Why I'd Recommend a Winter Wedding
A winter wedding made sense to us and really, apart from a flirt with September, we never really looked at anything else. Jos owns a cider company and from April straight through to Christmas eve, his calendar year is made up of pruning, picking, pressing and selling so avoiding the majority of the year was essential when it came to picking our date.
Our venue had all of February and March free so we could pick a date that suited us. We got together on 7th May 2010 and engaged on 7th October 2018 so getting hitched on 7th February 2020 which was a Friday made pleasant sense, combined with the fact it was my Mum’s birthday that weekend too seemed fun and so we booked it.
I LOVED having a winter wedding and here’s why I’d recommend planning one of your own…
Unusual.
Winter weddings are not the norm that’s for sure but with a winter wedding comes the chance to do something a bit unusual which as we all know by now, is my fav way of doing things. It gives you the chance to change things up and for guests, it’s a bit of fun too. Winter wedding outfits are ideal for the pre Christmas or post NYE shop, they allow you to wrap up and keep warm, there’s plenty of scope for decor and if one element is different about your wedding already, it’s basically free permission to go hell for leather.
Cheaper.
This isn’t always the case but often, winter weddings can be cheaper than those in the traditional wedding season. Our venue doesn’t change in price throughout the year but they do less weddings so we had more time in the days leading up to the wedding to set up. Often, suppliers aren’t working as much as that time of year so they are more willing to cut a deal or do cheaper rates, saving you a few quid in the process.
More flexibility.
Wedding venues and suppliers can be booked up for years in advance, especially if you’re looking to get married on significant dates like bank holidays or in the height of summer, so opting for a winter wedding can give you a bit more flexibility if needed. Not only are venues less busy in the winter months but also your guests might be more available too. One of my colleagues was telling me she once got invited to three weddings on the same day one July - the likelihood of that happening in February? Almost nothing.
The weather.
The pressure on the weather being nice in a summer wedding is ridiculous. How many weddings have you heard of in July that is either met with ‘oh weren’t they lucky with the weather’ or ‘such a shame about the weather though’. With a winter wedding, you are already expecting the worst and you’ve likely prepared for rain. snow, wind and every other weather type too, so actually, if it IS sunny - you’re just pleasantly surprised.
The textures and colours.
Decorating a winter wedding was a pure joy and so easy to do. Darker colours, sparkles, whites and greys, wood, foliage, leaves, ivy…….winter wedding decor was beautiful. Although organising a wedding 6 weeks after Christmas was stressful, it also meant I could wait for the January sales for a lot of the extra details too. We even had snowdrops dug up from my Mum’s garden which we put in jam jars and some of our family took them home to plant up in their gardens.
No pressure.
I mean sure, I’ve never had to plan a summer wedding so I don’t know if the pressure is comparable but I just generally found there was no pressure with ours. People didn’t really know what to expect, the weather wasn’t a concern, there was no fuss over whether we’d be warm enough - we all just assumed we’d be cold and planned for it.