Let me preface this post with one important caveat: I LOVE WINTER! Or rather, I love all of the snowy outdoor, light-filled indoor images and cozy, wrapped-up-in-your-favorite-blanket-by-the-fire feelings that winter gives me. Plus, the best holidays of the year happen during the winter months. Come on, Christmas, New Years, Mardis Gras, Valentine's Day?! All the best excuses to go over the top in decor, outfits, and parties! Which is why winter weddings are some of my absolute favorites to plan. In fact, you may see some of the below suggestions appear in my own winter wedding details in January 2023.

Below, you'll find my top five suggestions for unique winter wedding details. Each of them is tied back to a sense of wonder and love that winter brings to me and can be easily tweaked to be incorporated into your own wedding plans.

#1 Use Texture Everywhere!

Winter weddings are the perfect opportunity to use texture throughout your event design. Here are some ways to incorporate texture in your design:

• Linens - Think cozy, luxurious fabrics like velvet, brocade, and satin

• Florals - Mix dried or non-floral elements like pampas grass, feathers, or lotus pods, in with traditional florals like red roses and nontraditional florals like amaranths, scabiosa, or dahlia

• Tablescapes - Rent unique chargers, plates, and glasses that are house-made or antique

#2 Incorporate Color and Metallics

Even if you want a traditional winter wedding theme of Christmas trees and cedar boughs, still incorporate various shades of green with pops of red, gold, and silver in your color palette. Weddings have no color rules, but winter weddings especially have no color rules! You want Mardi Gras colors? Go for it! You want a dark, moody landscape? You do you, boo! You want a bright white with silver to reflect the snow? You shine, winter queen! Just make sure to make it tasteful.

• Linens - This is a great area to bring color to your event design! Can't afford to rent all those tablecloths? Think about adding a pop of color in your napkins or a runner.

• Florals - Some of my favorite florals that come in lots of different colors are amaranthus, English primrose, and dahlias.

• Tablescapes - Think about adding fun chargers to your tablescapes. These can either be rented or purchased fairly cheaply and are found in so many different patterns, shapes, and colors.

• Lighting - Using uplighting around your dance floor in a variety or colors or adding some metallic candelabras to your tables are a great way to add color and shine to your design. Check with your DJ if they provide uplighting, and candelabras can often be found at thrift stores for very cheap, though they may need a little elbow grease to make them shine again.

#3 Mulling Spices as Favors

Who doesn't love a good mug of mulled cider or wine? They smell and taste wonderful! Bonus: These packages are TSA-approved (for the out of towners) and easily DIY-ed. Add a personal touch with a custom sticker to close the bag or a recipe from the couple.

#4 Candle Place Cards

I recently saw a couple use votives with lit tea lights inside as place cards on the tables for their guests. The votives had each guest's name calligraphed on it, and a meal icon sticker was added to the bottom corner to help the servers, but was easily peeled off after. The candles added light, warmth, and ambiance to the tablescape while serving double duty as a place card and a favor! There are many options on Etsy, or you could DIY with a Cricut and your own votives.

#5 Serve a Retro Warm Winter Beverage and Holiday Dessert!

During cocktail hour (and only during cocktail hour because later people will be sweaty from dancing) serve your favorite warm winter beverage. Some of my favorites, including retro throwbacks, are listed below. Also, when it comes to dessert, fewer and fewer couples are incorporating a traditional wedding cake. Think about what your favorite holiday desserts are, and serve those on a dessert bar instead! See below for some of my favorite ideas.

• Warm Winter Beverages:

  • Hot Toddy: Whiskey, honey, lemon, and cinnamon

  • Tom & Jerry: A creamy, sugary rum-based concoction

  • Irish or Kentucky Coffee: Coffee with whiskey or bourbon

  • Cranberry Gin Fizz: Cranberries and gin

  • Classic Eggnog: Creamy, cinnamony, whiskey goodness

  • Spiked Cider: Cider with bourbon, whiskey, or scotch

  • Wassail: Citrusy, cinnamon, vodka deliciousness
    

• Holiday Desserts:

  • Peppermint Bark

  • Gingersnaps

  • Snickerdoodles

  • Custom decorated sugar cookies!

  • Fudge

When advising clients on their winter wedding plans, especially when it comes to the design details, I ask them to close their eyes - yes, just do it - and think of some of their favorite winter or holiday memories. What colors were there? Can you instantly smell or taste a particular scent or delicious dish? What was the light like - bright and reflective or dusky and candlelit? What traditions do you have in the winter - sledding, ice skating, staying warm inside with a book or movie? Then we take those memories and incorporate those details into their wedding day. Each of them is tied back to a sense of wonder and love that winter brings to me and can be easily tweaked to be incorporated into your own wedding plans.

For more tips, inspiration, and to learn more about All the Dainty Details, visit us at www.allthedaintydetails.com and be sure to follow on Instagram @allthedaintydetails.

Happy winter planning!

Leigh Maltby, Author

Leigh is the Associate Wedding Planner for All the Dainty Details in the DC area. She’s officially been in the wedding industry since 2017, but caught the event planner bug as a child. Between growing up in a military family that instilled a sense of service and a passion for creativity, Leigh is here to make all your wedding dreams come to life

I’m probably one of the few people who look forward to destination weddings. I love to travel and usually just see it as an opportunity to go somewhere new and appreciate that I have friends who think the same way.

For the couple though, planning a wedding IN town can already be overwhelming so many don’t even want to consider elsewhere. Well, friends, it doesn’t have to be that way as long as you’re organized. First of all, you should be hiring a planner (we talked about that in a previous post) but I’ve also recruited destination planner Gabby Pinkerton from ‘Cause We Can Events to give ya’ll a few things to consider when you’re starting to plan your destination wedding:

1. Marriage licenses

Getting a marriage license in another country can be really hard! I always recommend having a legal ceremony back home and doing a fun ceremony abroad. If you don't want to tell your friends and family that it's not actually the "real ceremony" have your officiant bring their own made up marriage certificate. No one needs to know!

2. Plan for wrinkled clothing

I like to bring a portable steamer to help steam the wrinkles out of your dress, tux, jumpsuit, you name it!

3. Tipping protocol

Not every country tips (and some even consider it an insult)! Read up on local and cultural best practices when it comes to tipping your vendors. This also applies in the general sense that your country of choice should match your personal preferences

4. Sim cards and cell phone plans

Your current cell phone plan may not work abroad. Be sure to call your provider before leaving to choose a plan that works best for you for contacting your vendors and keeping guests in the loop. I also like to download WhatsApp so that I can "text" vendors over wifi instead of through my phone provider. It's free!

Gabby and her team are based in Nashville and are a full service wedding planning company. But they’re more than that, they’re here to make your adventurous wedding dreams come true. They keep it personal and unique to you and your S.O. (there’s a reason I like them so much!) so check them out at www.causewecanevents.com and view all the gorgeous photos on Instagram @causewecanevents.

Happy Planning!

Samantha Shammas, Author and Owner of SamiaLynn

“Do I need to hire a wedding planner?”

Hi! Sam here. Yes, you can plan a perfectly wonderful wedding without one, but I’m here to tell you that the longer I’m in the wedding space, the more I find myself telling people GET A PLANNER. To further drive home this point, I recruited wedding planner Kari Dirksen of Feathered Arrow Events to guest write this post so she can get into the details of why you need one. Tell ‘em, Kari!

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As a wedding planner, I am constantly educating my clients and potential clients on the importance of hiring a wedding planner and why everyone should hire one for their big day! You should always make room in the budget and hire one from the very beginning of wedding planning because you’ll be way less stressed and prepared throughout the process. I’m sharing my top reasons as to why a wedding planner is a great idea!

#1 (and most important) reason to hire a wedding planner

We are there for YOU! If your venue also has a Venue Coordinator, they really are only there to serve the venue. A wedding planner however, services the couple. We are your advocates, confidants and experts in the field and during the event. Wedding planners will help you weather any storm. Both literally (rain plan, anyone?) and figuratively. One year, I helped move an entire wedding for a couple in one week whose original venue was evacuated due to a wildfire. This past year was a real doozy for couples everywhere. I helped so many of my couples postpone plans, reschedule vendors and be a go-between all the parties.

#2 We’re there to hold your hand through it all

I’m not only helping to plan your wedding, I can also help you design your wedding to keep things cohesive + beautiful. A wedding planner has an eye for design and knows all the details, both big and small, that will wow your guests.

#3 We read contracts

Yes, all the fine print. As a wedding planner, one of my jobs is to pour over your contracts to make sure you aren’t surprised with hidden fees, and familiarize myself with all the policies/guidelines and making sure that you sign a legit contract so that both parties are protected.

#4 We keep you on track!

Planning your wedding doesn’t have to be stressful with the right planner by your side. We will create your to-do checklists, timeline, seating chart, budgets, etc. Then we coordinate this information with all of your vendors to make sure everyone is on the same page to keep the big day as smooth as possible! One of the first steps I encourage newly engaged couples to do is to make an estimated budget. As your wedding planner, I can help you build this with realistic price expectations so you don’t accidentally misspend your budget on a few select items.

#5 It takes a village to execute a wedding!

Wedding planners have tons of relationships with people in the industry and are a great resource for the best venues + vendors. We can help you find someone not only within your budget, but also someone you are excited to work with + love their style. Researching the right vendors can take hours but we can help you narrow that down right away. Wedding planners will come to meetings with you, run your rehearsal, be one of the first ones on-sight to set up décor and one of the last to leave after packing everything up.

#6 We come prepared the day of the wedding

And with an emergency kit full of goodies to fix just about anything. I have seen a lot in my day. Ripped dress seams, table numbers flying off tables due to high winds…you name it. Over the years, I have expanded my emergency wedding kit to quickly resolve any crisis that arises.

#7 We keep the day running on time and troubleshoot!

A wedding planner’s job is to keep the wedding running as smoothly and stress-free as possible…but sometimes, things happen. Maybe it’s a vendor issue, or a guest concern; we find solutions so you can continue to enjoy your celebration uninterrupted. Most of the time couples don’t ever know of any minor mishaps because we have it under control.

#8 Hiring a wedding planner means you and your guests can enjoy the day!

I can understand the thought process that letting your friends or family help with decorations might save some money, but ultimately it’s not worth it. You want everyone enjoying the celebration worry free. Not stressing about moving chairs or setting things up.

No one has ever regretted hiring a wedding planner to help them with what is typically the most important day of their lives. You can still be involved and plan or design as much as you want but having an expert guide along the way never hurt anybody. Good luck planning and if you need a wedding planner, please head to our website and fill out our inquiry form at featheredarrowevents.com.

Happy Planning!

Kari Dirksen, Author

Kari is the owner of Feathered Arrow Events and host of The Local Table podcast. When this native Iowan farm girl isn’t in her office designing weddings or planning epic celebrations, you can find her learning how to make the perfect latte or traveling to Yosemite. She loves to give back and is a self proclaimed donut connoisseur. Follow her on Instagram @featheredarrowevents