Hello!
I’m here again with another Q&A. I record these via Instagram and Facebook and transcribe them later into blog posts. If you want to catch the replay on Facebook you can watch it here.
Q&A with Amanda – How to Have the Best, Cosies Winter Wedding
Winter weddings are wonderful, but like any wedding, they come with their own challenges. They can be really magical, wonderful; think fluffy snowflakes and cosy blankets. BUT most of the time it’s hella cold and that comes with a lot of very specific set of weather-related challenges.
Here are my notes on How to Have the Best, Cosies Winter Wedding.
Kassandra Donaldson Photography
Don’t make your bridesmaids wear short dresses.
I don’t feel like I really need to say more here. It’s cold in winter, be good to them. And also, in your regular life do you wear a short dress in -40C? Likely not, so it will feel really out of place if they do. Just like a ballgown dress for you – the bride – will look weird in a barn so will short dresses on your bridesmaids.
Please take care of your wedding party. Have hot chocolate, tea, whatever you need to keep them warm and happy during the day. This doesn’t take a lot of extra effort; you can even call Tim Horton’s and get a coffee travel pack.
Be kind to your feet, wear boots.
Don’t think you’re going to wear heels or open-toe shoes outside and be happy. Get yourself some fun boots and hide them under your dress. Trust me, you’ll be happier. You can have fun shots with them if you want, or you can just hide them under there and pretend you have cute dainty footwear.
Have something you can change in and out of for when you’re inside for the ceremony and reception. That’s where the cute heels come and have their moment.
Live flowers and -40C don’t mix.
If you plan to do any photos at all outside with live flowers they will die almost right away. They might freeze and look fine for the photos but as soon as you bring them back inside they’ll be brown and look a bit freezer-burnt.
If you really want to have your photos outside consider doing this after you’ve used them for the ceremony and other photos (or get a second bouquet if you’re really keen).
Random weather will happen, plan for it.
October isn’t a winter month but with climate change and this being Manitoba you just don’t know what you’re going to get. This year we had that freak snowstorm and I heard many stories of tent weddings and outdoor ceremonies needing to regroup and replan.
Never put yourself in that situation. Plan ahead, plan with the worst weather in mind. That way anything better is a cherry on top.
And please, please, don’t have a late October – end of May tent wedding. You will 90% of the time not have good weather (100% of the time November – April) and don’t even consider putting your guests through that. This should be a celebration, not a day where no one can get the chill out of them.
Kassandra Donaldson Photography
Ok, so I’ve talked about the things you need to plan for but now let’s talk about the pros or the wonderful things that are great about winter weddings.
Some venues and vendors have promos or winter discounts.
These would be vendors like the venue, linen company, some photographers, etc. You’re welcome to ask your vendors but know that there are some vendors that never can offer discounts like florists, hairstyles and, makeup artists. They already have such tight margins so know and respect that (and we all want to make a living, pay our bills, go on holidays from time to time, you know, normal life stuff).
Side note (10:40 minutes into the video): As Wedding Planners, we always have a pretty epic emergency kit and prepare differently season to season. For winter we keep lots of blankets, boots, pocket warmer packs and, umbrellas in the trunk. You never know what you’ll need and we like to be extra prepared.
Kassandra Donaldson Photography
It can be magical in the snow.
Talk to your photographer on how this will look and when you can sneak out when it starts to snow. We’ve had many weddings where the radar was showing fluffy snow coming and we wanted “that moment” so we kept an eye every few minutes (literally going to the window or popping outside to take a look). It turned out so well but you have to be able to have the flexibility to jump outside at any moment (100% worth it!).
Use winter as a theme, sort of.
You don’t have to go all winter-themed, but I’m talking about making it cosy for your guests. Have a photo station with blankets. Have a cocoa station. Have a S’more station (it’s the funniest surprise to have in the middle of winter).
When thinking colours go with rich tones. You can go with dark colours like emerald, marsala, plum or you can keep it warm in golds, whites, greens, and lots of candlelight.
We hope you’re planning is going well! We’ve put together a few more blog posts all about winter weddings you can find here and here.
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