Whilst there is an undeniable allure to the idea of a summer wedding, the romance of a winter wonderland wedding at an awe-inspiring venue like Cambridgeshire’s Holmewood Hall is irresistible for so many and it is easy to see why. Picture a beautiful, sparkling blanket of white snow in front of an historic, red-brick Victorian mansion with its windows lit up by candlelight and a warm glow from roaring log fires and you’ll immediately throw all of your original plans to have a summer wedding by the coast straight on to ‘Maybe’ pile and start searching the internet for ‘fur stoles for weddings’ and ‘wedding dresses with sleeves’.
With all of the uncertainty that 2020 has brought to so many people, this has seen lots of people embracing the idea of a winter wedding for 2021, which is why we have brought you our top tips for planning a winter wonderland wedding.
1. Make the most of what the season has to offer.
By this, we mean that you should work with the climate and any seasonal events and what is going on at the time of your wedding. There is no point hiding from what is happening, i.e., if you are getting married in December then your guests will be talking about Christmas no matter what you do to distract them from the topic. As such, consider making it a theme of your wedding. Instead of having the usual hymns that people sing in a lacklustre fashion at weddings, consider singing Christmas Carols instead. The joy of Christmas Carols is that everyone knows the words and so they will be very happy to belt them out getting everyone in the mood for the festivities to come that night. If you love a Christmas Dinner, then go full-on festive and have a Christmas dinner for your wedding breakfast, have pigs in blankets, mince pies and mulled wine for your canapes. Make your favours festive by giving your guests personalised crackers and decorate the table with Christmas stockings instead of the usual table and place name settings. Weddings around Halloween, Bonfire Night and Valentine’s Day can become just as much fun if you allow yourself to have fun with the theme and don’t get nervous about going over-the-top. Ultimately, your wedding is a celebration, you should be going all out!
2. Winter wedding dresses are fabulously unique!
You can have all sorts of fun with winter wedding dresses and winter bridesmaid dresses in terms of the dresses themselves as well as accessories like faux fur stoles and pashminas. We think @brides is so right! They say that “Long-sleeved wedding dresses are PERFECT for winter weddings!”
3. Choose the right venue.
If you are planning a winter wedding, you will need to find a venue that ticks a lot of boxes (much the same as a summer wedding to be honest!). You need somewhere with fabulous photo backdrops and places where your guests can shelter from the cold if need be. We recommend visiting your venue at night time too so that you can see what it will look like once it has got dark. Of course, during the winter days are shorter so you want somewhere that looks as good at night as it does during the day.
4. Keep your guests warm with blankets and throws.
The handiest part of this is that you could also give out blankets and throws as your wedding favours. By sewing a little label on to the blanket and tying them up into neat rolls with pretty ribbon or hessian, you will accomplish two things; keeping your guests snuggly warm and giving them a souvenir of your Big Day that they’ll be able to keep forever.
5. You might get free decorations!
A lot of venues put decorations up at Christmas, so depending on what they do, you might be able to save some time, money and stress by working with what the venue usually does during the winter months.
Whenever you are planning on getting married, we will work with you to help you bring the wedding of your dreams to life, so contact us today at Country House Weddings to start discussing your Big Day.
