winter wedding cake ideas

Read and learn more about winter wedding cake ideas. For more, visit the Wedding Cakes website WeddingCakesFAQ.com

Q: winter wedding ideas?
I plan to get married next winter. (January 2011). I think i want to do Light Blue, Chocolate Brown and White as my colors and I want to do a hot chocolate and cookie bar for the reception. do any of you have cute ideas to go along with this? also would it be weird if i did two fancy cupcakes instead of a wedding cake? any feedback is welcome! thanks guys!

A: Consider a less-is-more approach to your color palette: Light Blue and white with crystal accents can add some serious glamour to your winter wedding. For your ceremony, try a white velvet aisle runner trimmed with white satin ribbon with crystals, or decorate the altar with a crystal curtain backdrop adorned with hanging strands of elegant white phalaenopsis orchids. If you’re exchanging vows outdoors, get your guests in on creating the ambience by giving out clear umbrellas to friends and family members as they arrive.
Consider fuller flowers, such as white hydrangeas and soft ranunculuses. White boutonnieres can be handsome when they’re accented with the chocolate brown fillers, but they can also look great with a simple white ribbon. Add sparkle to your bouquet by wrapping the stems in ribbon embellished with crystals.
A black-tie event is nicely conveyed by heavy cardstock and a navy blue, chocolate-brown, or even eggplant font with hand calligraphy. For a fresh way to achieve a formal tone for your winter wedding, use thick, frosted Plexiglas invitations in white scripted ink. Send the sturdy invites out to all your guests tucked into chocolate brown envelope liners.
If you want to heighten the drama, use ice-carved vases on your reception tables. Have your florist fill the vases with tall winter-white branches and hanging crystals to reflect the light from the tables. Surround the centerpieces with votive candles, and top your tables with white dupioni table linens and frosted glass china. This will make a snow-like effect.
Leave everyone awestruck as they retrieve their escort cards by making the entire table sparkle. Have the cards hand-calligraphed in silver ink on light blue cardstock paper and attach them to individual crystals with a ribbon. Hang each from an oversized crystal candelabra centerpiece for a new take on the popular escort card tree.
For a twist on wedding music, consider hiring an a capella quartet from your local high school to sing background music at your reception. Have the group sing your favorite jazz and pop songs (even some Christmas songs) to set a welcoming and festive tone for the evening.
For the ceremony, hire a cellist (maybe a friend or a student) and ask that Vivaldi’s “Winter” be included in the repertoire, maybe as you’re walking out of the ceremony. It’s truly a beautiful song!
Give out small packages of chocolate-covered cranberries or roasted chestnuts. An over-the-top idea that will undoubtedly impress would be for you to set up your hot chocolate and cookies station to top off the evening. I just think that’s an incredible idea!
I also think your idea of the cupcakes will top off the evening.
It’s just perfect!
I wish you all the luck.
You know many people think christmas weddings should be with reds and greens but I love your color choices. Think Snow Fairies for your flower girls. Dress your maids in light blue and have the groomsmen wear white tuxes with light blue vest and ties. And have the chocolate brown be the highlight color where used sparingly. Total effect oriented.
I think this will make for an incredible wedding.
I am so happy for you!
God Bless!
Happy Nuptials!

Q: Winter Wedding Cake?
I was hoping I could get some good ideas for a winter wedding cake.

We are looking for something with snowflakes on it. And our main color with be burgandy for the dresses. Complete Christmas theme.

Any ideas or sites, or anything will really help.
Thanks!

A: http://www.weddingstyle.ca/Cakes%20Snowflakes.JPG
http://www.dotcomwomen.com/images/wedding/christmas-cake.jpg
http://www.knotforlife.com/images/cakes/winter-snowflake-cake.jpg
http://www.channingsbundtcakefactory.com.tsbsite.com/images/snowflake.JPG
http://www.chocolatework.com/cakes/snowflake_wedding_cake.jpg
Here are some pics for ideas. You can incorporate your colors to match your wedding. Good luck!

Q: Do you have any creative winter wedding ideas?
I am getting married in January 2009. My colors are silver, white, cobalt, and robin’s egg blue. I am using lots of snowflakes and sparkles. Just looking for ideas involving everything from decorations, cakes, invitations, and flowers. Be creative. Help me create. Thanks!!

Tonya

http://www.freewebs.com/tonyasdreamhunting

A: Something that’s very popular right now are trees. You could get trees and spray paint them and hang the clear lights on them, instead of having the flowergirl throw petals have her throw fake snow instead, have a coffee and hot chocolate bar setup during the cocktail hour, have place cards on mittens that hang from a tree, favors could be a mug with you and the grooms names, also a snowglobe with a message with you and the groom’s name is nice or your picture in the snowglobe.

Q: Winter wedding for two? any ideas?
I never had a “wedding” although i’m married. We have no one to invite, maybe my mother but she is the nurse of my grandma (who can’t travel). So it will be just my hubby and me. Do you know of any place where we can get “married” and have a small wedding cake, and maybe one table for us decorated like if it were a wedding with guests? I would love to have our honey moon in the same location as the wedding. price is not important. Please help me…
I want something with snow. I’m sick of hot temperatures and beaches.

A: http://www.discover-the-world.co.uk/en/weddings/

I would recommend the Ice hotel in lapland or sweden. You can stay in the hotel for your honeymoon, the hotel is made of Ice! and you have the beauty of frozen lakes etc.

http://www.scantours.co.uk/winter/itineraries/weddings-ice-hotel.shtml

http://www.femtalks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ice-hotel-wedding.jpg

I think they cater especially for lower numbers, but you may need one witness…give them a call and find out

Q: i need winter wedding ideas for a minnesota wedding.?
My fiancee and I are getting married sometime in winter 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We already have found the church and the recpetion site, the dress, and thats about it. I have a hopful budget of $5000.00, and really dont know where to start. The cake is being made by a freinds mom who does amazing work. I really want to have a photobooth at the reception to kind of double as a guest book thing, and a favor for the guests. So, if anyone has any ideas, that would be great. Thanks!!

A: I don’t care for favors, myself, but if I was going to I like edible favors. Sugar cookies cut out in snowflake shapes and frosted in one of your wedding colors will be great plenty. I think people appreciate not having any crap to take home with them. As much as we all like to think guests will treasure the mixed CDs or matchbooks we give them forever, most of them will either be left at the venue or tossed when people get home. That’s just reality.

As for a photobooth, I’d recommend giving Bellagala a call. They are sort of this full service wedding planning/vendor outfit in St. Paul. I met with them but didn’t end up using any of their services, but I know they have an agreement with a photobooth company. It might be a little bit spendy, but I think it’s worth checking out.

In addition, the local boards at theknot.com are quite helpful. I remember when I was planning my wedding last year those women had amazing ideas. I’m guessing there are some pretty impressive winter wedding ideas there. Just be careful, they’ve got good ideas, but take everything with a grain of salt. It’s easy to go overboard.

Q: I want to make a butterfly wedding cake for my wedding in january. anyone have ideas how I can do that?
I saw the Martha Stewart Weddings winter 2009 cover, but I can’t find it online in a high resolution image and I don’t want to use those ugly butterflies she did, but I want a rainbow effect. Links, ideas?

A: Greetings!
I actually make and sell Butterflies for decorating cakes! I know the magazine you are referring to as well, I’ve made a homage rainbow cascading butterfly cake based on that cake. My butterflies are Handmade in the U.S.A. drawn, designed and created from scratch (no clip art or stolen images from online) waterproof, made with a semi-transparent plastic film, they have Real looking antennae that I attach individually to each which holds up on close inspection. You can apply a backing of fondant to them to make them easily attachable with fondant cakes; the backing also makes the butterflies “POP” nicely on the cake. I create 8 different sizes, I have 200 Butterfly designs, I can color match and I do custom request orders too, an optional add on of attached wire to the butterflies which can be cut down to any length needed and insert into cakes or cupcakes easily. These butterflies are also good for invitations, scrapbooking, home decoration, just about anything you can imagine!

Check out my Butterflies, see if they will work for you! If you have more questions or would like to order please contact me.

Make it a Butterfly filled day!

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Q: Wedding Ideas? Thoughts Anyone?
I know this Christmas just got over, & I know my wedding is a ways away but I’ve been told from friends that are married it’s better to start getting ideas together sooner rather than later. So my wedding will be in Dec. and I had a few ideas I’ve come up with and wanted to share and get input from other future brides.

-I wanted my colors to be mostly red with w/ some champagne and greens in there as well. I want to wear a white dress w/ a red or black sash and a little white wedding jacket over it. I want my bridesmaids to wear red dresses w/ champagne sashes and my flower girls w/ champagne dresses and red sashes.

-For a guestbook and guest favor holder I wanted to have a Christmas tree covered in candy canes and Christmas ornaments with our wedding info as favors. I wanted to have that right next to the guestbook table. For the guestbook I want to have a table set up w/ paper cut-outs w/ strings attached so the guests could write something on em and then replace their “guestbook” entries on the tree with the favors and candycanes they can take home with them.

-I also want to have another tree set up and instead of having a gift table, geusts could place their wedding gifts under and around the tree.

-I want to have centerpieces like this. Hope the link works. http://media.merchantcircle.com/18937377…

-I am really liking the ideas of a cupcake tower, ive liked them ever since I saw them. I’m not too serious of a person and I think they look fun and playful, but I dont want them to look too kid’s birthday party. Was also wanting to have a small regular cake layer on top that we could actually cut into for the cake cutting. Any ideas?

That’s really all I wanted to ask about for now. If anyone has any other ideas for a Christmas/winter wedding I would love to hear them-thank you! =)

A: To me it seems strange that you are mixing Christmas with a wedding which is meant to be your own, with your own individual stamp on it. People will be going to enough Christmas festivities, then when they go to your wedding they might be confused you have included it in your theme…

That said, it’s your wedding and you can have it however you want! The rest sounds nice though…I like the idea of the white dress with black sash…very classy. Also I’ve heard that red takes the focus off the bride. To me, red dresses are meant to be short and sexy…the colour doesn’t go very well with the whole bridal experience. I think you should have soft, pastel colours and beautiful flowers…then again it’s your wedding, not ours! have fun with it!!

Q: December Wedding Ideas?
I know this Christmas just got over, & I know my wedding is a ways away but I’ve been told from friends that are married it’s better to start getting ideas together sooner rather than later. So my wedding will be in Dec. and I had a few ideas I’ve come up with and wanted to share and get input from other future brides.

-I wanted my colors to be mostly red with w/ some champagne and greens in there as well. I want to wear a white dress w/ a red or black sash and a little white wedding jacket over it. I want my bridesmaids to wear red dresses w/ champagne sashes and my flower girls w/ champagne dresses and red sashes.

-For a guestbook and guest favor holder I wanted to have a Christmas tree covered in candy canes and Christmas ornaments with our wedding info as favors. I wanted to have that right next to the guestbook table. For the guestbook I want to have a table set up w/ paper cut-outs w/ strings attached so the guests could write something on em and then replace their “guestbook” entries on the tree with the favors and candycanes they can take home with them.

-I also want to have another tree set up and instead of having a gift table, geusts could place their wedding gifts under and around the tree.

-I want to have centerpieces like this. Hope the link works. http://media.merchantcircle.com/18937377/Odd-79323_Lantern_Centerpiece_White_LG_full.jpeg

-I am really liking the ideas of a cupcake tower, ive liked them ever since I saw them. I’m not too serious of a person and I think they look fun and playful, but I dont want them to look too kid’s birthday party. Was also wanting to have a small regular cake layer on top that we could actually cut into for the cake cutting. Any ideas?

That’s really all I wanted to ask about for now. If anyone has any other ideas for a Christmas/winter wedding I would love to hear them-thank you! =)

A: Cupcake tower wedding cakes typically do come with a small “traditional” tier on top for the bride and groom to cut into for photos or save for the 1st wedding anniversary. Here’s a pic I found on Google.

http://www.pinkcakebox.com/images/cake599.jpg

As for everything else, I really like your color scheme, but be careful not to over-do it. I think the most beautiful weddings have a very neutral color like white or silver for all the chair covers and tablecloths, and just pops of the “actual” color scheme in the decorations and flowers. If you have the money, spring for a professional wedding planner. They do so much for you that it really takes a weight off your shoulders.

Good luck & congrats!

Q: Where can I find a Christmas wedding cake stand like this one?
Many people are trying to find a large sleigh-and-reindeer cake stand like the one on this page:

http://www.favorideas.com/wedding-themes/seasonal-themes/glorious-winter-favor-ideas/

No one seems to be able to track it down.

Obviously it would cost $$$ but I have no idea where to find it. It looks like something you’d buy from a floral supply shop, though. Any ideas?
Only big-budget glossies have the money to stage a set and send out a photographer. This is a stock photo. The article author doesn’t know anything about the photo.

A: It looks like 2 lenox or 2 high end porcelain deer which you could find at any high end china outlet during Christmas. The sleight is custom made to hold the cake. If you purchased the fancy deer, I am sure the cake maker will be able to find or make the base.
My baker had tons of different bases and things they would custom make for you…. like you said it’s all $$$$$

Q: Wedding Cake Opinion.?
I need some opinion’s on wedding cakes. I have two ideas for cakes but I guess I need to tell you a little back ground info. We both love football, he played on his high school and college team and I was on the medical staff for mine. Our wedding is going to be winter themed, colors are an icey blue and brown.

I have two cakes in mind. One is this cake topper http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001S21ORM/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0011VRHZS&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0DMHAYHVB2NFSN6GCGH6

with either chocolate icing or buttercream icing.

Or this cake topper http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BCFRL8

with buttercream icing and pine cones. Pone cones because of the winter theme.

Which one would be best?

A: I like the doves, but I am bias!

Our theme was lovebirds though! I think you can mix your ideas and have the football topper with your pine cones. That way you are putting your personality and the wedding theme on your cake! Have fun and be sure to EAT some of your cake! I only had a bite of mine!

Q: Christmas Wedding Idea Suggestions?
I know this Christmas just got over, & I know my wedding is a ways away but I’ve been told from friends that are married it’s better to start getting ideas together sooner rather than later. So my wedding will be in Dec. and I had a few ideas I’ve come up with and wanted to share and get input from other future brides.

-I wanted my colors to be mostly red with w/ some champagne and greens in there as well. I want to wear a white dress w/ a red or black sash and a little white wedding jacket over it. I want my bridesmaids to wear red dresses w/ champagne sashes and my flower girls w/ champagne dresses and red sashes.

-For a guestbook and guest favor holder I wanted to have a Christmas tree covered in candy canes and Christmas ornaments with our wedding info as favors. I wanted to have that right next to the guestbook table. For the guestbook I want to have a table set up w/ paper cut-outs w/ strings attached so the guests could write something on em and then replace their “guestbook” entries on the tree with the favors and candy canes they can take home with them.

-I also want to have another tree set up and instead of having a gift table, guests could place their wedding gifts under and around the tree.

-I want to have centerpieces like this. Hope the link works. http://media.merchantcircle.com/18937377/Odd-79323_Lantern_Centerpiece_White_LG_full.jpeg

-I am really liking the ideas of a cupcake tower, ive liked them ever since I saw them. I’m not too serious of a person and I think they look fun and playful, but I dont want them to look too kid’s birthday party. Was also wanting to have a small regular cake layer on top that we could actually cut into for the cake cutting. Any ideas?

That’s really all I wanted to ask about for now. If anyone has any other ideas for a Christmas/winter wedding I would love to hear them-thank you! =)

I posted pictures w/ this same thing on weddingbee, but I wanted all kinds of suggestions so I wanted to post it here too. Here’s the link to that website w/ pictures I put up on there. If you have anymore ideas/suggestions I’d like to hear them, thank you!
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/christmas-wedding-idea-suggestions
Thank you everyone for you suggestions so far. I do like the idea of the plain ornaments, I can understand how people wouldn’t necessarily want to use something w/ our info on it.

A: I am planning a December wedding also, and I went to write my ideas down for you here, and as I was reading your questions I saw that we have the same ideas, including about the trees!!! The only difference is that I was having two trees with white lights and red toole fancy ribbon (instead of garland, it looks a lot more fancy), and inbetween the trees I was going to have an electric fireplace, or maybe put the trees between the fireplace of the venue I am going to have it at.

Also, another idea for a favor is to have personalized ones. I am getting people ornaments, something different for everyone but all the same price (depending on where you live there are outlet christmas stores open year round that have ornaments that are beautiful and not cheezy looking for only a dollar or two, to up to $100 each depending on your budget). I was going to do that and wrap them and leave them at the tables for people. I didn’t full decide if I wanted to do this and take the christmas theme THAT literal, but it was just a thought.

I also considered having a photo booth (with a cover because i don’t want it to look cheezy) and having people take pictures there, and getting them picture ornaments as favors and people can put the pictures they took of them and their dates or friends or family at the wedding and put it in the ornament and write the year of the wedding on the ornament. Not necessarily the date because that’s too personal for the bride and groom and not so much for the guests, but having the year is nice.

Another idea is instead of a cupcake tower maybe having a tier or two tier cake for you to cut, and then individual cakes for each guest that are put in mugs. I think bargainmugs.com has the ones for weddings, they come in red, and you can put your names on it, the dates, anything you want written on it. My friend is a cake decorator and is making my cake for me and we are having a two tiered cake to cut, and have pieces to send home for our guests, as well as have those mugs and cake in the mug. Then she is putting home made whip cream on the top, and making an icicle out of sugar and other ingredients to stick out from the top. Right now she is trying to find a way to make that the spoon, without it being sticky to hold. Still working out that idea.. but it’s interesting and different.

Also theknot.com has a lot of pictures and information for christmas and red themed weddings, you should check it out. They have centerpieces, dresses, table decorations, favors, everything you want. You can even buy stuff there for favors in bulk for pretty cheap. Congratulations!!

Q: Help with cupcake ideas for Christmas wedding?
Instead of a cake, I’m doing a cupcake tier for my wedding. Our colors are red and white with silver accents. I’m baking them myself and trying to make them look as classy as possible so they don’t look like birthday cupcakes.

I found this website:
https://secure.lucks.com/bpcsom/nxcsc.nsf/ListProducts?openagent&ListMenuEntry=09CCF3A6FCA3921F8825747800585A88&MenuEntry=09CCF3A6FCA3921F8825747800585A88&SID=5073D10A5D99BC3A88257675005CF236

They have all types of gum paste flowers to put on the cake, but I’m not sure which to use. We’re using red roses for the bouquets, but I don’t like the way their gum paste roses look.. so I want to use something different, but I don’t know what. I want it to have a very classy, winter look.

Also, what color icing should I use? We’re doing white wedding cake mix for the cupcakes. That same website has some airbrush shimmer stuff that you can use on the icing also that I thought about using.. again, just don’t know what color.

Any suggestions/ideas/pictures are welcome! Thank you so much!
Sorry, try this link:

http://tinyurl.com/yfma7ky
Wow.. I appreciate everyone’s responses.. but so far, nobody has answered my question? :

A: What a great idea! I love it, seriously
I read this wishing I could make them for you… it’s my passion lol

For the actual cupcakes – white is the way to go

Icing – also white, make sure you compare icing colors first.
Some vanilla icings have a tint of yellow or beige. You want snow white not cream

Decoration- I saw that website, the red roses are actually pretty cute and very neat. I would think when you make 150 of these and display them, they are going to look magnificent!
If you want more realistic roses, look for another supplier or I suggest you make them yourself, a few days before the wedding. It will be time consuming.

I’m not sure what size roses you would like, but the red roses on that website are 1 3/4 inches which i would say is a good size.
if you only want one rose on each cupcake do not get anything that is 2 inches or larger, it will dwarf the cupcake with the additional decorations :S
This is how i would complete the look:
one rose on the semi-thick snow white icing
not centered, but to the side/ upper corner
very dark forest green leaves, about 2 or 3, coming out from under the rose
silver, shimmery accents also coming out from under the rose
(the leaves and the accents should come out from under the corner to the center – pointing towards the opposite corner)

for silver accents i would suggest something like baby breath flowers (sprayed with that silver airbrush stuff)

Display – cup cake tower, you can never go wrong with that You can even make the center tier and cake topper a bunch of red roses and baby breath flowers.

Congratulations and good luck!
If you need any help let me know
lol
<3

Q: Need Help on choicesing a grooms cake?
So like most people planing a wedding there is a grooms cake. I need ideas. We are planing to have a winter theme but does it have to deal with the theme. Because I want it to be him not the theme. So is that right or wrong.

A: traditionally the groom’s cake reflects the groom’s interests or hobbies. Let him decide what he wants.

my uncle is a pilot and he had an airplane cake. My cousin plays drums and he had a drum set cake. My brother is a scifi geek and he had an alien space ship landing in area 51.

traditionally the groom’s cake is served at the rehearsal dinner, but I’ve noticed that as it moves out of the south into other areas of the country it is served at the reception as an alternative flavor cake.

It’s his cake, let him pick what design and flavor he wants and enjoy.

Congrats on your big day and good luck.

Q: Wedding Tables, Cakes, Decor Options needed?
Looking for Ideas! Here are my colors:

White, Silver, Light Blue, Medium Blue or even like a Periwinkle.

Sorta like a winter white and blue colors but NOTHING baby blue or pastels (i hate pastels) I guess the best way I can explain it is by a holiday theme..of snowflakes, snow, snowman blue…..okay so its not a winter wedding but I love the colors with silver..mildly elegant. Looking for any images or ideas you would like to add to my possibilities list.

I am up for any pictures for cakes, table setings, plates, center pieces, gifts, bridesmaid dresses, have three girls so dresses as well so long as they don’t match identical.

Hope that made sense..Thanks in advance! OH and the wedding is late summertime…

A: I love weddings! My sister is getting married this coming January and her colors are chocolate and cranberry. The silver and blue is also one of my favorite wedding color schemes right now. I highly recommend the online wedding shop at www.theknot.com. They have some of the cutest favors and plus their website has tons of pictures from past weddings so you can steal lots of good ideas. They also have vendor listings too sorted by area so you can find someone local to you that bakes wedding cakes.

The online shop:
http://weddingshop.theknot.com/weddingwarehouse/HomePage.aspx?KSTRK=NAVTABWEDDINGSHOP
^^ THEY SERIOUSLY HAVE SOME CUTE STUFF! It is a bit pricey though. My sister and I basically just stole the ideas from their shop and got together with the bridal party and made the centerpieces and stuff on our own.

The vendor listings:

http://www.theknot.com/wp_cities.shtml

The wedding photos:

http://weddings.theknot.com/odb/results.aspx?type=3&colors=Red

**I’m not sure if you’re Photoshop savvy, but I’m a graphic designer so one thing I did was design a candy bar wrapper with a photo of the bride and groom to be that had their last name and wedding date on it. We went to Kinko’s and had them printed and cut for under $30 and bought king size Hershey bars in wholesale boxes at Sams Club. We assembled them ourselves with some cool glue I found at Office Depot. It came in a big clear tube (I think it’s Scotch brand) and had a felt tip end so you could brush it onto the wrapper without leaving all the gunk and globs that regular glue sticks leave. We’re going to put one at each place setting at the reception. It was a cute and cheap favor for the guests. We didn’t really see the point in spending $5 on favors for each person when they’re going to throw it away anyways. I think most people would much rather have a chocolate bar then something like a paperweight with the bride and grooms name on it, don’t you? We also have 450 guests so we are trying to work on a budget!**

Another cute idea that we are still considering is buying some plain black 5 x 7 wooden picture frames and print out some little papers that we would put inside each one that would have the bride and groom’s first and last name repeated over and over again in different fonts and sizes and putting them on the tables at the reception. This was an idea we found in a photo on www.theknot.com as well.

Congrats on your engagement!

Q: How to Plan a Winter Wedding on a Budget in Portland, OR?
I’m getting married in November of 2008! Unfortunately, I have to do everything by myself because my fiance is in the military and will be overseas until August. We have a budget of $5,000 which has to cover EVERYTHING from the dress to the cake and everything in between. We would like to get married in a church; and we like the idea of spending the night before and having the reception in a nice hotel. We do not want anything having to do with the outdoors. I have checked the knot and some other resources, but everything seems a little out of my price range and is outside. Please offer any suggestions you can think of! Help! Thanks!

A: Oooh…..congrats on your winter wedding! They are LOTS of fun to plan, trust me (I’m having one this year)! It’s always a bit tougher to do *anything* on a tight budget, but it can be done.

It might be a little tough to pull off a nice hotel reception in a good size city on your budget though. The key is to keep your wedding small (i.e. 75 people or less). I will have about 150 people and will be paying $6000 for the food alone at my hotel reception in a smaller Canadian city. And this is a good deal for what we are getting (we are serving our wedding cake as dessert instead of a dessert table). At most hotels, $30-$35 plate is standard. The prices average from $27-$50 a plate depending on what you want.

I’m not trying to freak you out, so don’t worry! But I AM trying to prepare you for the cost of weddings nowadays if you choose to go the formal hotel ballroom route.You will have to keep your wedding small, and cut costs elsewhere in order to feed your guests and get the venue of your dreams.

First:
-Book your wedding on a weekday (i.e. Friday) or a Sunday to save. Avoid Christmas and New Year’s Eve, where you will pay a lot more. The bonus for a winter wedding in December is that the hotel will already be decorated, and you won’t have to spend money on deorations. Yay!

You will have to determine your church. Some will not marry you if you are not members, look around. I will be paying $300 for my church fee (members for less than 3 years), plus $100 for the officiant. This does not include musicians. Try to find a church with small fees, and have friends sing or play an instrument for the service.Music cost to you: zero.

Invites:
-Make your own winter invites using a kit from Michaels. A white, sliver, and black theme works well for a winter wedding (our colors are white, black, silver, and baby pink).You can add snowflake confetti, mini candycanes, whatever you wish to the envelope. Your invites if self made will be very cheap, and you can personalize them nicely for a winter wedding! You can even make invites in the shape of a snowflake or snowman (the latter for a casual wedding).

Cake:
-Get a nice white sheet cake from the local grocery store, and decorate it with winter themed decorations like snowflakes. If you have a friend who is a great baker, have them make a cake that looks like stacked presents (this is what we are doing).

Centrepieces:
-Christmas oranges tied with a ribbon, arranged in a pile on the tables. These can serve as favors for guests to take home at the end of the night.

Dress:
-Get out there and browse the bridal shops for rack and sample sales. Secondhand shops, consignment shops, and eBay are other options.There are also online bridal salons that sell for much less, if you want a new dress. Search the web. You can also place a want ad in the paper, I bet lots of brides are hoping to sell their dresses and just don’t know who would take them!

Music: Shop around for a DJ in your price range. You can save money by having him for only the later part of the evening. You won’t need a DJ for the first half of the wedding, when speeches and toasts are being done. Have a friend MC. The hotel should be able to lend you a basic microphone. You will only need the DJ to kick off the first dance and from there on. If you’re brave or you must, a friend with an iPod can play DJ for the night (I do NOT suggest this, but some here have done it).

Cheap ways to make a winter wedding stand out:

-Serve candycanes and hot chocolate with your cake.
-Make paper ornaments that hang from a tree and double as escort/place cards.
-Have friends sing carols to welcome guests as they enter the reception area (we are doing something similar to this, except with a choir).
-Have your friends toss artificial snow instead of confetti.
-Have people write a “New Year’s Resolution for the couple” and put it in a basket for you to read later.

P.S. I agree that www.frugalbride.com is a GREAT site for anyone!
Have fun and enjoy your winter wedding! Mine is coming up, and I am both excited and scared!

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