Autumn in Montana: Seasonal Flowers for Grounded, Golden Weddings
I know frost is on its way when there’s wood smoke in the air in my neighborhood. Our gas fireplace does provide a lot of ambiance, but there’s nothing like smelling wood smoke walking around the neighborhood. My breath in the air first thing in the morning is an even bigger giveaway. The air feels brisk, a nip to the wind and a downright blueness to the sky behind the scudding clouds. Light frosts have come to singe the edges of plants, but a killing frost hasn’t done us in yet.
The slanting light signals that we’re half way back to the hibernal equinox. In the late afternoon, dusk truly settles itself when the golden backdrop of sun dips further south behind the mountains. Then the twinkling early stars and planets dim when we light lamps and candles inside.
Rainstorms blow in and out, and when the skies clear, the geese honk their southerly way across the sky.
The last few weddings of the season are often ones where we have accepted, indeed embraced, the beauty of the saturated colors in their final push before they fall to earth. The fluttering golden and red leaves are the signature underlayment of Autumnal designs. We embolden it with plum and berry, brighten it with coral, intensify it with rust and orange, or gild it with saffron and yellow. We embrace the berries, seed heads, amaranth, grasses and branches in their naked, but beautiful form.
Behind our fall weddings in Gallatin Valley, Big Sky or Paradise Valley, the mountains are dusted with their first snows. Outdoor ceremonies have rain-snow-wind plans. Blankets wait for guests at short ceremonies. Inside dinners are flooded with candlelight and punctuated with seedy, textural, fruity florals. In the fields behind the venues, cattle and horses move across the hills, and at golden hour, the couples stand in front of flashing golden aspens or dilapidated ranch fences.
These are the days that we hold onto. Revere. Not because we fear what is coming, but because we understand it. This time is joyful while we enjoy what’s still present, still with us. Life. Then death. Then life grows again. What else is the life-giving compost than the remnants of plant matter?
These final harvests are as precious as, nay, more than the first in the spring. The spring rapture is from anticipation after long work in the first beautiful armloads. The autumnal delight is steadier from the inevitability of these being our last few harvests. It is a choice to enjoy what remains. A trust that soon there will be rest, respite and rejuvenation during the hibernation and dormancy of winter. Not an ending, but a part of the rhythm.
If you’re planning a fall wedding in Bozeman, Big Sky, or the greater Gallatin Valley and are drawn to seasonal, textural Montana flowers, this is the season where depth and warmth take center stage.
