11 Beautiful Fall Picnic Ideas with Pictures

Simple Ingredients for a Fall Picnic

I love going up to the mountains on a crisp October day for a beautiful, simple, fall picnic. When the leaves are golden, orange and cherry red and the dry grasses swish as you walk through them. You can taste the sweet autumn air.

Along with the beautiful ambiance the most simple ingredients paired together can make for an unforgettable fall Picnic. I love simple ingredients for a picnic. My favorite being cheese, bread, fruit and veggies. Pair your favorite sharp cheese with sweet and tangy Honey Crisp Apples, or Asiago cheese with some sweet Pears. Delicious!

Of course you can have those ingredients a la mode or you can combine the ingredients to create beautiful sandwiches. Every ingredient has a season in my mind. Because I am a gardener I love to use the things we grow in our picnics. Fruit trees are in season September through October in our area of the world so Pears and Apples are some of the best ingredients for our fall picnics. Half Baked Harvest makes a beautiful fall sandwich that would be lovely to bring along on an al fresco lunch. 

These Beautiful Apple Cheddar Sandwiches from Half Baked Harvest are something you need to make and take to The Great Outdoors. I love to eat apples with cheese so I think it’s brilliant to make that into a sandwich. 

Or You can try these pretty sandwiches from Host The Toast. I mean look at those layers, such beautiful colors and amazing ingredients. They might be a little bit more work but what a crowd pleaser. Pressed Sandwiches are all the rage right now in the food blogging world because of their beauty and versatility. Anyway, those sandwiches are going on this week’s meal plan for sure. 

Fall Picnic Decor

If you want to learn anything about outdoor hosting then you need to check out Rebecca Gallop’s Blog A Daily Something. She hosts some of the most elegant outdoor feasts. Every detail is thoughtful and charming. I can lose myself in her posts for hours it seems. If only life could really be that beautiful all the time. Sigh. 

The Layout is especially important for those fall vibes. I love the fall colored plaids for that perfect fall feelings but lately I’ve been loving the grey and white plaids to add those pops of white to the bright colored trees. The layout of this lovely picnic by Inspired By This has the perfect complimentary grey scheme for bright autumn colors wether they be in the trees or in your food neutral tones will make things pop. A beautiful neutral colored blanket is all you need to complete your charming picture. 

Beth Kirby of the Local Milk Blog makes gorgeous events and picnics. Every detail is well planned and beautifully designed. She does retreats into her magical world so check her out if you want to experience all that beauty. But if you’re more into your solitary or familial retreat then just take a page from her book and plan out your own charming outdoor dining experience. 

One thing that can turn a regular picnic into a cozy fall picnic is a Plaid Blanket. This is one of the most beautiful plaid blankets I’ve come across. I love all the colors combined but not chaotic. This setup by Style Me Pretty has cozy fall party written all over it.

Fall Picnic Beverages

RW Knudsen make a delectable fall beverage called Glogg. My family has made something very similar for all the holidays called Wassil. It has a flavor that just screams fall. Apples, cinnamon, and some warmth from the ginger make this a very yummy drink if you are looking for something that can be both a cold or hot drink. 

A true Fall Picnic needs a warm drink. In this family we love hot chocolate. We always make ours with canned milk, whole fresh milk and real melted chocolate and homemade vanilla  for that rich taste you can’t buy from the store. 

A super simple picnic dish is Pasta. I love pasta in all forms so of course I had to find a way to take it on a picnic. There are cold pastas recipes which are lovely, but what if you want a warm pasta on a picnic. Well that’s where a beautiful thermos comes in handy, pack your pasta in a thermos and bring along some to go containers and your pasta will be nice and warm for your picnic. My mother is the queen of cooked meals for picnics. Her go to is fried chicken so she has lots of cute vintage warm containers to keep things the right temperature. There are lots of adorable options out there to keep things warm for a nice picnic. 

It’s All About the People You Enjoy It With

My daughter loves to be outside, and she loves anything that feels like a party. A picnic fits both of those criteria so when we go on a picnic, Pip is always so excited. At this age she likes to take one bite of everything and lick the frosting off of anything sweet so it’s always a race to see who gets to dessert first, her or daddy.

I absolutely love a family picnic. We happen to live between two different types of geographical landscapes. The base of the Rocky Mountains and the breathtaking Utah desert (thinks Arches and the Grand Canyon type desert) so we have varied destinations for our picnics and boy do we have a lot of picnics. It’s pretty much our go to plan for any holiday. I remember going for a picnic once in the middle of a Utah January in the desert and we had a bonfire and hot cocoa. We are picnic experts!