Recently we looked at the beautiful possibilities presented by a wedding with a white theme (White Weddings That Are Hot, November 10, 2009). This week we’re going to look at a different kind of white wedding: one that happens when it’s snowing outside.

Winter Wedding Wonderland

A snowy setting can be a winter wonderland but it also presents it’s own challenges. For example, it’s cold out and we want the beautiful b-r-r-r-r-r-r-bride to look gorgeous (and comfortable) in the photos.

What to Wear

Winter Wedding Photography Tips is an article that offers some expert advice (it looks like they are based out of Utah so they know what they are talking about). They advise you to bring a cape or jacket to keep warm between shots, bring hand warmers, wear warm leggings under your dress, and that you can wear boots in the snow because your dress will hide them!

Light Up The Night

An evening wedding in a snowy setting give you an opportunity to shine. Select a venue with floor to ceiling windows looking out on to a park. Decorate the outdoors with hundreds of tiny white lights and stage your entrance for maximum effect.

Arrive in a horse and carriage.

www.whisperingpinesranchandcarriage.com

An outdoor arrival also allows you and your wedding party the exciting opportunity to dress for the occasion! Check out this stunning floor length fur cape.

romanticgowns.com

silkandsable.com

Bring the Outdoors Inside

Run a luxurious white carpet down the church aisle and decorate the aisle seating with white feathers that will evoke fluffy snow. Make sure you have an ice sculpture at your reception, of course – or, go all out and get an ice bar!

Some Cool Examples

Most importantly, no matter what the season, your wedding should also be FUN for it to be a success. Here are some examples of beautiful weddings that don’t take themselves too seriously.

Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa Michigan – the bride wears a white coat over her dress and the children in the wedding party wear black bottoms with white winter coats. The snow (and the exercise!) accentuate her rosy cheeks, making her a true blushing bride. From the footage it seems like the wedding manages to be fun and beautiful at the same time.

Another fun example from Sun Peaks resort in British Columbia Canada. The wedding took place at a cute mountain chapel on clear, sunny winter day. The flower girl leaves petals along the snow path in vibrant colors. The bridesmaids wear dresses with cute winter boots. The father of the bride looks cool as can be in sunglasses to shield his eyes from the sun bouncing off the snow (or to hide his tears if he get misty!). Check out the end when the bride casually snowboards down the slopes in her dress!

Baby, it’s cold outside…

You can really heat things up when the temperature outside is cool – it’s all about contrasts. Imagine a white wedding…

White Church

This historic white church, built in 1822, is set high on a hill in Blandford, Massachusetts. It is available for weddings (thewhitechurch.org). Consider a white carpet down the aisle, white flowers, and white fabric (tulle?) draped every where…

Or, scatter white petals outside the church and along the aisle. Or, use red petals and then have the flower girl add white petals when she walks down the aisle.

White Linens

www.vitaintl.com

As an added bonus, white linens are readily available from party rental companies (and are often less expensive than specialty colours). Your venue may even include white table cloths and other linens in the rental cost. Also, white dishes are now intentional and not just the every day plates used at every other event…

White Wedding Cake

www.sweetart.co.uk/

If your wedding cake is going to be completely white, it can be ornately decorated without seeming over-the-top. Consider textures, flowers, designs…

White Flowers

You can make a white bouquet interesting by using several different flowers – you have a wide selection to choose from. Consider: roses, lilies, and gerber daisies together, for example.

White Carriage

www.whisperingpinesranchandcarriage.com

…drawn by white horses of course! Another option: use white cars and decorate them with white flowers.

RED DRESS

The Bride is supposed to be the centre of attention, right?

Now the wedding day is really all about you!

Note the white fingernails – a french manicure or something equally subtle is appropriate when you are wearing a red dress to your own wedding. Simple jewelry is also best – avoid white pearls or any other colour. Diamonds or red stones work well.

Make sure you have the personality to pull this off, not everyone should wear a red wedding dress! This is for confident, scene-stealers only!

For the very brave: Ask all of your guests to wear either black or white only so that you really light up your special day.

All flowers have meanings ascribed to them, and tulips mean both ‘love’ and ‘passion’, so they are perfect wedding flowers. While tulips are available year round -to many people, tulips also mean that it’s springtime because that’s when they see tulips pop up in their own gardens.

Tulips come in a wide variety of colors, so your options for wedding colors are huge. Select a color that will match your wedding color, or one that will complement it.

White Can Be Just Right

Or, transform tulips to elegant romance by sticking with pure white. You can save money by ordering your wedding flowers directly from a wholesaler, like the flowerexchange.com. This is a great idea if you have a family member or friend who is skilled at floral arrangements. Not that lucky? You can still order in lots of flowers and stick to very simple arrangements. A large quantity of white tulips will fill the room and compensate for less fancy decor. In fact, it will look like you did it on purpose!

This rectangle vase from Ikea is only $1.99. Buy 100 of them and place them in groups on each table, and every where else you can think of (line the hallways, put them on the bathroom counters, place them between the food, by the guest book, etc).

Bright Wedding Idea: Colors Colors Colors!

The good news here is that if you are going with colorful tulips as a theme for your wedding, you can find Easter decorations for sale and save some money! This will work particularly well if you can shop a year in advance and pick up all of the sale items after Easter-time.

Tulip Cocktail Napkins

These napkins are from Crate & Barrel and are so elegant yet fun, that they could inspire the look of your whole wedding (colors, style). It will be our little secret.

High Contrast

This wild and crazy arrangement from The Flower Pot would be perfect for a down to earth yet fun bride. The arrangement is colorful and the colors will contrast wonderfully against a white wedding dress. I love how the tulip leaves become part of the arrangement.