I love summer weddings. And when I say love, it's more of bordering on obsession. Sunset ceremonies and outdoor soirees under the stars make me melt into a gushy puddle, so even I was shocked when we decided to have a winter wedding. Despite my initial hesitation, I have to say, it's one of the best decisions I've ever been a part of and looking back I wouldn't have done it any other way. As someone who had never been to a winter wedding, I wish someone would have told me all of the great things I had to look forward too in planning a wedding this way (aside from that whole marrying the person you love/ your best friend in the world thing)...
1) The photos are completely magical...
1) The photos are completely magical...
.... It also doesn't hurt that we were lucky enough to land these awesome photographers :)
2) It's a fun and unique experience for your guests
I'm the biggest advocate for summer weddings out there, but sometimes it's nice to mix it up a bit. Aside from the fact that it's my favorite place in the world, we chose Vail because we knew it had something for everyone. We have a lot of friends who love to ski and snowboard and we have a lot of friends who wouldn't be caught dead in something as unflattering as snow pants, so we made sure to pick a location that would be a fun winter vacation for both groups. We also heard a lot of people say how nice it was to have something in late February/early March to look forward to as it's kind a lull in the year.
I'm the biggest advocate for summer weddings out there, but sometimes it's nice to mix it up a bit. Aside from the fact that it's my favorite place in the world, we chose Vail because we knew it had something for everyone. We have a lot of friends who love to ski and snowboard and we have a lot of friends who wouldn't be caught dead in something as unflattering as snow pants, so we made sure to pick a location that would be a fun winter vacation for both groups. We also heard a lot of people say how nice it was to have something in late February/early March to look forward to as it's kind a lull in the year.
3) You avoid the summer wedding schedule maddness
Not only is it easier to narrow down a day for the wedding that doesn't conflict with another wedding, we didn't have to compete for our top vendors. We pretty much had our pick of everything so we could make our day exactly as we wanted it. We even squeezed a few "good deals" out of it due to how clear vendor calendars were at the time.
Not only is it easier to narrow down a day for the wedding that doesn't conflict with another wedding, we didn't have to compete for our top vendors. We pretty much had our pick of everything so we could make our day exactly as we wanted it. We even squeezed a few "good deals" out of it due to how clear vendor calendars were at the time.
4) Weather worries be gone (sort of)
The morning of our wedding I looked outside and there were about 6 inches of new snow outside my window and it continued to fall at a rapid pace. To any bride this could trigger complete panic mode, but because we were in the winter wonderland of Vail ... the more snow the better!! Our guests enjoyed a good day of skiing and our photos turned out even better with a fresh layer of powder as the perfect backdrop against the rocky mountains.
The one caveat here is that weather will always be a worry at any wedding. For much of the week they were forecasting rain on our wedding day. Of course.... an extremely rare occurrence in Vail in the peak of ski season. Luckily it turned out to be snow and was even better, but I still had anxiety about it all week (I think that weather worries are just part of the deal... Woof.)
The morning of our wedding I looked outside and there were about 6 inches of new snow outside my window and it continued to fall at a rapid pace. To any bride this could trigger complete panic mode, but because we were in the winter wonderland of Vail ... the more snow the better!! Our guests enjoyed a good day of skiing and our photos turned out even better with a fresh layer of powder as the perfect backdrop against the rocky mountains.
The one caveat here is that weather will always be a worry at any wedding. For much of the week they were forecasting rain on our wedding day. Of course.... an extremely rare occurrence in Vail in the peak of ski season. Luckily it turned out to be snow and was even better, but I still had anxiety about it all week (I think that weather worries are just part of the deal... Woof.)
5) Going somewhere warm (like to this heavenly hotel in St. Lucia) for a mini or honeymoon after a week of playing in the snow is that much better
There are countless amazing things about winter weddings that I could go on and on about, but there are also some considerations that I wish I had been warned about going in... but that is a whole other post on a whole other day :)
XOX
XOX