Winter Weddings
Choosing to hold your wedding in the middle of a cold, dark winter may seem like madness, but if you consider the possibilities you’ll find that a winter wedding can be one of the most original, memorable and romantic weddings imaginable. A growing trend of brides are choosing winter weddings over spring or summer, because of the intimate and magical air made possible by delicate snow, roaring open fireplaces and hearty winter cuisine. Why not break apart from the crowd and have the unique, fairytale wedding of your dreams?
Venues
One of the first and most obvious advantages to having a winter wedding is that you will have your absolute pick of reception venues. Lacking competition from other brides, most likely you will get your first pick in venue, and not only that – winter brings with it the “off season”, which will mean huge savings for you and your groom! It’s worth shopping around to find out exactly what sort of discounts you can get, so be prepared to bargain up to 50% off the regular summer wedding rates. These venues will be desperate for your business, so use that to your advantage!
You can’t go past choosing a venue with an open fireplace - or at the least, a very good heating system. Inns and manors are a good choice, as they’ll bring lots of character to your wedding, but avoid choosing any very old venues (such as historic churches) which may be draughty and chilly. There’s no point wow-ing your guests with a gorgeous 1800s cathedral with ancient stone floors and antique wooden pews if they’re all about to pass out from the cold!
Fine Dining
Winter weddings bring with them a whole new menu, completely unavailable to those hosting a traditional warm-weather wedding. How about a nice, thick soup with bread rolls for entrees, hearty roast beef and baked vegetables for your dinner and rich plum pudding with brandy cream for dessert? You’ll have a chance to make an impression with drinks aswell – how about old fashioned hot chocolates, egg nog, spiced red wine and liquor coffees? When it comes to your wedding cake, you can’t go past delicate whites, pale blues and silver colours to symbolise winter. You can get really creative here – use dried willow branches, snowflakes, icicles, ribbons and edible glitter. For your crowning glory, why not top your cake with an elegant snow-globe, or a giant snowflake?
Outfits
One of the most important considerations for you here is warmth and comfort. You need a dress which has layers, so your best option is to buy a regular wedding dress and add a fur stole, or a warm capelet. Don’t forget matching fuzzies for your bridesmaids as well. By buying a long-sleeved dress or similar, you’re risking overheating during the reception, and no bride wants a red, sweaty face for her photos!
Also don’t forget to consider footwear – not only will you be spending time outside (possibly in snow) getting your photos done, you also need something versatile that you can dance in later on. So find something waterproof, closed in and warm, and have a second change of footwear on hand. How about some gorgeous Ugg boots to complete your wedding outfit? Strappy stilettos have their place, but unless you want to spend your honeymoon nursing nasty frostbite, it’s not at a winter wedding.
Your bouquet
Don’t fret that you won’t be able to have a nice bouquet in the middle of winter – you’ll find there are so many varieties still available, even in the cold. Roses are gorwn overseas to ensure a year-round supply for florists worldwide, if you’re feeling traditional. Orchids are a-plenty, and were the favoured flower at Marilyn Monroe’s winter wedding in 1954. Tulips are around too, but why not choose something native? Kangaroos paw, waratahs, eucalyptus, wild violets and sprays of bluegum can look highly effective, if your florist knows what they’re doing. Better yet, theme your venue to match – with either fresh or dried posies and stems of the same flowers on the tables, as favours, or as pomanders hanging from the ceiling. The smell of Australian native flowers is divine!
Your honeymoon
So once you’ve pulled off your dream winter wedding, it’s fairly safe to assume you’ll be sick to death of the cold and ready to party hard on a tropical beach somewhere warmer! They beauty of a country like Australia is that the temperature down the bottom of it is often very different than that in sunny Queensland. So once you’ve finished up, you can simply hop in a plan and jet off to warm, humid Darwin. Or if that’s not exotic enough for you, consider Thailand, Bali or the Maldives – all are nearby and can be done on a budget, sometimes even more cheaply than if you’d simply honeymooned in Australia.
But if you’re convinced you’ll be happy to stay on in your winter wonderland, why not think about honeymooning in the snow fields. If you can afford it, book out a hotel and let your families stay on with you!
If you’re one of the brides sophisticated and original enough to choose a winter wedding, congratulations! Winter weddings are truly unique, and your guests won’t ever have attended anything like it before. You’ll find many winter brides on our forums at www.beyondthebride.com.au/forum who can’t wait to help you plan your big day!
Venues
One of the first and most obvious advantages to having a winter wedding is that you will have your absolute pick of reception venues. Lacking competition from other brides, most likely you will get your first pick in venue, and not only that – winter brings with it the “off season”, which will mean huge savings for you and your groom! It’s worth shopping around to find out exactly what sort of discounts you can get, so be prepared to bargain up to 50% off the regular summer wedding rates. These venues will be desperate for your business, so use that to your advantage!
You can’t go past choosing a venue with an open fireplace - or at the least, a very good heating system. Inns and manors are a good choice, as they’ll bring lots of character to your wedding, but avoid choosing any very old venues (such as historic churches) which may be draughty and chilly. There’s no point wow-ing your guests with a gorgeous 1800s cathedral with ancient stone floors and antique wooden pews if they’re all about to pass out from the cold!
Fine Dining
Winter weddings bring with them a whole new menu, completely unavailable to those hosting a traditional warm-weather wedding. How about a nice, thick soup with bread rolls for entrees, hearty roast beef and baked vegetables for your dinner and rich plum pudding with brandy cream for dessert? You’ll have a chance to make an impression with drinks aswell – how about old fashioned hot chocolates, egg nog, spiced red wine and liquor coffees? When it comes to your wedding cake, you can’t go past delicate whites, pale blues and silver colours to symbolise winter. You can get really creative here – use dried willow branches, snowflakes, icicles, ribbons and edible glitter. For your crowning glory, why not top your cake with an elegant snow-globe, or a giant snowflake?
Outfits
One of the most important considerations for you here is warmth and comfort. You need a dress which has layers, so your best option is to buy a regular wedding dress and add a fur stole, or a warm capelet. Don’t forget matching fuzzies for your bridesmaids as well. By buying a long-sleeved dress or similar, you’re risking overheating during the reception, and no bride wants a red, sweaty face for her photos!
Also don’t forget to consider footwear – not only will you be spending time outside (possibly in snow) getting your photos done, you also need something versatile that you can dance in later on. So find something waterproof, closed in and warm, and have a second change of footwear on hand. How about some gorgeous Ugg boots to complete your wedding outfit? Strappy stilettos have their place, but unless you want to spend your honeymoon nursing nasty frostbite, it’s not at a winter wedding.
Your bouquet
Don’t fret that you won’t be able to have a nice bouquet in the middle of winter – you’ll find there are so many varieties still available, even in the cold. Roses are gorwn overseas to ensure a year-round supply for florists worldwide, if you’re feeling traditional. Orchids are a-plenty, and were the favoured flower at Marilyn Monroe’s winter wedding in 1954. Tulips are around too, but why not choose something native? Kangaroos paw, waratahs, eucalyptus, wild violets and sprays of bluegum can look highly effective, if your florist knows what they’re doing. Better yet, theme your venue to match – with either fresh or dried posies and stems of the same flowers on the tables, as favours, or as pomanders hanging from the ceiling. The smell of Australian native flowers is divine!
Your honeymoon
So once you’ve pulled off your dream winter wedding, it’s fairly safe to assume you’ll be sick to death of the cold and ready to party hard on a tropical beach somewhere warmer! They beauty of a country like Australia is that the temperature down the bottom of it is often very different than that in sunny Queensland. So once you’ve finished up, you can simply hop in a plan and jet off to warm, humid Darwin. Or if that’s not exotic enough for you, consider Thailand, Bali or the Maldives – all are nearby and can be done on a budget, sometimes even more cheaply than if you’d simply honeymooned in Australia.
But if you’re convinced you’ll be happy to stay on in your winter wonderland, why not think about honeymooning in the snow fields. If you can afford it, book out a hotel and let your families stay on with you!
If you’re one of the brides sophisticated and original enough to choose a winter wedding, congratulations! Winter weddings are truly unique, and your guests won’t ever have attended anything like it before. You’ll find many winter brides on our forums at www.beyondthebride.com.au/forum who can’t wait to help you plan your big day!