Tips for Planning Your Winter Wedding

With winter approaching faster than one would like, your big day is drawing near. Planning the details of your winter wedding is getting more important than ever with less than three months to go. With that in mind I have established a list of topics to go over in detail based on the winter or holiday theme to help with planning your wedding.

Set the Date

When thinking about planning a winter wedding there are three whole months to choose from. Whether you want a regular winter day or a holiday wedding on Hanukah, Christmas or New Years, it is important to keep in mind your family and friends. Hopefully if it is a holiday wedding you will be able to celebrate all together as two happy families spending the holidays together. I must say that is the perfect opportunity for a family gathering. The holidays bring people together as is so adding your wedding to the mix would make it extra special and allow more people to show up.

Venue and Church

With most churches there is little to worry about when it comes to the winter or holiday theme. Many are already decorated for the holiday services and if that is not the case you can speak with the head of the church for permission to decorate for your wedding. They usually won’t mind if you get a head start on the decorating as it adds a warm feeling to the church and adds to the holiday spirit.

When it comes to your wedding venue, it is a good idea to go and check out what they have available for decorations before you purchase any. Then once you know what is available it is much easier to shop for exactly what you want to add to the décor or supply all new decorations for your own look. Then you can purchase the decorations before they run out at the stores.

Food and Beverages

When you think of holiday and winter foods and beverages so many delicious treats come to mind. For your wedding food try and think of your favorite hot meals that you eat in winter. Do you enjoy a baked turkey, a honey glazed ham or juicy prime rib? These are three feel good meals that go great with stuffing and many different baked pasta dishes. To make a full meal choose two or three of your favorite side dishes to be served with the main course and a tossed salad to start.

Then to drink you can have the regular wine and champagne along with hot chocolate with Bailey’s and regular hot chocolate for the kids. An easy way to make this happen would be to have a barista/bartender come to the wedding with a real espresso machine to make all the delicious warm drinks for your guests. Trust me this will be a total hit at the wedding. People love to warm up with a hot drink on a cold winter day.

Wedding Cake

The wedding cake is one of the most fun parts to choose for your wedding. It is a piece of art in itself and can add so much to the display at your reception. There are so many styles to choose from, it can be layered with creams or fruit flavors and detailed to match your theme and attire. No matter what you think up, there is a possibility to have your wedding cake made to match your wedding.

Color and Theme

With a holiday or winter wedding there are three very popular color themes that I recommend. There is red, green and white or blue and white or red and white. Any of these color combinations can be used on a holiday or throughout the winter.

Once you choose your colors it is important to choose your wedding theme. This can be an easy decision if your wedding is going to be on Hanukah, Christmas or New Years as holidays have details you can use for the wedding. However for a winter wedding that isn’t on a holiday you can use things like snowflakes, snowmen, pine cones, holly, glass balls, bare tree branches and mistletoe as themes at your wedding.

Dresses and Accessories

Depending on your colors there are several different types of wedding dresses you can choose from. For instance, if your colors are red and white or blue and white then there are some beautiful dresses with colored accents on them. Also if your colors are red and white then you could wear an all red wedding dress as brides have started to step outside the box with some non-traditional ideas.

The most popular choice overall is the traditional bright white or ivory white wedding dress. There are so many to choose from that you are sure to find one that compliments your figure. Then accessorizing is much easier as most things go with white dresses. For really cold winter weddings there are beautiful capes that have a hood that are quite picturesque and keep you warm. I’ve seen photographers take advantage of this accessory for outdoor photos of the bride and groom.

The final dresses that you want to consider are your bridesmaids since they are suppose to compliment your attire. If you wear the dresses with an accent color then you have the bridesmaids get their dresses that color. However if you wear a solid color dress than my recommendation would be to have the bridesmaids wear a darker color so black would work best with a red dress. Then you can choose fun jewelry and shoes to accompany whichever color and style you choose.

Flowers

Winter wedding flowers can be tricky as only certain flowers are available year round at flower markets. Of course there are your traditional roses which I would recommend any day for a winter wedding. They come in the most gorgeous shades of red and of course white which compliments any white dress very well. Also the red roses go well with the evergreens that are a very wintery look. For a delicate look you can always use bare tree branches with white roses.

Favors

Last but not least there are the winter or holiday themed favors. There are little ornaments you can order with your names and the date on them that are perfect for winter. However if you want something different but winter themed there are always candle holders, scented pine cones, cookie mixes, hot chocolate mixes, shaped tins with mints, truffles or chocolates. Any thoughtful little thank you will do as people enjoy giving and receiving in spirit of the holidays.

Good Luck and Warm Wishes

This is a very special time to be getting married so enjoy the process and hopefully these tips will help with planning your wedding. Enjoy every step as it is a once in a lifetime experience and will be over before you know it.