With autumn upon us and the nights drawing in, summer weddings are over for another year. You may, indeed, be putting the final touches to a winter wedding or in the throws of organising one. Perhaps you are planning ahead for a winter wedding next year or even attending one yourself this year. We share our tips and advice for planning a Warwickshire winter wedding.

Choosing a date

While it is your big day, you do want as many of your guests as possible to share in the event. Consider that people’s diaries will be extremely busy at this time of year with office parties, Christmas concerts and other family commitments. Perhaps ask your key guests if they can make the date before you set anything in stone.

Do you have a weather plan?

Perhaps your biggest consideration should be the weather. If you are getting married in winter it could be raining, snowing, icy, freezing cold, windy…

You need to think about your dress and the suits, as well as those of the bridesmaid and groomsmen. What will you do if it rains? Photographs in the rain won’t be very enjoyable and you certainly don’t want to be hanging around in the rain with your hair and make-up getting wet.

Provide umbrellas

Make sure your guests have umbrellas – especially if they are expected to move from venue to venue. You can either add this to the invitation or provide umbrellas for them.

One venue for the entire wedding

It is worth considering an indoor venue where you can hold both the ceremony and the reception. This way you won’t need to worry about your guests getting wet transferring from a church to a reception for example.

Consider your outfits carefully

Rain will also be a significant factor in the materials you choose – a white dress with a train is going to get wet and dirty. Suits made of certain materials may spoil or get watermarked. For a winter wedding, you may choose a shorter dress, a different colour or even a venue where you can go from hotel room to ceremony to reception without venturing outdoors.

The Venue

When choosing the right venue for Warwickshire winter wedding, there are a number of factors that you need to think about.

Lighting at night

When choosing a winter venue, you need to think about what it looks like at night. You really want something with good lighting that looks pretty in the dark. The venue will probably have a plan for winter weddings that takes account of all this.

Is it warm?

Is the venue well heated and ventilated? You want to offer a warm environment for your guests and not a cold barn or marquee. Conversely, you don’t want a venue that is too hot and stuffy. Most venues will be able to keep a room at a temperate level.

Christmas decorations

If you are planning a Christmas wedding, do the decorations of the venue match the theme of your wedding? If not, are the venue happy to swap them out for something that does match with you? It might be that the venue are used to dealing with this and have several colours or even that they go for something neutral throughout the festive season.

If you are attending a wedding

If you have been invited to a winter wedding, it is worth considering your choice of outfit very carefully. Be mindful of the following:

Warmth

If you are going to be standing around outside for photos, you need to ensure that you are going to be warm. Ladies, if you have chosen a dress, do you need to wear tights with the dress? Is it a lightweight dress? Will you need a jacket or even a coat?

Layers are a good option! You don’t want to be freezing one minute and sweating buckets on the dance floor the next.

Gents, Consider the suit you are going to wear – if you choose a thicker material, you may find it too warm in the evening. Again, consider layers – shirt, jacket, overcoat – if you wear layers, it is easy to dress accordingly.

Material / Colour

Ever been outside in a suit in the rain only to discover that the rain drops leave watermarks on the material you are wearing? If you haven’t then this may not even enter your head but trust us – certain materials and colours will show the rain and it may not completely dry out.

If you are wearing wool, you certainly don’t want to get wet. One, it emits a certain smell and two, it can ruin the material if it gets wet. Choose a material that isn’t going to show the rain or spoil. If you are attending a wedding in a country venue, consider that you might also get mud splatter up your trousers. When it comes to choosing suits for a Warwickshire winter wedding, we have much experience in this area and can offer advice on the best colours and materials.

Choose darker colours

Ladies – light colours, tempting as they are, can get splattered with mud etc. There are also certain material that don’t stand up well in the rain. You don’t want to be see through!

If you are staying at a venue overnight, it may be worth planning two outfits so that you can change if necessary.

Footwear

Is the wedding in the country? Are you likely to get dirty feet – white shoes may not be the answer but you can make your look glamorous with a nice pair of heeled boots. Gents, darker shoes are definitely wise for a winter wedding.

There is something so charming about winter weddings and, with a little planning, the weather needn’t ruin the big day. You just need to plan accordingly for all eventualities.