Outdoor Ceremony in Winter - Am I Mad?

EmmaJP

I've always dreamed of having an outdoor WINTER wedding.

Quite simply - am I mad?

Someone please give me belief in my winter wonderland or stop me before I book my venue next week!

Bean83

Maybe a little bit mad, but if you can't be mad on your wedding day then when can you?!

On a more serious note, there are a few things I would consider:

1) When are you thinking of having the wedding? Nov/Dec tend to be cold but dry, whereas recently we seem to have had loads of snow in Jan/Feb/March which may make things even colder and more difficult logistically!

2) Who are you inviting? We have some elderly relatives that couldn't possibly stand out in the cold for the ceremony, but if your guests are all young it may not be such a problem. Having said that, it may be too cold for any children too and if the weather is terrible what would you do instead?

3) Is just the ceremony outside? If so, this would only be half an hour or so then you could go back inside for mulled wine to warm you all up again!

In theory, I think it sounds gorgeous, you could wear a huge cloak over your wedding dress and it would be so beautiful However, I think my family would hate it so I wouldn't do it.

heartbreak_star

I like the theory, but you can't plan for British weather!

HBS x

Faith177

Don't do it!

Honestly I had an open air ceremony in April it was freezing!

Our guests were frozen and had to do a penguin huddle to keep warm. There are hardly any photos of the ceremony because people were too cold.

We couldn't get photos of us signing the register because of the window blowing the paperwork about and I was so cold by that point I just wanted everything to hurry up. My signature looks like spider writing because I couldn't hold the pen properly.

We couldn't spend long chatting to our guests after the cermony as everyone wanted to get in to the warm which meant the champagne and chocolate strawberries had loads left over.

Our photos had to be done quickly and I missed out on a lot of the photos I wanted due to the cold.

I even commented that I was my own something blue

Mrs_Huggett

I think if you dress accordingly, and your guests are not going to suffer, (I would also worry about the older guests like bean83 said), it could be wonderful, with drinks to warm you up, like hot mulled wine, hot toddies, hot chocolate or tea and coffee, and hot canapes if you are going to them, rather than doing cold...you could do it with a lot of though and forward planning, I really would only worry about the rain/snow and the natural daylight for your photographer, although a good one could do wonders with the right lighting rig!

duchy

Patio heaters
LOTS !

Plan most photos indoors cos people will drift off-and have a contingency plan in case it buckets

Yes I think you're a bit mad -but then I'm told I'm a bit mad having a Vegas wedding so welcome to the mad wedding club.

jansus

If it was a nice cold crisp sunny winters day and everyone dressed appropriately including you and the bridal party then lovely.
On the other hand if it was a wet miserable dank day then maybe not quite the fairytale you had in mind?
Good luck though whatever you choose to do x

Dekazer

I can see pros and cons to this. Our wedding day was in mid-December and the weather was glorious. The sun shone and it was fairly mild, and everyone had lovely coats and hats and scarves and I can imagine an outdoor ceremony would have been beautiful.

However, our ceremony was fairly long, and I think it might have got a bit chilly. You also have to account for the possibility of rain.

How flexible is the venue? Are they canny enough that they could switch to 'plan b' at a moment's notice? Could they provide things like extra blankets, patio heaters etc? Mulled wine and hot chocolate while the guests wait for you?

Don't rule out your lovely idea just yet, but do make sure that the venue could cope in the event of a sudden downpour, and that they will be able to keep your guests as comfortable as possible even if there is a delay.

EmmaJP

Bean83 wrote: »

Maybe a little bit mad, but if you can't be mad on your wedding day then when can you?!

On a more serious note, there are a few things I would consider:

1) When are you thinking of having the wedding? Nov/Dec tend to be cold but dry, whereas recently we seem to have had loads of snow in Jan/Feb/March which may make things even colder and more difficult logistically!

2) Who are you inviting? We have some elderly relatives that couldn't possibly stand out in the cold for the ceremony, but if your guests are all young it may not be such a problem. Having said that, it may be too cold for any children too and if the weather is terrible what would you do instead?

3) Is just the ceremony outside? If so, this would only be half an hour or so then you could go back inside for mulled wine to warm you all up again!

In theory, I think it sounds gorgeous, you could wear a huge cloak over your wedding dress and it would be so beautiful However, I think my family would hate it so I wouldn't do it.

We've set our hearts on December with the romantic hope of a sprinkling of snow (I know, it's a long shot)

Yes the ceremony would be outside and then straight in for the drinks reception - loving the mulled wine idea btw!

I know some of the older guests may not like to cold so we were thinking of providing some lovely blankets for those who are more sensitive to the temperature.

x

EmmaJP

Faith177 wrote: »

Don't do it!

Honestly I had an open air ceremony in April it was freezing!

Our guests were frozen and had to do a penguin huddle to keep warm. There are hardly any photos of the ceremony because people were too cold.

We couldn't get photos of us signing the register because of the window blowing the paperwork about and I was so cold by that point I just wanted everything to hurry up. My signature looks like spider writing because I couldn't hold the pen properly.

We couldn't spend long chatting to our guests after the cermony as everyone wanted to get in to the warm which meant the champagne and chocolate strawberries had loads left over.

Our photos had to be done quickly and I missed out on a lot of the photos I wanted due to the cold.

I even commented that I was my own something blue

See, now this is the cold* hard truth I think I may need to hear!
*no pun intended:)

EmmaJP

Mrs_Huggett wrote: »

I think if you dress accordingly, and your guests are not going to suffer, (I would also worry about the older guests like bean83 said), it could be wonderful, with drinks to warm you up, like hot mulled wine, hot toddies, hot chocolate or tea and coffee, and hot canapes if you are going to them, rather than doing cold...you could do it with a lot of though and forward planning, I really would only worry about the rain/snow and the natural daylight for your photographer, although a good one could do wonders with the right lighting rig!

You see you've got me thinking about all the romantic side of it all again!

Yes, I agree. Planning would be key and we would need an indoor contingency plan in case of rain. A sprinkle of snow though would be amazing!!