Seasonal Wedding Tips

Pre-decorated church

Christmas Tree Kiss

The holidays are approaching and now is a GREAT time of year to get married.  Not only do most religious venues and public spaces have holiday decorations up, but a there is a chance that many of your family members will have extra days off work so you could potentially save money by having your wedding on a less popular day of the week, such as a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.  The prominence of greenery and decorations in churches and public areas means that you won't have to spend money on ceremony decoration, and could quite possibly save on reception decor as well! Seriously, how amazingly romantic are pictures of newlyweds kissing in front of a softly lit pine tree!?

If you are lucky enough to live in an area that gets snow in December it is almost guaranteed that your pictures will have a magical winter background! Your accessories and bridal party colors will absolutely pop against the glistening, white background of snow. It might be a little bit cold during the pictures but I think the end results are totally worth it!

Snowy Wedding Backdrop

A few more ideas to consider when planning for a holiday wedding is that it does get dark earlier in November and December, so it may be a good idea to have an early afternoon wedding in order to have the best light for any outdoor photography.  With an earlier wedding you could also potentially save money by having a lighter reception with an array of hors d'oevres and drinks instead of  full sit down meal.  Of course you would want to provide enough food so that your guests aren't starving by the end, but serving several types of appetizers also keeps the mood of the reception light and festive.

Hopefully this inspired some of you seasonal brides-to-be and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, whatever you may celebrate!

Weekly Wedding #2- Blue Christmas/Winter Wonderland

My apologies for the long delay since my last weekly wedding post.  I've been under the weather and miserable in the nearly 100 degree weather.  Anyways, I'm ready to jump back into fantasy wedding planning with a cool blue and silver winter wedding.  I want this wedding to be elegant and timeless, but also simple and understated.  No huge princess ballgowns here, just classic beauty that takes inspiration from ice and snow in the outdoor landscape.  

DB Galina Signature $700

I love the one shoulder design of this dress! It's more unique than the run of the mill strapless wedding dresses (nothing against strapless, I wore one for my wedding, I just wanted a more unique look here).  The fabric of this dress looks elegant and the hint of sparkle is perfect for the winter wonderland inspiration.  I would pair this dress with some simple but elegant crystal jewelry, a polished low updo, and blue shoes to match the blue of her bouquet and bridesmaids dresses.   

Satin Empire with Illusion Halter DB $130

Once again, I think a mixture of bridesmaids dresses in different styles but the same color and fabric looks more natural and stylish than having each woman in the same dress.  It allows each bridesmaid to find a dress that fits her the best and I think will end up looking less "dated" in photographs.  

Strapless Side Ruched $150

Satin Cowl Neck $140

Each bridesmaid would wear simple crystal jewelry and silver shoes.  To add a bit of continuity throughout the wedding party, all the bridesmaids could wear matching jewelry and shoes.  These dresses are all from the same line at David's Bridal in satin and the color is marine.  

Bridal Party Shoes $46

Strapless Satin DB $100

Satin V-Neck $80

   For music, a local university string quartet would provide a beautiful ambiance for  a reasonable price, and would play an array of classical pieces for the prelude, ceremony, cocktail hour.  The bridal party bouquets would be a small to medium sized bundle of blue and white flowers, while the bride herself would have a slightly larger and more complex bouquet interspersed with glittering brooches.  

* I realize that the spacing on this post is weird, and I apologize for that.  I may try doing picture collages instead of the individual item pictures in the future, and then just list the links separately.  For the sake of saving space, check out the rest of my ideas for this wedding at http://pinterest.com/elwoodme/weekly-wedding-2/ .  As always, any links provided are for your information only and are not part of any affiliate program.  Hope you enjoyed this post and the ideas as much as I did, and please comment and let me know what wedding theme you want to see on future weekly wedding posts!