Winter is a beautiful time of year, and with the addition of the holidays, it naturally becomes a time when friends and loved ones gather together to celebrate and create memories. Here are some ways to incorporate the holidays into your special day.
Festive Save the Dates
Since most people have a lot of different plans for getting together with family and traveling during the holidays, getting your save-the-date and wedding invitations out is essential. Not only will it give you a chance to add some holiday flair, but it also gives you an idea of who will be able to attend.
You can set the mood with stationery that borrows from a traditional holiday color palette but still maintains elegance to reflect your holiday-themed wedding.
Adding Favorite Holiday Treats
When deciding on your menu for the reception, you might want to consider adding your favorite holiday treats. It could be cookies, mugs of cider or hot chocolate, or even various holiday candies. There are also a variety of winter cocktails that could be a part of your bar’s offerings.
Your desserts could also reflect the holiday spirit, using peppermint, sugar cookies, or other homemade options that remind you of holiday family gatherings. Remember, the choices are wide open so you can incorporate special aspects of the holiday into every part of the day.
Even if you start with just a few appetizers for your guests while you take wedding party pictures, you can bring hints of the holidays to your celebration. Choose your favorite holiday snacks and let your catering team elevate them into appetizers your guests will love.
Holiday-Themed Decorations and Flowers
Naturally, the winter holidays are associated with unique flowers and colors, such as red and green. You can incorporate those colors within your bouquet and other decorations throughout your venue and reception. Plus, you can add a touch of mistletoe, allowing you and your new spouse to take advantage of the tradition and kiss frequently.
Plus, there are a variety of holiday decorations available that you can easily incorporate into your reception or venue. Weave holiday lights around your reception to give a holiday feel. You might even want to put a tree or garland around the venue, reflecting the season’s spirit. Dress up the ceremony space with sprays of vines, evergreens, anemones, and persimmons. Wreaths of eucalyptus can spruce up the ceilings and chandeliers of your venue. These wreaths are not only a classic Christmas decoration and a symbol of everlasting love.
Your bridesmaids can also carry bouquets with amaryllis flowers, surrounded by pine branches, red berries, and silver leaves. Your flower girls can carry a ornamental cone, subtly accented with a red or green ribbon, which mimics the rest of your decorations.
Notice that all aspects of these decorations allow you to mimic nature, bring elements of the holidays into your event, and also help you to remain on budget, since you can use items that are already available in stores and online.
Wedding Favors and Programs for Your Guests
With the holidays, you can use ribbon and wrapping that reflects the season and incorporate them into your wedding favors. Your bridal party can also get gifts that reflect the holidays and your special relationship. Since there are usually multiple sales around the holidays, use that as a chance to find the right gifts or wedding favors within your budget.
Boughs of holly and cedar twigs can also be used to decorate your tables and give a little bit of flair to your programs. Never be afraid to bring a bit of nature into your celebration since it gives you the holiday theme and also evokes happy memories for you and your loved ones.
Do not forget how reindeer can serve as weights to hold down escort cards and table numbers. The result is that something fun for your guests to play with at the tables, while also bringing the holidays into your reception.
Singing and Caroling
Holidays have a lot of music that everyone knows, including carols. Perhaps as part of your wedding reception, you can go caroling or invite a group to do so. Another option is to include a choir in either your ceremony or reception, honoring the holidays as part of your wedding.
You might even incorporate Christmas music into different parts of your reception or ceremony. Do not be surprised, however, if your guests start singing along with their favorite tunes.
Here is an option to incorporate the music of the season as you leave your ceremony and head to the reception. Instead of throwing rice, have your guests grab a bell and ring them as you leave. It will end up giving a unique flair to the day and create another special memory.
Gingerbread House Card Box
Holiday-themed weddings can include more than food, colors, and bits of nature. You can take the gingerbread house, for instance, and use it to create a card box for guests to drop in their cards wishing you well. Plus, you can use gingerbread houses as a theme throughout the food tables or around the desserts.
Holiday-Themed Cocktails
Toasts are a big part of every wedding. To make them extra special, you might want to have a holiday-themed cocktail for the initial toasts of the wedding party and parents. The poinsettia, served in a coupe glass, could end up being a custom libation served to your guests before the toasts begin. Another seasonal drink can be made with champagne, cranberry juice, and Cointreau.
Some couples opt to create a cocktail just for their special day. You could take elements of the holidays, such as candy canes, cranberry juice, and crème de menthe, to craft your special recipe.
There are so many different ways to incorporate the holidays into your wedding. With the growing popularity of holiday-themed weddings, it is key that you are proactive in your planning to make sure all the details are addressed. Our wedding checklists for both the bride and groom cover all the different things you need to cover and the best time frame for making it happen. Learn more about the options available for planning your wedding today.
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