where dahlias are out of season, dark calla lilies hold the same deep plum shade just as well.

Fig Leaf and Blackberry Boutonnieres

A single rose boutonniere has been on every groomsman for decades, and it says nothing about this particular wedding. A small fig leaf folded behind a cluster of fresh blackberries, pinned with a short length of chartreuse ribbon, says plum and green without a single flower involved.

One fig leaf sits as the base, two or three fresh blackberries wired on top in a small cluster, with the stem wrapped in floral tape and finished with a short ribbon tail. Ask the florist for a boutonniere of one fig leaf and a small cluster of fresh blackberries, wired and taped, no filler flowers.

These hold up fine made the morning of the wedding if kept cool, and they are simple enough for a confident DIY hand. Fresh blackberries are not always available out of season; a few dark plum coloured artificial berries from a craft store hold their shape just as well through a long reception.

The Food and Drink

Nothing sells a colour palette faster than a guest actually eating or drinking it. Cocktail hour, the toast, the cake and dessert all get their own version of plum and wasabi green here, built from real food rather than decor alone.

A Fig and Plum Cheese Board for Cocktail Hour

Guests arriving at cocktail hour want something to hold before the toasts start, not another passed canape they balance badly. A long wooden board, dark cheeses and soft bries scattered with fresh figs, sliced plums and a few blackberries, gives them exactly that, and it carries the whole palette onto a table they actually gather around.

The board sits on or near a short plum velvet runner, built from the cheese out: wedges and wheels placed first, then fresh fig halves and plum slices tucked into the gaps, blackberries scattered last, with a few sprigs of mint or amaranthus for the only green besides the fruit skins.

Ask the caterer for a grazing board with soft and firm cheeses, fresh figs, plums and blackberries worked through, served on a dark wood board.

A board like this is easy to build herself for a smaller guest count, though a caterer handles the food safety side better for a crowd standing for an hour. No fresh figs available, a fig jam swirled into a small bowl on the board carries the flavour and the colour both.

A Signature Cocktail: The Wasabi Green Spritz

A bar with nothing but wine and a plain gin and tonic misses an easy chance to put the palette in guests’ hands. A green melon liqueur or elderflower spritz, poured pale wasabi green over ice with a blackberry dropped in, does the job instead.

It builds in the glass: ice first, a green liqueur or syrup, prosecco or soda on top, finished with one blackberry or a small plum slice on the rim. Give the bartender the exact build: two parts prosecco, one part melon liqueur or green syrup, topped with soda, garnished with a fresh blackberry.

This one is simple enough to self serve from a drinks station with a sign and pre-portioned garnish, no bartender required if budget is tight. Where melon liqueur is not easy to find, a splash of green chartreuse liqueur gives the same bright colour in a smaller pour.

Blackberries Dropped Into Champagne

Plain champagne in a plain flute does not know what wedding it is at. One fresh blackberry, dropped straight into each glass just before the toast, turns the colour of the drink itself deep plum as it sits, and it gives guests something to eat once the glass is empty.

The build could not be simpler: champagne or sparkling wine poured first, one ripe blackberry added last, right before the glasses go out on trays. Tell the caterer or bar staff: one fresh blackberry per champagne flute, added just before service so the colour has time to bleed slightly into the drink.

This is one of the cheapest moves in the entire reception, a single berry and no extra equipment. Where blackberries are out of season, a small plum coloured sugared grape does almost the same thing and holds up longer in a warm room.

The Cake in Plum Glaze with Green Leaves

A plain white fondant cake has nothing to say at a party built around this much colour. A plum glazed cake, the mirror shine running down the sides in deep purple, finished with a handful of green leaves pressed against the base, speaks the whole palette in one object before a single slice is cut.

It stands in tiers on a cake stand, the glaze poured over a smooth buttercream or ganache base so it drips naturally, with fresh or sugar paste fig leaves tucked around the bottom tier and a few whole figs set at the base.

Give the baker this exact brief: a two or three tier cake with a deep plum mirror glaze finish, fresh green leaves and whole figs arranged at the base.

The glaze and tiers are worth a professional baker’s hands; the fresh fruit and leaf styling around the base she can do herself once the cake arrives on site. Where a mirror glaze is out of budget or skill, a plum coloured buttercream with the same leaf and fruit styling reads almost as rich.

Blackberry Sorbet Served in Vintage Cups

A plated dessert course can feel heavy after a long dinner, especially in a warmer room. A small scoop of blackberry sorbet, served in a mismatched vintage teacup rather than a glass dish, cools the moment down and puts the deepest plum shade of the whole palette directly in front of every guest.

Each cup sits on its own saucer with a small spoon, the sorbet scooped just before service so it holds its shape, a single mint or amaranthus leaf tucked against the rim as the only garnish needed. Ask the caterer for a small scoop of blackberry sorbet per guest, served in vintage teacups on saucers rather than standard dessert glassware.

Thrifted teacups are genuinely cheap bought in bulk from secondhand shops, and nobody minds that they do not match. For more ways to build a whole reception around secondhand finds like these, 32 Thrifted Wedding Decor Ideas With Vintage Finds is worth a read before she buys anything new.

What They Take Home

The last two things a guest touches are the smallest in the whole celebration, and the easiest to get right on a modest budget. A jar for the pantry and a card that started the whole evening both close the theme the same way it opened.

Fig Jam Favors

A favour nobody uses is just extra weight in a guest’s bag by the end of the night. A small jar of fig jam, something she might have made herself months before the wedding or ordered in bulk, gets eaten within the week and leaves the wedding on the breakfast table at home.

Each jar stands alone, a small mason jar filled with fig jam, a round fabric topper cut from leftover chartreuse or plum fabric tied on with twine, and a small printed tag naming the couple and the flavour.

Order small 2 ounce jars of fig jam in bulk from a jam maker or small batch supplier, with custom round labels printed in plum ink on ivory stock.

Homemade jam is genuinely satisfying to make in batches the month before if she has a free weekend; ordered in bulk from a small producer saves that weekend entirely for a modest cost per jar.

Where fig jam is hard to source, a plum butter or plum preserve in the same small jars carries the same colour and the same idea.

The Invitation Suite in Plum and Wasabi Green

Before any guest sees a single velvet runner or candle, they hold the invitation, and it either promises this exact party or promises nothing at all. A deep plum card stock, printed in wasabi green ink with a small fig or amaranthus motif pressed into one corner, tells them precisely what colour to expect walking in.

It is built in layers like most suites: a plum outer card first, an ivory inner card carrying the wording in green or plum ink, and a thin wasabi green ribbon or belly band holding the pieces together before it goes in the envelope.

Give the stationer this exact brief: a plum card stock suite with wasabi green ink and a small botanical motif, tied with a chartreuse ribbon band.

This is worth ordering from a stationer who can print properly on dark stock, since home printers rarely manage ink that shows up on deep plum paper. A smaller budget still gets the full effect with a single flat card and a ribbon band, skipping the layered inserts entirely.

Frequently Asked Questions

What colors go with plum and green for a wedding?

Ivory and warm brass sit easiest against plum and wasabi green, since they warm the purple without fighting the brightness of the green. Fresh fruit tones, fig, blackberry, work as a third accent throughout food and florals.

What season works best for a plum and green wedding?

Early autumn is the strongest natural season for it, since most plum, wine and olive toned flowers peak between September and November, though candlelit evening weddings borrow the mood year round.

What flowers are plum colored for a wedding?

Dahlias and ranunculus are the most reliable plum colored wedding flowers, since dahlias peak with true deep purple shades in late summer and ranunculus grows commercially through most of the year.

Is plum too dark for a spring or summer wedding?

Plum works in any season as long as it sits next to something bright, since plum is a pretty color year round and reads fresh rather than heavy beside wasabi green or ivory.

What greenery pairs best with plum?

Amaranthus and eucalyptus pair well with plum, and dusty greenery like eucalyptus, dusty miller or olive branches balances a deep plum palette without fighting its richness.

What metal accents go with a plum and green wedding?

Brass or gold tend to read warmer against plum and wasabi green than silver does, since a gold or copper metallic adds sparkle and warmth that suits candlelit evening receptions.