Cozy Winter Wedding

The bride, Charlotte, and the groom, Antoine, look perfectly at home in this inspiring winter wedding shoot. The cozy ambiance of the log structure and the details, from the crackling fire inside to milk and chocolate cookies outside, are just a few that deserve mention.

The table setting is exquisite, showing how a rustic locale can be elevated to an absolutely divine setting. Picturing your winter wedding? The end result will be spectacular!

Details for a Cozy Winter Wedding

Winter weddings conjure images of nuptials by a mantle and a warm fire, a blanket of snow on the ground, and festive accessories. Some winter brides will want Christmas colors with vibrant reds and gold throughout the decor, while others add twinkling lights across arbors and arches.

Simplicity is also a caveat of winter weddings. Some pieces of the decor may be rustic, such as the tables. Brides can choose a decor that is equally outdoor and indoor, with lots of greenery and an indoor fire pit. Then there are brides who opt for a repurposed mantle as the backdrop for the ceremony. What will yours be?

Color Palettes for a Cozy Winter Wedding

Some brides may choose red, particularly if the nuptials are between early December and the new year. However, these aren’t the only appropriate colors for a cozy winter wedding.

Black, emerald green, rich brown tones, and dark gray colors are all considered traditional winter colors. Black paired with ivory makes for a very sophisticated look during the ceremony. Dark gray colors paired with lush, deep purple tones make a lovely and unique color palette.

A ruby red color intertwined with garland can decorate both the ceremonial venue as well as the reception area. Add some clear white lights to set the perfect mood.

What to Look for in a Venue for a Cozy Winter Wedding

A venue that incorporates many of the items on your wish list is always a fitting venue. For instance, if you dream of saying “I do” in front of a beautiful fireplace, then a historic home may be just the venue for you.

Your choice of venue – whether it’s a historic home, a museum, or even an outdoor setting – should offer some amenities that will help to stretch your budget. Be sure to inquire with the venue rep about included items.

Many venues have tables and chairs included in the price of the rental. Others will have a sound system in place so that you won’t have to worry about borrowing or renting one for the big day. Still, other venues offer a reception area so that you and your wedding party won’t have to worry about fighting traffic going from one location to another.

Food for a Cozy Winter Wedding

Tradition states what type of food should be served at a wedding. Those hosting an afternoon wedding are able to provide some neat appetizers or snacks, but weddings taking place after six o’clock typically call for providing a sit-down meal. Not all brides need to follow this traditional rule, but, one can garner some ideas based on what they plan to serve.

Brides who wish to host a dinner may want to provide brisket or a roast for guests. Of course, serving a steak dinner is always appropriate, too. For vegan guests, a spicy nut roast or a bisque is also a tasty treat.

Brides who wish to serve appetizers or finger food have some neat options as well. Provide a s’more station for kids and kids at heart, as well as puff pastry cookies. Serving hot cocoa is a nice touch for the cozy winter wedding menu. If you want another unique food offering, consider a baked potato bar. You can consider it as serving a meal and this idea won’t break the budget.

Wedding Dresses & Accessories for a Cozy Winter Wedding

One bonus of getting married during the chilly winter months is forgoing the heat and humidity of a June wedding. Not only can you choose a long-sleeved wedding gown, but you can add a number of accessories such as sweaters and even a faux fur wrap.

Some brides opt for a more vintage look, choosing a long, fitted gown with bishop sleeves to add a little romantic detail. Boho styled gowns are also quite appropriate for a cozy winter wedding dress. A long, flowing gown with lace embellishments is perfect for a winter wedding as well. Wedding experts are also recommending a crepe dress with sparkling embellishments for the big day.

Groom Style for a Cozy Winter Wedding

Grooms may want traditional winter wardrobe pieces, yet not limited to holiday patterns and colors. Of course, grooms can wear the traditional black tuxedo, but, many grooms are opting for unique suits in different fabrics and colors.

Your partner will look quite dapper in a velvet jacket in deep ruby tones or even burgundy. Pair this jacket with black suit pants for a unique look that is also comfortable. At the same time, grooms can choose a jacket in a plaid or houndstooth pattern. This jacket choice is also paired with suit pants as well. Grooms are also leaning toward regular suits and a vest for a winter wedding - no jacket required.

Wedding Cake Ideas for a Cozy Winter Wedding

Some brides will stick with a traditional white cake, but even the most old-fashioned cake designs can be updated with subtle flair! Consider ditching the traditional vanilla for a more festive flavor. Opt for a red velvet or a white cake with hazelnut icing. Or choose a spice cake with butternut flavored icing.

A naked cake is always in season, and so they are appropriate for a cozy winter wedding cake. Add sugared fruit as decor, particularly cranberries and figs. The wedding cake in this beautiful inspirational shoot is simply lovely with gold detailing.

Wedding Ceremony Decor for a Cozy Winter Wedding

A cozy winter wedding allows brides to choose from a variety of ceremonial backdrops and seasonal decor.

One can’t beat the idea of a repurposed mantle as the ceremonial backdrop. These mantles can often be found in vintage stores or at a flea market, and you can decorate them with garland and lights. Find some electric logs to provide a lifelike flame for the ceremony!

If you forgo the mantle, however, a large arbor can be wrapped with lots of greenery as well as winter flowers. Hydrangeas, red roses, baby’s breath, and even camellias are beautiful winter flowers that can make the perfect ceremonial backdrop.

Reception Decor for a Cozy Winter Wedding

Centerpieces on tables can really set the cozy winter mood. Glass vases filled with baby’s breath and white peonies as well as a battery-operated candle will set a romantic mood for the reception.

Some brides opt for dried flowers, including hydrangeas and white cherry blossoms as well as dried berries interwoven with greenery for decorating the tables and even a backdrop at the reception. This provides a great touch of elegance. Still, other brides will have an ivory curtain set up as a backdrop, and they hang twinkling lights from the top.

Wedding Reception Music for a Cozy Winter Wedding

While it’s tempting to throw a few holiday favorites to your cozy winter wedding song list, it isn’t necessary. However, Baby, It’s Cold Outside makes a perfectly fun song to play while guests are eating. Songs like The Most Wonderful Time of the Year or A Wintertime Love by The Doors are fun dance songs, but your guests will love Let’s Get Together by Newton Faulkner.

At the wedding, you’ll likely play The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, but it is also appropriate to play while guests are eating. Other songs that might be appropriate including anything by Ella Fitzgerald, and songs by Dean Martin are also appropriate.

Cozy Winter Wedding with Knit Details

Gather your favorite knit blanket around you and snuggle up to your screen with a cup of hot chocolate because winter weddings don’t get any better than this! In conjunction with Canada’s fabulous Joy Wed, I’m super excited to bring you this cozy winter wedding inspiration shoot designed by Mlle Artsy and captured beautifully by Lovely Peonies and LUVE Films.

From Mlle Artsy – “In our cold Canadian winter, nothing’s better than drinking hot chocolate milk with melting marshmallow all wrapped in a large wool blanket in front of a nice and warm fire place. This was the inspiration for our cozy winter wedding editorial! We mixed the warm colors of a hot fire combined to our cold winter colors; a palette of gold, blues, silver and grays.

Winter weddings are known for their magical beauty and we wanted to enhance that. We also wanted to recreate that romantic, cuddly feeling we get when sitting in front of a fireplace; an atmosphere that would show off the love our couple felt for each other!

La Sucrerie de la Montagne was the perfect place to hold our cozy and romantic wedding. They had the perfect stone fireplace and the log house was wonderful for our winter theme. It also added just the right amount of rustic feel we were hoping to achieve for this wedding. Not to mention the beauty of their maple forest!”

From Mlle Artsy – “It all started with one dress, THE perfect dress. The Handmade Bride in Ottawa carries the most gorgeous dresses from Truvelle, and I had my eyes on Truvelle’s Taylor dress for a couple of months. It’s a beautiful and delicate dip died lace dress with a sweat heart neckline. The dress has an ombre affect that starts from ivory goes to gold and finishes in a silver grey. The perfect combination of warm and cold colors, just like I wanted! Our bride was going to wear that dress for our outdoor ambiance.

To complete her look I contacted Balys – a cute little Etsy shop that makes various knitted items. She made her a beautiful braided wool headband with a matching shoulder wrap. To add a pop of blue to her outfit I made a dazzling silver brooch bouquet with blue hydrangea base shaped in a heart. It went beautifully with the shimmery white snow. To combine both inside and outside ambiance, we repeated wool braids and heart shaped décor element throughout the wedding.”

From Mlle Artsy – “Outside of the log house, we created a beautiful homemade muffin bar. During winter, a nice warm muffin with butter, a glass of milk and chocolate chip cookies are always welcome. And with a fireplace nearby, I thought it would also be nice to have add some Smores to it.

Instead of presenting it all on a flat table or dresser like we are used to seeing, I wanted to have a bit of fun with it and present it on different heights and volumes. On one side, I placed an old ladder where the milk and chocolate chip cookie bar was placed. Beside was the main muffin table with some condiments for the muffin and milk bar. Under the table and threw the ladder we finally placed or third level, a bench, where the remaining muffins we set and presented on ornate silver trays.

To complete the look of it, we added Sweet Couture’s amazing cakes. She even made a little knitted inspired cake. So cute! Everything was also beautifully indicated for our guest with ImagineJoy Calligraphy’s chalkboards. I must say I am pretty proud of the end result! The wood table, ladder and table, mixed to the ornate silver trays, the gold trim cake and the various glassware completed our rustic and romantic winter wedding look!”

From Mlle Artsy – “A warm candle light dance floor and a beautiful fireplace were going to welcome our bride and groom into the log house. With La Mariée Bohème we surrounded our couple of hundreds of single flowers and candle lights placed in vintage mismatched tea cups, candlesticks, and various vintage glass vases. To complete the ambiance, we hung a marshmallow garland above them. The decor perfectly framed our married couple for their first dance. The atmosphere was definitely magical!

For the reception table we created a large wool braid that Stephanie from Illico Flowers dressed with beautiful flowers and foliage. It made a perfect cozy and romantic centerpiece. Under this braid an arrangement of mismatched doilies complemented the braid and the various knitwear found here and there. Knit details were also made for bride and groom’s chairs: the back of each was been carefully braided with wool and foliage.

A dip dye gray/blue cotton adorned mismatched antique plates in ivory, gray, and gold – a reminder of the bride’s dress! Imaginejoy Calligraphy, made small wooden sticks with marshmallows that we used as place cards. This way, everyone could find their places and toast their marshmallows by the fireplace afterwards! To finalize everything, Lythicia at the Balys, made us the most adorable mug holders. The mug holders were hot chocolate ready and they also brought a little pop of color to the table. They were definitely one of my favorite details!”

Be sure to catch more of this amazing winter wedding inspiration shoot over at Joy Wed!

Credits: Photography: Lovely Peonies // Artistic Director: Mlle Artsy //  Videography: LUVE Films // Vintage Furniture & Decor Rentals: La Mariee Boheme // Decor, Brooch Bouquets, and Bridal Accessories: Mlle Artsy // Floral Arrangements: Fleurs Illico // Cakes: Sweet Couture // Paper & Invitations: Imaginejoy Calligraphie // Chair Signs & Laser Cutting:  Imaginejoy Calligraphie & Umake // Dresses (Truvelle*) & Bow Tie: The Handmade Bride // Wool Scarf, Headband, and Mug Holders: Balys // Jewelry: Sandy Story // Hair & Makeup: Susan Morales using Make Up Forever Products // Venue: Sucrerie de la Montagne in Canada.