WINTER WEDDING DECORATION 

Decorating for Indoor Winter Wedding

 When decorating for an indoor wedding you will be using the same elements as brides use to decorate for summer weddings, but you will be trying to create an entirely different feeling. Using fabrics, candles, flowers, and other accessories you will be trying to bring your theme to life and create a feeling of coziness and warmth for your guests. If you want to play up the winter feeling to go with your wedding theme, like if you are having a Jack Frost/Fairy theme wedding, use lots of crystal on the tables to decorate, place snow globes and colored Victorian gazing balls all around the room and use mirrors to play up the reflective qualities of the crystal. Here are a few tips for decorating the church and the wedding hall or reception hall for an indoor winter wedding.

Everyone appreciates a hot beverage. Adding a “hot beverage bar” in a corner of the room with cookies and chocolates, along with a selection of gourmet coffee, tea, and hot cocoas along with a hot water dispenser is a great way to let the guests warm themselves up on a cold day and will add a lot of warmth and charm to any space. Put out some personalized keepsake mugs the guests can take home as wedding favors. A “hot beverage bar” doesn’t have to be fancy; it can be as simple as a folding table decorated with a nice tablecloth, with treats placed on crystal dishes, mugs laid out, baskets holding teas and hot cocoa packets, a large coffee urn and a large urn of hot water. Make sure one of the catering staff or a friend keeps an eye on the urns to make sure they’re full at all times.

Use the season for decorating inspiration

If the wedding is being held at Christmas, decorate with wreaths, tinsel, brightly wrapped packages, stockings, and a Christmas tree. If the wedding is being held near Valentine’s Day, decorate with red and pink hearts, Victorian valentines, and lots of red and pink silk bunting. If the wedding is being held on New Year’s Eve, use champagne bottles, baskets of noise makers, top hats, and paper streamers to decorate the room.

Decorations in the church or wedding hall should usually be kept to a minimum. There may be special requirements about decorating in a church so be sure to check with your church before decorating. In the reception hall, anything goes! Use the reception hall to create a space that is happy, welcoming, and fits with your theme. Remember that you don’t need to spend a fortune on decorations, especially if you use seasonal plants and decorations. Have a decorating party about a month before the wedding and ask your girlfriends to help you assemble decorations or get their ideas on how to decorate the hall if you’re stumped. Remember to order personalized labels, flowers, or other items that need to be ordered well in advance so that they will definitely arrive in time for the wedding.

Decorating For Outdoor Winter Wedding

  Decorating for an outdoor winter wedding in some ways is easier than decorating for an indoor winter wedding but in some ways is more difficult. The key to decorating for an outdoor winter wedding is to work with the natural surroundings. If you’re getting married in a clearing in a forest, mark off the bridal area by large swaths of satin in the bridal colors from the trees to make a square space. Have your bridesmaids make wreaths trimmed with festive ribbons, hang bows or mistletoe in the trees, cover the chairs or benches with lovely rich fabrics for the guests to sit on, and line the path the bride and her attendants will walk along with a piece of carpet or with a piece of fabric.

A long piece of red indoor/outdoor carpet cut to fit the space can add a lot of color to the space and give the bride and her attendants a safe, dry path to walk along. Don’t use candles outdoors, but consider using some battery operated or generator operated outdoor heaters if the day is cold. If you’re going to use candles outside make sure the candles are in jars or use hurricane lamps to protect the flames from the wind and the elements. There are many creative ways to make an outdoor winter wedding a truly magical experience.

Tips on Decorating

Here are some things you should remember when you’re deciding on decorations for an outdoor wedding.

Wet snow or rain and paper don’t mix

If you are having an outdoor wedding, don’t use paper decorations like paper flowers, streamers, or banners. If it rains or snows, they will turn into one huge mushy mess that your party will have to clean up. When decorating outdoors, a little goes a long way so don’t get fussy about the decorations and remember that not everything that is appropriate for indoor decorating works for outdoors.

Watch anything with an open flame carefully

Not only can candles easily go out in the outdoors, but the flames could become a problem if the candles are too close to dry brush, grass, or tree branches. If there is a lot of snow and the ground is wet or frozen it might not be a problem but if there is any dry grass, brush, or other flammable material nearby, even fabric that has been hung as a decoration, be very, very careful about where you put candles or lamps with flames.

An outdoor winter wedding can be stunningly beautiful, but remember that beauty should come mostly from the natural winter landscape. Enjoy the natural scenery and keep the decorations to a minimum to make the wedding less stressful and more beautiful.