Fall is such a fun season to celebrate a birthday. The weather is cooler, the fall colors are gorgeous and you can serve as many warm, tasty treats as you want. But planning a party? That can be tricky. Here’s the good news – I have 15+ fun fall birthday party ideas to make your celebration unforgettable.
15+ Genius Fall Birthday Party Ideas to Nail Every Detail
1. Serve a Fall-Themed Cake
What’s a birthday party without a cake? Don’t go with something generic. Serve a pretty fall-themed cake. I love the cake in this Pin because it’s so colorful and whimsical.
The pumpkins can be made from fondant – stems, vines and all. Display your cake on a wood slice and choose a fall flavor, like cinnamon maple.
2. Set Up a Fall-Themed Dessert Table
Fall is all about desserts. Why not set up a dessert bar at your party filled with delicious pies and cakes?
You can decorate the table with pumpkins, apples, cinnamon sticks, pine cones and other autumn-themed decor. Display your decor and pies on wooden cake stands to keep with that earthy theme.
Related: 15+ Cozy Fall Party Ideas for This Holiday Season
3. Decorate Your Entryway with Balloons
Looking for fall birthday party ideas that are over the top? Decorate your home’s entryway with balloons to welcome guests to your birthday party.
To recreate the look in this Pin, you’ll need a variety of balloons. I recommend buying a balloon arch kit from Amazon (this one has fall colors and leaves) to make your life easier.
If you don’t want to buy a kit, grab balloons of different sizes and fall colors, like orange, burgundy, brown, yellow and gold. You can even find Thanksgiving foil balloons that come in pumpkin, acorn and leaf shapes to make your display more festive.
Make your entryway unforgettable and set the stage for the rest of the party.
4. Serve Food in Pumpkins
Pumpkins are perfect for serving soups, dips, rice, stuffing and tons of other dishes. They’ll add color to your table and match the fall theme perfectly.
Make sure that you choose an appropriately sized pumpkin (pie pumpkins work well). Depending on what you’re serving, you may or may not need to roast the pumpkin first.
Your guests are sure to be impressed by the presentation, and they’ll love that they can “eat” their bowls, too.
5. Set Up Your Own Pumpkin Patch
To keep your guests entertained, why not set up a little pumpkin patch and let everyone choose their own pumpkin?
You could even set up a carving or painting station, so everyone can decorate their pumpkins and take them home.
Your pumpkin patch doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Add some haystacks, a small wooden fence and a sign to let everyone know where they can grab their pumpkins.
6. Hand Out Mini Pies as Party Favors
Give your guests something sweet to take home from the party. Mini pies are the perfect favor for a fall party.
You can bake your own mini apple pies or buy pre-made ones from the store.
Use flannel ribbon to tie a disposable fork to the top of the pie, and hand them out to guests as they leave.
Here’s a great tutorial on how to bake your own pies.
7. Decorate the Table with Candles, Pumpkins and Leaves
There are so many fall birthday party ideas for table settings, but this is one of my favorites. It’s so warm and inviting but still elegant.
Line the center of the table with pillar candles and mix in tealight candles in pretty candle holders, mini pumpkins, fake maple leaves and other faux floral decor.
I love the golden-colored glasses and warm tones of the tableware.
You don’t need a tablecloth for this idea, especially if you’re dining at a wooden table.
This is an idea that you can use for an indoor or outdoor dinner.
8. Hang Garland Made From Cinnamon, Orange Slices and Pinecones
There are so many great ideas for fall party decor, but if you want something DIY and natural, this garland project is perfect.
Use jute twine to string up your garland elements. You can get as creative as you want and add whatever you want, but for a festive-scented display, use:
- Dried orange slices
- Pine cones
- Cinnamon sticks
- Acorns
Try using cinnamon-scented pine cones to make your garland smell extra festive. You can also add leaves to your display, bay leaves, sage and other natural elements.
Related: 10 Outdoor Fall Party Ideas – Firepits, Blankets & Hot Drinks
9. Set Up a Soup Bar
Soup bars are underrated, which I can understand during spring or summer, but we’re talking about fall here. You can, and should, think about adding a soup bar that your guests will love. Get started by:
- Place three soup kettles on the table. You can choose any type of soup that you like for this idea, but a few that are always a popular choice are: butternut squash, pumpkin, broccoli and cheddar and sweet potato.
- Put bowls out: Bowls for your guests to eat out of and a large ladle are obvious additions, along with silverware.
- Bread: A simple French bread works well here, but you’ll find many hosts offer multiple bread choices that allow people to dip the bread in their soup and eat it.
Soup bars are always a fun choice and one that goes well with a lot of the ideas on the list.
10. Host a Thanksgiving-style Dinner Party
What’s a party without food? You can choose anything you wish for your main and side dishes, but a few ideas that can help you are:
- Roast turkey
- Honey-glazed ham
- Roast chicken
- Mashed potatoes
- Cranberry sauce
- Sweet potato casserole
- Dinner rolls
On your table, add flameless candles, decorative pumpkins and any other decor that you find fits the look.
11. Watch Movies Outdoors
Outdoor movies are always so much fun. I used to project them on the side of my house, but you can always use a portable screen for better quality. Projectors are also quite affordable and allow you to connect to WiFi to stream movies, too.
You’ll also want to:
- Setup seats for all of your guests
- Place a food table at the back of the seats to prevent people from interrupting other guests’ viewing.
12. Create Pumpkin Coolers
Pumpkins make it on this list of fall birthday party ideas quite a bit, and this one is going to make you question why you never thought of this idea before. First, cut open a pumpkin and remove all of the innards.
Cut the pumpkin in half so that it resembles a large bowl.
Fill your pumpkin with ice and then add in your drinks. You now have a neat pumpkin cooler that everyone will find interesting. Ice will melt and can cause a mess on a table, so this is a good option if you have an outdoor party or put it over a container that can catch the water.
13. Set Up a Tabletop S’mores Station
S’mores always remind me of fall, so why not bring them inside (or outside) for your birthday party? For indoor s’mores, I do recommend that you play it safe, like in the Pin, by adding rocks to the centerpiece to prevent anything from catching fire.
You can also use this electric s’mores maker to be on the safe side.
14. Create an Instaworthy Spot to Snap Photos
What a picturesque idea, right? You can recreate this yourself with a few key decor items, starting with your pumpkins. For me, real pumpkins provide an ambiance and look that you just can’t get with the plastic varieties.
But if you plan on recreating this look year after year, try these artificial pumpkins:
Mums add color to the space, and then you’ll have the vases with wheat coming out of them. Feel free to decorate any chair you have, like in the photo, or opt for a nice wooden one.
15. Serve Cider Out of a Pumpkin
I love amazing fall birthday party ideas like these because they’re so creative. Start by carving out the center of the pumpkin. You’ll then need to add a tap, like this one made for watermelons, and make sure that the seal is in place.
Fill with cider and watch as your guests look on in awe.
16. Decorate with Pumpkins
Pumpkins are such versatile decorations – both real and fake ones. You can transform your space to match the birthday person’s personality:
- Create a pumpkin with a witch’s hat, green hair and carve the face near the stem so that it looks like a nose.
- Carve a pumpkin to match a teen’s or child’s favorite cartoon or anime character.
- Stack three pumpkins on top of each other, make black door frames out of markers and use white tissue paper to make it look like ghosts are coming out of the door.
- Add a flower pot on top of the pumpkin to look like a hat, put pine cones for eyes and make a mustache out of ornamental greens.
Your pumpkins can tell a story – you just need to be creative.
Related: 19 Fall Dinner Party Ideas to Wow Your Guests
17. Hang Acorn Lights for a Cozy Vibe
Hanging acorns with a string of lights is the decoration I wish I had thought of making. You can find the lights on Amazon (or at Michaels) and then just need to hang them wherever you wish:
- Entryways
- Mantles
- Table edges
- Window frames
