Winter Wedding Tips

Winter weddings in the UK can be magical but they take some extra planning. You'll need to consider the weather, the indoor space your venue has, the lighting as it gets dark very early, outfits that will keep you warm, decor and more. Let's take a closer look into these points to help you plan your winter wedding.

Venue

One of the most important things is making sure you choose a venue with lots of indoor space incase it rains all day or even snows. You don't want to be stressed about the weather so having different spaces inside for your ceremony, drinks reception and wedding breakfast is important. It's also worth thinking about heating and lighting, a working farm barn may not have heating so make sure you ask them. When the sun sets you don't want your guests in the dark so see what lighting your venue has for the evening or if you'll need to hire some. Before booking make sure you view your venue during the time of year you want to book it for so you can see what it will look like, venues often change the decor with the seasons and any grass, flowers or tress will change. Another thing to think of is confetti, you should ask your venue if they allow confetti inside just in case it's raining outside after your ceremony.

Ceremony Time

It's not something you may think of but in the winter in the UK the days are short and the sun sets around 4-4.30pm. This means if you have a 2pm ceremony and it lasts 30 minutes you will only have an hour or two of light left for photos of confetti, group shots, candids of guests, and couple portraits. That's not a lot of time to squeeze it all into so I would suggest having an earlier ceremony time of 12 or 1 PM. If you do decide to have a late ceremony why not do a first look with your partner before the ceremony? This will give you more time for portraits together whilst it's light out and you could even get some groups shots as well.

Outfits

Wedding dresses aren't the warmest so if you're planning on being outside make sure you have a jacket or a coat to keep warm. Remember you don't have to wear a dress, you could also wear a jumpsuit or a suit. Stiletto heels can sink on wet grass so think about opting for a block heel or flat shoe. The groom may want to wear a thicker material suit, a smart coat or a scarf to keep warm.

Umbrellas

If you want some photos outside or if you are travelling between venues then make sure you have umbrellas. If the umbrella will be in your photos you could buy a white or clear umbrella so it doesn't ruin your lovely photos. If there's no space inside for group shots then get enough umbrellas to cover your groups. If it's not raining heavily you could just embrace the weather and go outside with no umbrellas, your dress may get a little bit wet but it will be worth it!

Here are some links to umbrellas: Clear Dome Umbrella, White Umbrella, Budget Umbrella

Embrace the season

If you're having a winter wedding why not go all out? Serve mulled wine at your drinks reception, have blankets for the evening, marshmallows for roasting on the fire pit, fairy lights, sparklers, christmassy decor or a hot chocolate station. You could use a winter colour scheme for your flowers, decor and suits like dark greens, deep reds, burgundy, or navy etc.