By Kate Cohen
A winter wedding is a wonderful way to start the next chapter of your love story. They can be romantic and festive celebrations with unlimited potential for flexibility and creativity.
Whether you’re dreaming of a Winter Wonderland event or a winter destination wedding away from the snow, here are seven useful winter wedding tips to consider when planning your perfect day.
Send Save-the-Dates Farther in Advance
The holidays are a busy time for everyone. If you’re planning a November or December wedding, you’ll want to be courteous and give your guests a generous heads-up so they can best accommodate your celebration.
It’s typically recommended to send save-the-dates eight to 10 months before your wedding date. For a wedding around the holidays, some experts say to send them 12 to 18 months prior to your wedding.
Keep in mind, too, that choosing a wedding date around the holidays might mean you have fewer guests in attendance.
While it may seem like convenient timing when people may have more time off from work, everyone has their own holiday expectations, traditions, and travel that might keep them from being able to attend.
BONUS: Hosting your wedding at a hotel provides your guests another level of added ease. From being able to stay onsite to taking advantage of block rate discounts, hotel weddings can be a wonderful way to make holiday travel even easier for out-of-town friends and family.
Check out our blog on the perks of hosting a hotel wedding.
Plan for a Shorter Day
Winter days are shorter than any other season when it comes to daylight, with the winter solstice on December 21 marking the shortest day of the year.
While there is plenty to love about a candlelit wedding after dark, fewer hours of daylight can affect your timing for photos and therefore your timeline for the entire day.
Fitting everything into your dream wedding day is perfectly doable, it’s just helpful to know that you’re working with fewer hours of daylight before you map out your wedding day timeline.
Play with Rich Winter Colors and Textures
When it comes to your color palette, think outside the box.
Cool sage greens pair beautifully with neutral creams and pops of earthy browns.
Deep maroons and burgundies are classic winter color choices and can be complemented by blush pinks and dark greens.
Moody navy blue is a bold color choice when accentuated by pops of gold and a lighter misty blue.
In addition to rich colors, a winter wedding also lends itself to a variety of fun textures: think velvets, shiny metallics, and feathery evergreens.
Embrace the Season with your Menu and Florals
Winter may not seem like a season of growth, but there are plenty of produce and flowers that are best in the wintertime. A wedding is a great place to showcase the best fresh things the season has to offer.
For your menu, consider incorporating seasonal produce like squash, pumpkin, Brussel sprouts, and hearty greens like kale. Winter is the perfect time for fresh root vegetables like colorful beets, rustic fennel, and earthy turnips.
Winter is also the season of citrus. Liven up your bar with a signature cocktail featuring fresh Florida oranges or key limes, or use them for whimsical décor.
As far as florals are concerned, there are endless options for a wintery aesthetic.
Anemones, with their contrasting white papery petals and dark black centers are a dramatic choice for a bouquet or table décor. Tightly petaled ranunculus are in season, too. Crescent-shaped freesia and fragrant gardenias are also beautiful choices.
Enrich beautiful blooms with evergreen accents like eucalyptus, pine, cedar, and even magnolia leaves. Sprigs of holly with bright red berries and pinecones are lovely seasonal accents as well.
A Winter Wedding Doesn’t Have to Mean a Holiday Wedding
Winter weddings are often synonymous with “holiday” weddings, though the two can be quite distinct.
If you’ve always dreamed of a Christmassy wedding with holiday décor, then go for it!
But if you’re worried that a December wedding means a red and green color palette, strings of Christmas lights, and dancing to Bing Crosby all night long, we’re here to reassure you that your winter wedding can be whatever you want it to be.
The same thing goes for Winter Wonderland-themed weddings; winter doesn’t always have to mean snow.
Consider Travel Challenges
Winter is a notoriously tough time for travel. Even if your wedding location is somewhere warm, guests from snowier regions may have a more challenging time navigating winter storms on the roads or airways.
If you yourself are traveling to or from somewhere notorious for its winter storms, be sure to give yourself a travel cushion of an extra day or two just in case the weather gets unruly.
Even Florida Winters Get Chilly
A winter wedding in a warmer destination is always a fun option. (We’re quite partial to Orlando.)
Keep in mind that our winters can get relatively chilly, too. November through March, our average low temps are in the 50s and it’s been known to get even cooler.
If you’re planning an outdoor celebration, take the opportunity to make sure your guests are cozy and comfortable. Handing out blankets, hosting a hot cocoa bar, and placing plenty of portable heaters around will ensure everyone is having a great time, regardless of the weather.
Host Your Perfect Winter Wedding with Rosen Weddings
However you envision your winter wedding, Rosen Weddings can bring it to life.
Winter may look a little different for us in sunny Florida, but our palm trees and moderate temps can still be the perfect backdrop for a moody, cozy winter wedding.
Our four fabulous Orlando venues offer a variety of spaces to accommodate weddings of all sizes and aesthetics, so you can truly host the winter wedding of your dreams.
Reach out to our team today to discover which of our venues best suits your unique wedding vision.
