Winter weddings can give you an excellent opportunity to be creative with your decorating. From cosy and rustic décor to ultra-modern white, take your time to explore what you want your wedding to look like. When we think of winter there is an impression of hearth fires, evergreens, and bare branches; taking these wonderful winter elements and incorporating them into wedding décor can create a dazzling scene.
In winter we rarely spend a lot of time outdoors, so selecting a venue with windows that give your guests a wonderful winter scene to view can give you a fantastic base on which to build. Winter is a wonderful season, so if you’re organising a wedding bring in your favourite elements from the season, from a Christmas tree set up in the corner of the reception room to a bar from which to serve spiced and heated cider and mulled wine. Your wedding is a chance to create your own bespoke winter wonderland for you and your guests to enjoy.
Theme
Selecting a theme for your décor, specifically a colour scheme and style, can help you when you are organising your wedding. Having a certain look that you want to achieve will give you a template to use in order to create the look that you want. Here are a few popular themes for a winter wedding:
- Rustic
Deciding on a rustic theme for your wedding opens up a lot of doors to create a cosy and relaxing space. Incorporating decorations like tea lights in jam jars and cosy sofas with throws for your guests to snuggle up in, or even a hot chocolate bar, can ensure your guests keep warm in the wintry weather.
Using such a relaxed theme is good for smaller, more intimate weddings where you have fewer guests and can relax and enjoy yourself throughout the reception.
- Modern
With bare branches and rugged landscapes, winter can be a fantastic season for a more minimalistic look. Using branches and green foliage instead of flowers can set an interesting tone, with white backdrops and classic candles as table decorations.
In winter less can certainly be more, and a more modern and pared-back look for your wedding can help you create a fresh and exciting atmosphere.
- Elegant
For a more classic wedding look, selecting roses in red and white along with dark and aged wood furniture can give an elegant and refined look. A more elegant theme is often quite similar to a modern look, as it is more pared-back but still gives you some leeway to explore some more of the classic elements of a wedding.
A classic wedding often has a strong emphasis on white in the décor, with some flashes of colour here and there. With a snowy day, this makes it a perfect theme for a winter wedding.
- Bohemian
A bohemian wedding is one of the themes that allow you to be more free with the colours and decorations you choose. Similar to a rustic wedding, you can bring in elements of home-made and quirky décor to brighten up the space. A bohemian wedding is a fantastic theme for those who are seeking to create a less formal atmosphere.
Choosing to be playful in your décor can create a very interesting wedding atmosphere that is enjoyable for everyone.
Colours
When decorating for a winter wedding you have a very unique colour palette to work with; rich greens, shades of burgundy, wintry blue and bare wood can be easily incorporated into your wedding. Here are some colours that are often seen in wedding décor:
- Blue and white
- Black and gold
- Red and gold
- Multiple shades of green
- Plain white
- Pink and white
Lighting
Changing the lighting can drastically alter the atmosphere of your wedding and can help you to set the tone of the evening. For example, keeping the light low and setting up candles and a hearth fire in your reception room can create a very cosy and relaxed tone, whereas bright white lights would suit a modern wedding theme.
Another fantastic way to bring different lighting options to your wedding is by using fairy lights to decorate. These can often be bought or rented to include as wedding decorations, and some venues may even have some in storage that you may be able to use if they fit the design you are looking for.
Setting up various areas outside the main reception hall, by a window overlooking the reception hall grounds for example, can give your guests an area in which to take pictures without affecting the ambiance of the main room.
Branches
Bring the outdoors indoors; while winter may not have the proliferation of flowers that you see in spring and summer, there are still many plants that you can use to liven up your venue. The snow-covered landscapes of winter, with bare trees and towering evergreens, have their own charm that you can bring to your wedding, with plenty of incredible winter plants to liven up your wedding venue.
Evergreens such as pine and holly make fantastic decorations for table centrepieces as well as the aisle. The bare branches found on trees such as willow can be manipulated into fantastic table centrepieces and arches. Another way to incorporate some greenery into your wedding is by creating name tags for each seat and attaching little wedding bouquets and seasonal jokes to them. This can be a great way of getting your guests involved in the wedding and spreading around a little holiday cheer.
Centrepieces
Creating centrepieces for your table can create a beautiful effect and make your venue feel better put together. In order to allow your guests to chat across the table, it can be wise to keep your centrepieces relatively small so they don’t block the view of the rest of the participants.
Other decorations such as candles can be used to great effect on your tables creating a nice warm glow. Small tea lights placed artfully across the tables can look wonderful – but make sure any hanging decorations or foliage will be well away from them. If you have a venue with a sensitive fire alarm you may need to use imitation candles instead of real ones – nothing spoils the atmosphere like a fire alarm!
If you are interested in booking a winter wedding with One Warwick Park, please contact us here. Our function rooms are available for your big day. Our staff will be happy to give you a tour and help you organise a wedding to remember.
