Things To Consider For A Winter Wedding

Photo credit: James Christianson

Fall is finally here and we're ready for colder weather! The heat in Texas is no joke right now. As end-of-the-year weddings are quickly approaching, here are a few helpful details you might want to consider as you wrap up your wedding planning process. We want to make sure not only you, but also your guests are comfortable and prepared for the weather and your special day!

Consider wedding insurance

A lot of folks haven't heard of wedding insurance before and we're here to tell you it can be a lifesaver. In the Dallas/Fort Worth area, roads can be known to get pretty icy during the winter season. What happens when vendors aren't able to show up simply due to the fact that they have no way of getting there? Or if you're flying in a vendor, but there's a storm at their departure city and flights are no longer leaving? Most vendors will typically allow you to reschedule at no extra cost given they are available for your new date. If they're not, however, this is where wedding insurance comes into play. Most wedding insurance policies protect you against losing your deposit money due to weather-related cancellations. This lets you book another vendor available for your new date without incurring any additional weddings costs. Or if that vendor from another city is not able to make it, you can hire another one that morning if needed and insurance will cover the difference. Wedding insurance also has other benefits such as vendor no-shows, military or job deployment causing a postponement, bride or groom (or anyone else essential to the wedding) sickness or injury causing a postponement, protection against getting sued if a drunken guests caused property or personal damages, and so many more different scenarios. We'll get into wedding insurance more in a future blog post, but it does raise some scenarios to think about. If you do choose to purchase wedding insurance, be sure to know what it will cover and what it will not.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

Lighting

Winter days are shorter and darker thanks to daylight savings. Consider the time of your ceremony when drafting your day-of timeline. You may want to start earlier in the day than a typical evening event to make sure you and your photographer can get some beautiful natural lighting for your photos. If you don't want your wedding ceremony to start too early, take into consideration doing a first look and taking all of your photos beforehand. You and your wedding party will still have to start early, but your guests won't. There are also a lot of romantic lighting ideas you can use, such as hanging cafe lights, optimizing your use of candles, uplighting, etc. Look out for another future blog post about how to play with lighting to create a certain ambience!

Photo credit: Brinton Studios

Decor

Looking for ways to trim your wedding budget? Consider a venue with holiday decorations or natural beauty. We once had a wedding where the venue decorated their venue with a floor to ceiling Christmas tree. It was certainly a gorgeous backdrop for the ceremony! Take advantage of what the venue has to offer or comes with. Embrace the season and create a winter wonderland with pine cones, boughs, frosted branches, and open fireplaces. The possibilities are endless! If you don't want to opt-in for the all-white theme, create a cozy atmosphere with rich, deep, and warm tones like burgundy, midnight blue, eggplant, or dark forest. So many options! Play with candles to create a romantic glow. Build a lounge area with soft pillows to make guests feel more comfortable and homey. There's a certain feel winter weddings are able to produce that other seasons are not.

Photo credit: Beall + Thomas Photography

Your guests

Be wary if you get slightly more no's than usual. Not too many, but expect them. Because it is winter, this also means your guests have to consider holiday travel prices, splitting time and money between your special day and going to visit their families. Also, don't forget everyone usually spends more money around this time for presents and what not. For the guests that are able to attend, make sure they are comfortable and relaxed. If it's cold outside, offer a coat check and a warm drink upon arrival. Provide patio heaters or blankets if part of your event is taking place outside. Consider something fun and different like offering s'more making over an open fire pit! This will definitely create a memorable aspect for your guests.

Photo credit: Gavin Farrington Photography

There are various points to consider when having a winter wedding, but we hope these few were helpful. Are you having a winter wedding? If so, what made you decide to choose this beautiful season?

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