How To Plan Your Perfect Winter Wedding
When one wedding insurance provider researched the most popular months for tying the knot in the UK recently, it found, unsurprisingly, that June through August were the most sought-after months for British weddings. After all, summer is peak season for these celebrations, with the company reporting that 40% of marriages took place during the season.
However, that does leave significant numbers of couples opting to get hitched outside this traditional period, including 20% who host their big day between November and March.
So what are the benefits to a winter wedding?
There are far more of these than you may have realised, including:
1.) Your money goes further
Because the summer is still the most favoured time of year to marry in the UK, you may well find that venues and other suppliers are able to offer their service or location at a more attractive price once the weather gets cooler. This may mean, for example, that you can afford to book your first choice of venue or incorporate something you may not otherwise have had the budget for – such as, for instance, a videographer or a magician.
2.) Greater availability
The place where you want to tie the knot, as well as your preferred suppliers, may well have better availability and more time to provide your service. So you’re likelier to bag the caterers, photographer, florist or cake-maker you really want, plus the date that’s top of your list.
3.) Happier guests
Marry outside the most popular season and your guests may well thank you. For those in their 20s and 30s especially, who may be attending numerous celebrations for friends over the spring and summer, ‘wedding fatigue’ can soon set in if these are back to back. And with insurance and wealth firm Aviva estimating the average cost of attending a UK wedding at around £400, some guests may be pleased to spread expenses including travel, accommodation, gifts and new outfits. Winter is also outside main holiday season, so fewer people should be away on vacation and therefore able to attend your party. Finally, once summer days are over, many of us love having a wedding to look forward to to brighten up the winter months.
4.) Embrace the Christmas season
There are benefits, too, to tying the knot at Christmas. Not only will everyone be in the festive spirit and in the mood for celebrating, but your venue may already be gorgeously decorated for the season. Even better, you can use the Bank Holidays if you go on honeymoon immediately afterwards, either over Christmas or the New Year break, to add to booked leave.
Equally if you go for January, people are likely to be free, plus you’ll cheer up what’s traditionally a rather drab time of year.
5.) Winter cosiness and glamour
With a winter wedding, you can create the perfect mix of cosiness and glamour. For the décor, think rich, deep colours, sparkle (and indeed sparklers), lanterns and fairy lights. Use pine cones, leaves, holly, wreaths and baubles to create a winter wonderland.
To enhance the mood, add candles with scents of cinnamon or gingerbread. (However, any candles will heighten the after-dark ambience.)
When it comes to the catering, drinks could include mulled wine, boozy hot chocolate, or a hot chocolate station complete with marshmallows. Meanwhile, pies, bangers and mash, traditional roasts and warm desserts like crumbles are the ideal hearty dishes to enjoy in cooler weather.
For your wedding dress, again you can go for rich, deep colours and thick fabrics to embrace the season. Accessorise with a fur shawl – meanwhile, the groom could don a velvet suit jacket in a rich shade.
Planning your perfect winter wedding
· Be prepared for bad weather
Obviously, you can never guarantee the weather in the UK, but clearly in winter a little more planning is needed. Think about how you will keep guests warm and toasty, and where to leave umbrellas and coats to dry. In the evening, you may want to have blankets on hand so people stay snug.. Additionally, have a plan for staying dry while travelling to the venue.
Of course, the weather doesn’t have to be abysmal! You may well hit lucky with a glorious frosty day complete with bright winter sunshine.
· Plan your photos
Your venue should have covered areas for photos if it’s wet. Think about where the best backdrops for your wedding-day imagery are, and what to do about pictures if conditions are less than ideal.
· Start early
Make the most of the limited hours of natural daylight for your photos, with an earlier ceremony if possible. Alternatively, if you want all-out after-dark glamour and a candlelit ceremony, go for it and tie the knot once the sun has set.
Winter weddings at Howard Court
Howard Court is an exclusive-use wedding venue set against the stunning backdrop of rural North Yorkshire, surrounded by countryside which looks starkly beautiful in midwinter. We host these celebrations all year round, and are fully licensed to hold on-site ceremonies, so you’re not changing location in wind and rain once you’ve tied the knot.
We’ll keep you warm and cosy, whatever the weather’s doing, in our beautifully restored 150-year-old barns. Did we mention we had ground-source heating keeping the barns snug all year round?
Let us create the winter wedding of your dreams! Ask us any questions you may have, and contact us to arrange a viewing.
