Zev Fisher Photography
Winter weddings can be warm and cozy, or they can be elegantly cool. Winter wedding ideas vary from settings that bring to mind the wistful beauty of the landscape in the Swiss Alps to the comforting aura of a cabin warmed by a fire and surrounded by tall pines.
Winter wedding decoration ideas can also take inspiration from icy tones and the beauty of neutral surroundings that lend an elegance and sophistication to the ceremony and reception. In short, planning a winter wedding should be little different from the planning required for a celebration in any other season.
Left: Hello Darling| Right: Jessica Strickland Photography | Mon Amie Events
Logistically, there might be some additional concerns due to weather, but nature can also wreak havoc on summer plans with a quick rain shower or a sandstorm. So, if your heart is set on a winter wedding, whether during the busy Holidays in November and December or plan it as a romantic event on or close to Valentines Day, approach the special day with high expectations.
Winter Wonderland Themed Wedding
Beautiful Day Photography | Kristin Banta Events
For areas of the country where wintery weather is a given, if snow is the expectation on your wedding day why not celebrate it? Play up the appeal of an ethereal, neutral environment. Create a forest of leafless white birch, and freely mix fur throws with natural antlers, twigs and silvery accents for a winter wonderland wedding.
Top Left & Bottom Right: Zev Fisher Photography | Top Right: Beautiful Day Photography – Kristin Banta Events | Bottom Left: Jessica Strickland Photography | Mon Amie Events
Greyed silvery patterned linen along with shimmering napkins set tables aglow with warmth reflected from glowing candles. Silver-rimmed china, grey-green accents and pale ivory blooms enhance the setting, and it all seems perfectly coordinated but not the least contrived. We love the simplicity of this gorgeous and sophisticated theme.
Add Vintage Accents to Winter Wedding Tables
Beautiful Day Photography – Kristin Banta Events
There’s always a palpable sense of style when weddings use vintage accessories combined with unexpected details to express a theme. Here, for a wedding at an striking, slightly rustic stone-sided lodge, the use of pristine white linen with touches of rustic burlap adds just the right zest. The color scheme celebrates the season in the perfect way.
Top & Bottom Right: Zev Fisher Photography | Bottom Left: Beautiful Day Photography – Kristin Banta Events
Playing on the energy created by combining rustic with elegant, the event planner chose classic white table linen topped with golden burlap runners and used deep forest green napkins with traditional floral bouquets for winter wedding centerpieces. White painted chairs contrast nicely with wood paneled walls, candles light the scene and set a cozy mood. Family photographs add personal appeal, and playful pussy willows highlight the traditional ice blue program cards.
Top & Bottom Right: Carina Skrobecki Photography – Flora Nova Design | Bottom Left: Beautiful Day Photography – Kristin Banta Events
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The Warm Appeal of Gold and Greenery
The Party Store | Carrie Ann Photography
No matter what the outside weather, warm up your winter decor with heavier materials, sturdy shapes, glowing golden accents, a bit of bright color. Oversized, extravagant clusters of greenery and natural accents — even bare branches, bits of bark or pine garlands are the perfect accents. Use floral displays with abandon, and be sure to include lots of candles for their warm rich glow.
Top Left: Exquisite Designs – Todd James Photography – LK Events | Top Right & Bottom: Front Room Photography
Saturated tones for table linen are perfect for winter weddings, but you don’t have to stick with traditional Christmas reds or greens. The golden hues of burlap are appropriate for that outdoorsy feeling. Cobalt blue or navy combined with white could be either edgy or sophisticated, and charcoal fading to silvery grey would be a welcome departure from the familiar. Use your imagination to create other marvelous schemes.
Beautiful Day Photography – Kristin Banta Events
Pick Black for a Winter Themed Wedding
Carina Skrobecki Photography | Flora Nova Design
A simple scheme of black and gold may not be the expected choice for a winter wedding, but just look at the impact this darkly exciting mood-maker imparts for a truly spectacular reception. Take your cue from this black and white gala, and transport your wedding guests to a place of luxury by using tuxedo stripe linen table coverings, unexpected black and white napkins and multiple layers of gold for maximum impact. It’s formal to be sure, exciting and dazzling.
Top Left: Hello Darling| Top Right: Jessica Strickland Photography – Mon Amie Events| Bottom: Beautiful Day Photography – Kristin Banta Events
Intrigue is provided by the brilliant centerpieces of white carnations, along with pink and yellow roses. This is not your ordinary wedding decor, but it’s certainly an attention getter! With a winter wedding reception setting this beautiful, who could care what the outside weather might be!
Grey Is the New Neutral for Winter Wedding Reception Decorations
Left: Front Room Photography | Right: Beautiful Day Photography – Kristin Banta Events
We are seeing grey everywhere — from a new focus on silvery grey for attendants’ gowns and tuxedos to grey velvet and damask for table linen. Silver is trending as well for china and accent pieces. Combined in various ways, with or without additional color, this is a new direction for winter weddings, and one that we believe is going to be around for a while. The reason? It’s easy and has a classic vibe.
Top & Bottom Right: Carina Skrobecki Photography – Flora Nova Design | Bottom Left: Zev Fisher Photography
Grey has a lot of different personalities — from innocent and barely there to dark and stormy. It holds its own with other hues, “plays well” with other neutrals, including palest beige and ivory for a cultured and expensive look, complements the whole range of blues, pops when paired with bright yellow or peony pink, and softens the effect of red or orange. There’s nothing we don’t love about it. Even though wintry winds may blow outside, a mixed of grey with gold and sequins, and highlighted by greenery, the tone forms a warm cocoon for this high-rise wedding reception.
Exquisite Designs – Todd James Photography – LK Events
Winter Wedding Decorations
Top: Fluted Mushroom Catering Co. – Amy Hosking | Bottom Left: Carina Skrobecki Photography – Flora Nova Design | Bottom Right: Zev Fisher Photography
While winter wedding table decorations may not be any more important at winter weddings than during any other season, there is a tendency to go bigger and bolder with centerpieces, and to add more candles and sparkle during the cooler months. It may be an unconscious way to add warmth to the design, or an acknowledgement that snow-covered landscapes are a bit lacking in color and “life.”
Top: Jessica Strickland Photography – Mon Amie Events | Bottom: Exquisite Designs – Todd James Photography – LK Events
Whatever the reason, pay special attention your choice of color schemes, themes and accent pieces for winter weddings. Here are some helpful hints for pleasing combinations. As counter intuitive as it might seem, winter is the time to consider a subdued color scheme rather than a vibrant one; it is also the time to celebrate nature by incorporating the “castoffs” of the natural world — seeds, pine cones, bark and nuts.
Left: The Party Store | Carrie Ann Photography | Right: Carretto Studio Photography
While some winter-blooming flowers, like poinsettias, are brilliant, the most popular winter floral arrangement are softer and less ostentatious. Use greenery with abandon in the winter, from pine and fir boughs, wreaths and topiaries, to pots of holly or sprigs of herbs.
Follow an individual path to create the winter wedding tablescape that corresponds with your vision, and remember that BBJ Linen has a full line of products to make any setting extraordinary.