Getting married in the spring or summer was a no-brainer for me. Inspired by the US blogs I have always envisioned a wedding with lots of sunshine, beautiful countryside views, festoon lighting and colour galore… which is exactly the kind of wedding I’m in the throes of planning right now (ahem- we’re keeping our fingers crossed for the sunshine). Having said that, there is something incredibly magical about having a winter wedding, and as I start to think about getting my house ready for Christmas (the tree is going up on Friday, we seem to be behind the rest of the country), I’ve also been thinking about what our wedding would be like if it was taking place around now…
THE VENUE
The first thing to change would be the venue. When I went to view The Great Barn in January this year it was in a bit of a sorry state. The orchard was sparse and bare, the barn itself utterly freezing, and it’s location in the middle of nowhere was really pretty bleak. To me, as I looked around the empty space (teeth chattering), I envisaged colour and life and a warm, sunny day, and indeed when I went back in May it was a completely different place.
No, for a winter wedding, I would put myself in a building a little more structurally sound and suited to the winter months. I see stone walls and log fires. Candlelight in every nook and cranny and a place that guests would enter and immediately feel warm, both inside and out! I’m gonna put it out there, I’d have my winter wedding in a pub, god damnit. A beautiful, old, cosy pub where I know we’d be well-fed, well-watered, and we could boogie long past midnight.
In fact, I’d tell you exactly what I’d do. I’d stay a lot closer to home than the depths of Kent. I’d have the ceremony at the beautiful Rangers House in Blackheath (or something similar), before walking through Greenwich Park for some awesome dusk pictures and winding up in the intimate and history-steeped Davy’s Wine Vaults for the evening festivities. I’ve seen this particular combination done several times in the wedding world and I get a wave of jealously every time.
A snowy scene in Greenwich Park- image by Rik Pennington
(An autumn wedding but we’ll ignore that.) Enjoying the last rays of the sun in Greenwich Park- image by Rik Pennington
Inside Davy’s Wine Vaults- image by Rik Pennington
Inside Davy’s Wine Vaults- image by Rik Pennington
Let there be light! A Davy’s Wine Vaults wedding by Caught the Light
THE STYLING
This part is hard because there really are SO many options for a winter wedding. What I do know is that the festoon lighting would be replaced with fairy lights and candles galore. And as I love colour so much I think I would move away from the summery tones of coral, yellow and pinks that I’m using for my late May wedding, and adopt a more jewel-inspired hue: ruby reds and sapphire blue, amythest, pink and of course lots and lots of gold and silver sparkle. All set on an earthy, rustic backdrop of wood and stone.
Love the combination of colours in this gorgeous Smog Shoppe wedding- Image by James Moes
Everything about this makes me happy- Image by James Moes
Gold place settings on navy sequinned linen, people! Glorious, magical image via Scheme Events
Image by Sara Gray Photography
THE FASHION
You know what I’ve always wanted to go to? A black-tie wedding. And a winter wedding is just crying out for über-glam attire in my humble opinion. Even more so when the ‘do’ is taking place in the less glamorous setting of an intimate London pub. Why the hell not? Electic-chic is the way forward, ladies and gentlemen.
This couple did it (from the Smog Shoppe wedding I mentioned earlier) and they looked fab.
Image by James Moes via Grey Loves Weddings
Image by James Moes via Grey Loves Weddings
For myself, I think I’d be torn between wanting something quite ice queen and wintery, or shaking things up a bit and going glamorous and gold. Either way these dresses would require my urgent attention…
Estella by Alice Temperley is the perfect winter wedding dress with it’s long sleeves and intricate lace back.
Stunning bride alert! Image by Love Katie + Sarah via Ruffled, dress designed by the bride…
…And it works so well with a groom in black tie. Image by Love Katie + Sarah
So there we have it. A brief delve in to the kind of wedding I’d be planning if I could have two. (Are you sure I can’t? We should all be allowed to do it twice, right?). I’m dreaming of a rich, jewel-toned wedding in a south-east London pub full of candle light and sparkle. Not so different to the bright, colourful wedding in a Kentish barn full of festoon lighting and sparkle that I’m actually planning, I suppose… Same same but different, as they say in Thailand.
What would you do if you could do it twice?
Sama xxx