27 reasons to have a winter wedding

Christmas is a fabulous time to get married. Lots of the things you want at your wedding are already in abundance for free. Cheer. Lights. A willingness to get drunk early in the day.

We got married on the 28th December and while many couples dream of lush green meadows and warm sunshine for their wedding day, we were all about the rich mulled wine and central heating.

To mark our anniversary (still married, woohoo!) here are 27 reasons why winter weddings rock. I went with 27 because the 28th reason is of course – because you are in love and it will be the happiest day of your life, winter or summer bla bla bla.

winter wedding fur

    1. You get to wear fur. Not real fur obviously (because if you wear real fur, we can’t be friends). I found it quite difficult to get a shrug I liked – a lot were a bit North Pole-like, but I finally found a shrug that was actually made from downy feathers. I bought this in a bridal shop in Dublin called the Town Bride.snow wedding
    2. You don’t worry about the weather. When you book your wedding for a summer date (in Ireland and the UK anyway) you generally hope for a fine or sunny day. There’ll be prayers, Children of Prague and extreme study of long range weather forecasts. With a winter wedding, none of this matters, because it’s the middle of winter and no one expects good weather anyway. As it happens, we had a beautiful sunny day in December. (Let’s not talk about snow and ice – they put a different touch on the white wedding).
    3. You can serve mulled wine. Yum.

      wedding aisle
      Photo: elegantweddinginvites.com
    4. Free decor. Every venue I know decorates for Christmas. Some may have forest tall Christmas trees and garlands and giant baubles everywhere. It adds soft lighting and warmth and may mean you don’t have to add any decoration of your own at all
    5. No crazy photoshoots. Because the light fades so quickly, there’ll be no traipsing through the gardens taking two million photographs. You may organise to take some outside shots that are special to you (at a church, or beach for example) but you’ll get these done quickly and can go back to the party. No light, no problem – most venues offer indoor areas for pics anyway, because; it rains all summer.

      wedding wreath
      Photo: weddbook.com
    6. It’ll be dark for your first dance. Sometimes in early summer when you’re having a first dance with the rages of a summer evening streaming in the window, it can take a while for the party to get going. Dark = time to party.
    7. People are around. If you get married around Christmas time, lots of friends and family who live abroad are more likely to be home.
    8. People are on holidays anyway. Many of your guests may be off work at this time of year and don’t have to use their own holidays to attend your wedding. (They may reflect this in your wedding gift!)

      best wedding decor
      Photo: bestweddingdecor.info
    9. There may be roaring fires. Toasty.
    10. No scattering of the smoking types. It’ll be too cold for people to hang out outside, so your room (and dance floor) will remain full of your guests.
    11. As fake tan fashions change, know that there is no need for the bride or any of the guests to wear false tan to a winter wedding. A summer wedding may not be so cut and dried. All those pastel colours may cry out for a bit of brown.

      winter bouquet
      Photo: brides.com
    12. Winter flowers. I loved choosing my wedding flowers and found loads of great shades and textures available at this time of year. You could add sparkle, feathers, little Santas if you want (you shouldn’t want). I may do a whole other post on wedding flowers, because they’re so pretty!
    13. Good mood. Everyone’s in a good mood at Christmas. Mostly. Leave the scrooges at home.
    14. Price drop. Some venues discount weddings held in off season or winter. The week around Christmas is considered peak, so you’re unlikely to get discounts then, but outside of this you may be able to save a bit. Always ask!
    15. You can include Christmas hymns in your ceremony. Beautiful.
      winter wedding centre
    16. Spray glitter is perfectly acceptable. On menus. On your flowers. On your face.
    17. Red lipstick. Fabulous against the frost.
    18. With the summer schedule often packed with back to back weddings (depending on your age and friend group situation – we all go through it, the year of the weddings) a winter wedding may be very welcome.
    19. Candles. Candles. More candles.
    20. Possibility of snow and waking up to that scene in Father of the Bride. More swans.
      blue wedding
    21. Blue lighting backdrop looks FABULOUS against a white, sparkly theme.
    22. January sales. If you’re planning a winter wedding you can buy up winter themed decorations in the January sales the year before your wedding for next to nothing.
    23. Spend New Year’s Eve somewhere amazing. We got to get up close and personal with Mr Bruno Mars in an amazing gig in Las Vegas. Beats the local pub with a watery pint now, doesn’t it?
    24. You don’t have to serve turkey and ham. In fact, you really shouldn’t. Consider duck, fish, quails egg if you’re posh enough.
      frank
    25. Enjoy a honeymoon in the tropics. Summer weddings often clash with hurricane seasons abroad (particularly around September). By getting married in winter you’re forced go further for some sun, (yes, forced) and from what the travel agents tell me, winter can be a very calm travelling season. Particularly in the Caribbean. Which is why we had no choice but to go there.
    26. Get festive with the favours. There’s lot of winter themed favours you can think about and see above re: the January sales. You could consider giving away a Christmas tree decoration for your guests to hang up every year and think about YOU!
    27. Did I mention mulled wine?
      mulled wineDid you have a winter wedding or are you considering one? I’d love to hear from you.

December Girl is now available on Audio. Visit Amazon or Audible or click on the cover below to download.

December Girl audiobook

19 Comments on 27 reasons to have a winter wedding

  1. I toyed with the idea of a winter wedding. I think if I’d read this I might have been persuaded. Less photos, mulled wine and wearing (fake) fur might have swung it.

    • Ah happy anniversary for two days time! It is a lovely time of year to get married – it always appealed to me, ever since I sang at a winter wedding on 27th December when I was in my teens 🙂

  2. I love the decorations of a winter wedding, but I struggle as a guest with what to wear (unless it’s cocktail/formal dress). Autumn/winter weddings I’ve been to saw a lot of guests in dull grey/black suits – and that was the women. I like the bright dresses of summer.

    We had no choice but to do May – being farmers, it’s the quietest time of year in between sileaging and harvest. 3-4 of our farmer friends also have their anniversaries the same equivalent weekend as us!

    • No way, didn’t realise that would be the quietest time of the year! May is lovely 🙂 Was conscious of writing this that it didn’t come across as against summer weddings – I’m not at all, but wanted to look at the benefits of getting married in the freezing cold! I think for winter weddings, it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing underneath, as long as you have a nice warm coat to go over it!

  3. Had a winter wedding too for all those reasons bar the mulled wine. Don’t like mulled wine despite my love of all other wines! Ours was 18th dec and woke up to a lovely blanket of snow.

    • Aw that’s fab! Well I hope it was fab and not inconvenient! I only drink red wine so think that’s why I like it so much. Only had it a few times in my life mind – it reminds me of celebrating.

  4. Our wedding is taking place at the end of July.
    We did meet a few days before Christmas and considered having a winter wedding but I don’t like the cold. Lol then again I suppose when does Ireland ever get a winter.

  5. I must be honest I have never really given thought to winter weddings, I have always thought I should get married during the summer or spring lol but these 27 reasons are making me reconsider.

  6. I’ve always been one of those ‘too much happens at Winter without throwing a wedding in the mix’ type of people, but your list is swaying me! And those photos from winter weddings are to die for x

    • Really? I think too much happens in the summer, with holidays, festivals, concerts and all the other weddings! But I guess Christmas is a big deal in the winter and lasts for weeks. I must do another post with pretty photos – I have a whole scrapbook full 🙂

  7. This is the greatest wedding post ever! I don’t think Nathan and I will ever set a date (we’ve been engaged almost ten years) but if we do, I’m going to make sure it’s in the winter!! 🙂

    Louise x

Comments are closed.

%d bloggers like this: