Whether you are fan of winter and cold weather or not, winter weddings are light, airy very charming and more often than not, super romantic. Snow and winter conditions can add a special sparkle to your wedding! Planning any wedding comes with it’s own challenges, but here are some things you should consider if you are planning a winter wedding!
Prepare for ANY Weather Conditions
While you should do everything to embrace your winter theme, do prepare for any weather conditions! We all dream of nice and white, snowy day, but the reality is, you may get rain, sleet, snow, blizzard… in Chicago, anything is on the table, so be ready!
Venue Selection
Selecting a venue that this appropriate for winter wedding is of highest importance. We recommend holding both ceremony and reception at the sam venue, to ease of logistic challenges of moving people around in case it snows hard. Having everything in one place will make it easy on you and your guests! Since winter days are shorter, and venues offer different looks depending on time of the day, you should consider day and night visits to the venue! Lighting has a major impact on the wedding atmosphere it is important to know what to expect! If you are planning on utilizing any outdoor areas for photography, you should consider visiting these with or without snow on the ground!
Wedding Dress and Attire
Designed to be beautiful and elegant, wedding dresses are not not really built to keep you warm in the cold winter months. Adding a faux fur stole, will help you stay warmer thought out the day and help you get through any outdoor photography you may be doing with your wedding photographer. Choosing the right footwear for a winter wedding is essential for comfort, style, and practicality, especially if there’s a chance of snow or cold temperatures. Boots, Closet-toe Heels with added fur or faux fur accents are just some to consider for added comfort to your wedding day!
Wedding Photography
When hiring a wedding photographer for your winter wedding, it is important to hire a photographer that can shoot in the mute lighting, with muted backgrounds or bright and white brilliance of snow. Make sure you ask for a full gallery of a winter wedding, and bring up any concerns you may have! As the days are much shorter, you may want to consider a first look, to give your photographer enough daylight time to capture images that would be light and airy, and showcase the theme of your wedding. Choosing a venue that has complimenting outdoor areas, would be greatly beneficial to your wedding day photographs. If you are looking for inspiration check out one of our blogs of the recent winter wedding we photographed at the Armour House!
Have a Backup Plan… Maybe Two…
Snow would be very much welcomed, it textures the photographs, ads a romantic element to your images, but it’s not the perfect world. Your wedding day could be a rainy one, so have a backup location for your creative wedding photography. Finding an indoor are at your venue, or a completely separate place, would be very beneficial and will ease off stress before your wedding. In the city of Chicago we will often visit the Union Station, or one of the Conservatories, but there are plenty of the options in Chicago’s suburbs too!
