Now that we’ve celebrated Mother’s Day, the number of holidays before winter are beginning to decrease! For our brides and groom-to-be's who recently got engaged and planning to wed later this year, this blog is for you.
The winter season officially spans from December-February (but whether or not places ‘feel’ like winter then will vary.) So even though it’s warm outside, couples getting married this winter are making important decisions now.
If you’re starting to put the details together for your big day, one of the foundational elements will be your colors! Here’s how to select colors for your winter wedding.
5 Ways to Narrow Down Your Winter Wedding Colors
1. Throw timing out the window for a moment and decide a starting point without being influenced by the calendar. Regardless of when you’re getting married, close your eyes and begin to envision what your wedding day will be like. What colors come to mind? It’s likely that you will start to see colors that evoke a feeling like joy, comfort, or passion. While this color or color palette may not be one that you proceed with, it will give you an initial direction of where your mind and heart are currently gravitating toward. Once you’ve done this, have your significant other do the same thing! This is a great place to begin because you’ll see how your tastes in color complement (or contradict) with each other.
So why take a momentary disregard of the calendar and plan to daydream? If you start in a strict ‘seasonal box’ with your color choices (only considering wintery-tones), you’re likely to pass up potential options that might still work out well.
2. Look up the flowers that thrive in winter months. Because of potentially harsh weather climates, it’s important to find out about the flowers that thrive during this time of year. While you may prefer floral arrangements that lean more towards spring or summer, these flowers might not be available or could be very expensive.
Beginning to research seasonal flowers will be one of the biggest keys of success that will help you determine how to select colors for your winter wedding. According to this seasonal guide to wedding flowers on Zola.com, here’s winter flower inspiration:
“Hellebores: Often called a Christmas rose, these flowers may bloom as early as December. Hellebores have a rich history in both Ancient Greek Mythology and Christianity. These plants’ tolerance for frost and stunning, rich petals make them an obvious choice for a dreamy winter wedding display.
Anemone: Also known as windflowers, these bulbs are a symbol of love between Adonis and Aphrodite in Greek Mythology. This along with their striking petal shades, including deep plum, make them a perfect choice for a winter wedding.
Eucalyptus: Delicate greenery has been really popular in wedding florals over the past few years and the beautifully textured leaves of eucalyptus make this a perfect choice for a winter bouquet filler. Native to Australia, these leaves grow on trees and have a strong, aromatic scent. They look beautiful fresh or dried, so you can buy them fresh or stock up early.
Winter Garden Rose: Roses are a symbol of love and beauty, which is why they're the most popular wedding flowers. They also bloom all year round, making them a romantic and tasteful choice any season. Winter Garden Roses bloom in December so their soft, delicate petals won’t break the bank and still offer a beautiful color variety during the winter season.”
3. Review the wedding design decisions that have already been decided. Depending on how far along you are in the planning process, you might already have some building blocks in place. From the theme, to the location, or the size, the decisions already planned might help point you closer towards the best color palette for your big day. For example, if your heart is set on a winter wonderland vibe, then your colors might naturally lead to options like crisp white, bright blue, or classic silver tones. But if you’re planning a Christmas eve wedding, then you might consider evergreen and gold. Taking inventory of what’s already been decided might give you more inspiration than you realize.
4. Research contrasting colors on Pinterest. Most wedding themes consist of two to three shades from different color families. A contrasting color will help in a few different and important ways. Contrasting colors will add depth to the design of your wedding and allow for different layers of visual interest. It will also help add some elegance to the wedding and make it feel like it isn’t just another birthday party.
If you aren’t sure where to start with how to select colors for your winter wedding, pick a primary color. And then look at other colors with it, like neutral (white, cream, grey) or metals (silver or gold.) To get more visual, we recommend doing a quick search on Pinterest so that you can see examples of color palettes that might feel right. Type some of these in the search bar and see where it takes you.
Unique winter wedding colors
Winter wedding bouquet ideas
Winter wedding inspiration
(Month) wedding color inspiration
Best colors for a winter wedding
Wedding color palette using ‘(fill in the blank with color)’
(Fill in the blank with color) wedding color contrast
(Insert type of theme) winter wedding colors
(Insert a descriptor like ‘holiday’ or ‘campfire’’) winter wedding colors
Winter wedding color palette
Winter wedding color combinations
(Getting married another time of year? Try replacing “winter” with “summer” or "fall", depending on which part of the season you’re getting married.)
5. Ask your team of wedding professionals for their advice. Whether it’s a photographer, caterer, wedding planner or officiant, you’re likely to be surrounded by wedding pros. No matter the exact role they play, it’s likely that your vendors have seen their fair share of weddings over the years. Begin to ask if they’ve seen winter wedding colors, or color combinations, that have stood out to them. They will likely share different answers based on diverse experiences.
How to Weigh Your Favorites: Winter Wedding Colors
Now that you’ve done your research, you’re probably starting to narrow down your choices. We hope that the initial tips that we provided on how to select your colors for your winter wedding were helpful and that you feel like you’re getting closer to making your decision.
Once you have a few narrowed down, save the pictures in your phone and come back to them at another time. In the meantime, start to become more aware of the colors around you. There is probably a prominent palette in your home, a vibrant shade at your favorite date night spot, or even a color that your fiancé wears often. And then throughout your wedding research, start to notice the color schemes on the magazine pages or in photos from past weddings which you’ve attended.
By the time you're ready to make your selection, get your significant other to weigh in. While you might personally like one color palette more than another, just remember that this is a shared day. The color is a foundational design element that you should try to agree upon.
If you’re getting married December 2022 or January - February 2023, we hope you enjoyed hearing our advice on how to select colors for your winter wedding. If you’re still looking for a photographer or videographer, get in touch to see how we can help take one more decision off of your Wedding Planning Task List!
We support Joy couples across the state of Texas (from Houston to Dallas) and Florida (from Miami to Orlando) with both photo and video services. We are proud to be an award-winning, couple-recommended, and nationally recognized production company. See some of our work in Texas and Florida.
[Photoshoots in the spotlight: Ashley and Isaiah in Dallas, Jessica and Kiet in Houston, Leah and Stuart in Houston, Texas.]
Choose Joy,
The Joy Team