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I am literally counting down the days until my wedding. I know that it is going to be the best day and I cannot wait! But, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little (very) concerned about having a winter wedding.
As most girls do, I've been picturing my wedding day for as long as I can remember. That picture has changed with time, but it has always included all things bright and colorful. I always assumed my bridesmaids would wear pink, the guys would be in seersucker, and there would be pops of yellows and green all around and gorgeous outdoor scenery. This all still sounds like my ideal wedding, except that now I'm getting married in February. There is no colorful outdoor scenery in February. There are no bright shades of yellow in February. And there is certainly no wearing seersucker in February.
(Almost) every decision I make is very well thought out, and very intentional, and our wedding date was no exception. He proposed in November of last year, and we knew it would take at least one year to plan. We also knew that with the bar exam this summer, the months of June and July were essentially non-existent when it came to all of the checklist items. Football season also played a large part in pushing the date past the fall, and by then, I honestly knew I'd be too impatient to wait around all the way until next summer. I mean y'all, if I could have gotten married this February I probably would have. All of this to say, we chose February, but as I am getting deeper into the planning process, it is harder and harder for me to envision exactly what a February wedding is supposed to look like.
I know, I know, Pinterest is where I should be looking. But let me tell you, it is very difficult to find inspiration for a "Winter Wedding" that does not revolve around poinsettias and snowflakes. I am a warm-weather, bright-color kind of girl. There is absolutely nothing appealing to me about a snowflake motif. Although, I will say, some of the pictures of weddings I have seen in the snow are gorgeous. Like so much so, that I kind of want it to snow on my wedding day (I'm sure I'll be regretting this if we end up with another winter we had like last year). But honestly, if I'm going to endue the cold, I think at the least I deserve the pictures to prove it, right?
Obviously at this point the date is set, and by obviously, I mean we have the church and reception venue booked, so we're pretty set on the date. And y'all, I am doing my darndest to reimagine my ideal wedding, but it. is. hard. I always imagined pretty pinks and yellows, short dresses, and warm sunshine. I am now trying to imagine long flowing navy dresses, shades of green, and snow on the ground. I used to consider if I would provide guests with sunglasses, now I'm considering blankets. I used to think that fur stoles were just hmm . . . not something I was interested in, and now, I think maybe it is the only way I will stay warm, and perhaps they are actually really nice. I'm working on it. I literally have a Pinterest board called "Embracing the Cold." It will be the best day of my life, and it will be beautiful, I just don't know what it is going to look like. Yet.
How did you choose your wedding date? Was it convenient, did you want to wait until the venue was available?
Have a great day, y'all!
As a recent bride, don't worry about the timing of your wedding because it will be great no matter what! As a summer bride, I wish it wouldn't have been in the summer. It was crazy hot and there was a tornado right by the outdoor venue. You can choose whatever colors you want for your wedding, make it personalized and make it you!
ReplyDeleteI am definitely glad it won't be extremely hot! My fiance (and most of his groomsmen) were college football players - read: very tall and sweat easily - so the cooler temperatures will definitely be better in that aspect!
DeleteI'm getting married in November, and we picked the date for several reasons. We live in Florida and wanted to wait for the summer heat to subside a little, so we wanted to get married in the Fall. We also didn't want to be super rushed or get stressed. We ended up with about a 9 month engagement and it has been perfect! We got the big decisions out of the way in the first couple months and then I had a long time to work on DIY's and other details. Now it's getting close and I have a lot to get done, but I know I have plenty of time still.
ReplyDeleteThat's how its been so far! I got the date, ceremony location, and venue location knocked out first thing and then have been able to enjoy the other aspects a little more with less pressure!
DeleteWe are getting married on our anniversary of when we started dating and on "Sweetest Day" a holiday originating in my fiance's hometown of Cleveland, OH. One of my best friends from high school got married in February a couple years ago and it was beautiful. She has photos with her in a fur shawl and she looks so glamours. You can still incorporate soft pinks in your flowers and there is some greenery that has a "frosted" look to it that would be so pretty! The most important thing is to still make this wedding "you" even if it's not in your ideal season. If I see some inspiring pins I'll send them your way :)
ReplyDeleteI literally pinned about eight different fur shawls and stoles last night! I think part of my anxiety over it all is that I just really don't like being cold, I mean I know most people don't, but I'm the person that would MUCH rather be sweating everywhere, rather than shivering, so my goal now is to figure out how to stay warm and the look (and feel!) of using some kind of fur to keep me warm is really starting to grow on me!
DeleteHaving only gotten married two months ago I can tell you that once the day arrives, it will be PERFECT no matter what. I chose our date based on convenience-- I had to make sure I had enough time to give notice in my job and the biggest thing for me was I wanted to make sure that I paid every big bill I had before marrying my husband in case I couldn't find a job right away. I did not want to bring any debts from my single life into my married life. He wanted to get married within six months of proposing. But once I explained my thought process he appreciated it and we decided on a year and half later. And it worked really good.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing-- I think focusing on the things that are special about winter may make it easier. I remember looking through Style Me Pretty and Little Green Shoes wedding site and there were ton of winter wedding ideas. I look forward to seeing how all of this comes up!
Thank you for those encouraging words! I will definitely check out those websites. With in the last couple of weeks I have made the conscious effort to re-imagine a winter wedding and with each day I am more and more excited!
DeleteIt's so hard and almost impossible to find the perfect time to have your wedding. We picked July 16th for a few reasons. I had various close family members telling me that anything before 4th of July would be hard for them to take off (since they are business owners), so that excluded June. I knew I didn't want to do it any earlier than that because Chicago is really only nice a few months out of the year. July seemed like the perfect middle ground because schools are already out, and it's well enough away from 4th of July weekend. I'm sure your wedding will be fantastic and you'll think up the perfect way to make it "yours" even if it isn't entirely what you wanted.
ReplyDeleteIn my short time planning my own wedding and helping my friends plan theirs, I've come to realize you just have to let some things go and compromise. Good luck and thanks for linking up!
I'm echoing some other commenters when I say that your wedding will be gorgeous no matter when you have it. I always had my heart set on a spring wedding with lots of tulips and sunshine, but then I actually met my husband and realized his military career was not conducive to a spring wedding because of his deployment schedule.
ReplyDeleteSo I decided on the next best thing: the day before my birthday. :) When we got engaged, I knew I didn't want to wait another entire year (or more) to get married so we sped up the planning process and got married 4-ish months later in November. It was perfect. I got to have my colors (orange and navy) and tulips as my bouquet, even though they were out of season. Looking back, I wouldn't have wanted anything other than a fall wedding. You will totally feel the same way about your winter wedding!
I think for February you could pull off Spring colors and themes. Everyone will be over Winter by then anyway, and will be looking forward to Spring, so maybe bring it a little early. Go with the pinks and bright Spring-like colors and incorporate some greenery into your decor. I think you guests might appreciate it. Just my 2 cents. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
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