Tips On Planning A Winter Wedding

If you are wondering how to plan a winter wedding, there are many avenues you can take. You don’t have to incorporate Christmas or cold, instead think of a winter wonderland, a snowy paradise, a mountain retreat. Let snow, and the natural beauty of winter be your inspiration for planning a wedding in winter.

For planning the location of your wedding, you can look around and find lots of winter inspiration. A beautiful church with lots of ornate architecture, wood beams, or stone fixtures can be decorated to celebrate winter. How about a rustic ski lodge in the mountains? A mountain-top restaurant overlooking snow-covered trees may have a nice area for a winter wedding ceremony. A museum with a gallery showing black and white photography might also make a great spot for a modern, late-year ceremony.

When focusing on the theme of the wedding, don’t immediately think of holiday wrapping paper, Christmas trees, or Nordic sweaters. Instead, walk outside and observe nature in winter. Snow, icicles, snowflakes, bare branches, and ice are so pretty and elegant. Use these as your focal areas for decor, invitations, flowers, and the reception.

Snow can be created in different ways, for different areas. There is a fluffy, billowy fake snow drape that can be bought in large rolls. Similar to quilt batting, the snow unrolls in layers and can easily be separated by hand for breaking up into different areas. A little goes a long way. You can use this snow drape as an aisle runner, on tables, in corners, or on pew ends to look like snow drifts. Snow can also be created with masses of baby’s breath flowers. This inexpensive filler for flower arrangements can be packed together in low containers to create snow balls. Thick masses of baby’s breath glued on strips of mesh can be tied lengthwise to pews to create snow drifts in the church.

Bare branches are beautiful in December and January. Dogwood is a tall, red branch that can be grouped in multiples in low containers or cylinders for simple, pretty entrance decor. Add small white LED lights at the base and cover with a little fake snow for a stark, wintery welcome piece. You could also use bare Manzanita branches as decor. Manzanita has lots of twisty little branches and is sturdy. A branch or tree of Manzanita can hold hanging crystals, place cards, white hydrangea blooms, and more.

Ice and icicles can be found at craft stores or online. Acrylic ice comes in chunky shaped pieces, and lots of sizes. You can scatter acrylic ice on the head table, near the cake, and on the bar. Real ice sculptures are amazing for a winter theme. If your budget allows, consider a bar made entirely from ice. You could go smaller with champagne buckets chiseled out of ice, or a single main buffet display made out of ice, perhaps in the happy couple’s initials. If you have centerpieces at the reception, consider having them made out of ice by an ice carver. They could put a small indentation for a wintery candle or a cluster of white roses. Ice centerpieces include a discrete tray that allows the water to gather during the event.

When deciding on the bridal attire, think of warm, luxurious fabrics, fashion, and accessories. The groom would look amazing in a tuxedo with tails and a crisp white tie. Groomsmen and bridesmaids in black would stand out against a wintery white background. If you want to incorporate color for groomsmen and bridesmaids, consider jewel tones, like ruby red, emerald green, sapphire blue, as these are commonly seen in fashion and decor during the winter months. A bridal gown in snowy white, elegant cream, or even an icy silver would be beautiful. Long sleeves and pretty white high heels or boots would look gorgeous on a winter bride. Adding crystals to her hair would tie in with a festive wonderland theme.

Lastly, the bridal flowers can showcase a winter wedding theme. Flowers and greenery in season in winter include amaryllis, star of Bethlehem, holly, roses, dusty miller, orchids, and tulips. Tie floral bouquets and boutonnieres with silver or white ribbon, silver wire, or black velvet to make simple, lovely floral expressions. An idea for a fun bridal bouquet could be a furry muff for the hands, decorated with hanging white orchids, evergreens, roses, hanging crystals and ribbons. It is a bit different, but her hands would be warm and it would harmonize with all the surroundings during her lovely winter wedding.

This guest post was written by Kate Garmora, of Engraved Gift Creations learn more about her ideas on groomsmen gifts. and other wedding necessities.