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How To Make Your Summer Wedding Plans Work In Winter

So you’ve planned the perfect summer wedding, your venue is paid for, your flowers are chosen, and your dress has been altered to fit you perfectly in every way. Then Covid-19 happened.

No one could have seen this coming! Many couples have made the choice to drastically alter their wedding plans, or cancel everything all together and elope. Other couples may fall into the postponement category. Tons of spring and summer brides have simply moved their date one year into the future, which is amazing. But some couples don’t want to wait a whole year, so they’ve made the decision to postpone until winter. This one is for those couples!

We’ve thought it through and packed this post with tips and tricks on how to make your summer wedding plans work in winter, with minimal expense spared!

2020 Wedding Trends

The Dress

Chances are if you chose your wedding dress with a warm, sunny summer day in mind, it may not going to work for the cooler months. Lucky for you, there’s so many fun, beautiful, and timeless options to turn your light summery wedding dress into the winter gown of your dreams!

Leslie with Lillian Ruth Bride reminds brides to focus on what they already have! “Thankfully, wedding gowns are typically seasonless,” says Leslie, “and the ones that do lean a little more ‘summery’ or ‘wintery’ can easily be styled to reflect the season of the wedding. Bridal fabrics, construction, and gown weight stay the same no matter what season, so if you’ve got the dress and the partner, you’re halfway there!”

“So, throw on a fun leather monogrammed jacket or some show-stopping boots and rock the dress this winter,” Leslie continues. Coats, wraps, and other types of bridal cover-ups are the simplest and easiest way to keep warm on your wedding day. Depending on your ceremony, you can choose to wear your cover-up all day, or just throw it on between photo sessions!

Adding sleeves to your dress may be an option as well! Sleeves can add a touch of elegance, as well as some much-needed warmth, without altering your existing dress design too much!

Game of Thrones Bridal Photos at The Quarry Venue Knoxville
View This Bridal Session at The Quarry

The Flowers

We talked to Melissa at Melissa Timm Designs about the best way to deal with your existing floral order!

“If you let your florist know a month before postponement they may be able to cancel the flower order. If this is not possible, you are in a position to repurpose your flowers. You can always donate them to an organization that will get them to nursing homes or hospitals.

Another great idea is a bridal shoot. Your florist can rework the design into an amazing backdrop for bridal portraits with a bouquet to match the one you will have on your wedding day.”

spring bouquet from Narcisse Greenery
View This Nashville Wedding Inspiration

The Décor

Winter wedding décor can be absolutely amazing! It’s can be so easy to take a light and airy summer style and twist it to match a winter wedding date! The main thing is lighting! Adding low, warm lighting, such as candles, can help create that warm and cozy atmosphere that winter weddings are famous for.

“As décor goes: candles candles candles. Candles are timeless and no matter if you’re planning a spring or winter event you can never go wrong,” states Amanda with Southern Bliss Weddings. “They’re classic and provide such romantic lighting. If you’ve chosen more spring colors, it wouldn’t hurt to just change to more neutral tones. Whites, champagnes, taupes.”

Let’s talk color schemes. If you’ve already purchased all your spring/summer décor in your chosen colors, don’t worry too much about changing it. Yes, traditionally winter weddings have darker, moodier color tones, but with cozy additions like blankets and hot chocolate, your “summer” colors won’t seem so out of season!

boho wedding decorations with candles
View This DIY Vintage Boho Wedding

The Vibe

Winter weddings are all about those cozy vibes. Turn up the warmth by switching out your summery touches for similar, but winter-friendly items. This can be as simple as a swap from a signature frozen cocktail to a warm specialty coffee brew! Or maybe even the addition of s’mores to the dessert menu!

Marvyl with Team Wedding says it best! “If bridesmaid’s gowns haven’t been ordered, then to switch those and the flowers first. Most decor can be shifted towards a seasonal palette if you change those two things! If they have been ordered, try and shift the color palette based on the dress color. So, for example, if you were having a summer wedding with a blush dress, for winter add cranberry and darker green tones to bring it down.

Changing out small details in your own wedding day style can also make a huge difference. Switching out your wedding day heels to elegant booties, and adding some chunky jewelry can make all the difference. The groom can get in on the winter fun too—his look can transform from fresh and fun summertime wedding to warm and cozy winter vibe. All it takes is the addition of a classy trench coat, or trendy scarf draped over his tux.

We know it can be tough to stay positive during this pandemic, and it’s never ideal to postpone a wedding, but we’re so confident that you can still have the time of your life—it might just have to wait a few months!

The Photographer

No matter what year or season you get married in, we want to be there with you! If you are interested in hiring us for your wedding photography, please feel free to contact us at any time. We are so ready to rock some weddings!

KNOXVILLE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER | KNOXVILLE ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER | KNOXVILLE FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER | SMOKY MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHER

Natural light + honest photographer for all humans.

 

Knoxville, Tennessee

865.214.7826

erinmorrisonphotography@gmail.com

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