Wedding Planning • 10/08/2024
Host the Christmas Wedding of Your Dreams With These Essential Planning Tips and Decor
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Christmas weddings are so romantic. They bring everyone together on glistening snowy grounds to celebrate love as magical as the twinkling lights around the venue. If hosting a Christmas wedding ceremony is your bridal vision, look no further for essential tips and decor you’ll need to make your dream come true.
Tips for Hosting a Christmas Wedding
Plan the ultimate Christmas wedding by keeping these crucial tips in mind after you get engaged. The earlier you start putting everything together, the easier it will be to host your ceremony at the end of December.
1. Choose Your Date With Thought
Experts estimate that 115 million Americans traveled over the 2023 winter holidays. Many people plan their holiday travel months in advance. If you choose a wedding date that’s only a month or two out, your guests might have flights and hotel rooms booked that they can’t cancel.
You’ll also be up against some bridal competition. Holiday weddings are always popular, especially the most beloved ones during the winter. Brides sometimes reserve their wedding dates a year or more before those days arrive. You might have better luck hosting a December wedding if you don’t aim exactly for Christmas or New Year Eve. Consider dates around those holidays to maintain your theme and get married on the timeline you prefer.
2. Book Your Venue as Early as Possible
The holidays are always among the first dates to go for wedding venues. The venues might have special packages to make the dates book faster or work with couples a year or two in advance. Once you’ve chosen your big day, start contacting venues. It’s never too early to inquire about a date near Christmas.
3. Pick a Theme
Getting married at Christmas doesn’t mean you’re stuck with Santa figurines and Rudolph plushies. The holiday has so many gorgeous themes to choose from. Consider themes featuring faux fur, s’mores, holly branches and pine trees covered in tasteful ornaments.
If you don’t want a Christmas wedding but still want a December wedding, no worries. You might love focusing on snowy branches and snowflakes. Maybe your vibe leans more toward flannel and firepits. As long as it’s cozy, you’ll have an incredible winter wedding.
4. Incorporate at Least One Outdoor Space
Your guests won’t want to spend all day and night outside in December, but that doesn’t mean everything should happen indoors. Your venue will get stuffy quickly. Give them at least one outdoor space to get some fresh air by working with your venue coordinator. They could arrange outdoor seating on a porch under patio heaters or a fire pit just outside your reception. You might even find yourself needing a cool breather between rounds on the dance floor.
5. Send Invitations Earlier Than Other Couples
It’s crucial that every Christmas couple sends their invitations earlier than everyone expects. Your guests will need time to accommodate your ceremony with their typical holiday plans. They’ll also want to get things like airplane tickets and hotel rooms before the holidays cause massive price tag spikes. Reserving a room block will lock in their hotel rate, but they’ll still have plane tickets to manage if they’re out of town.
The average couple sends their invitations six to eight weeks before their wedding. That’s a comfortable time period to arrange travel plans outside the holidays, but that all changes in December. You’ll need to send your invitations extra early — like three to six months ahead of time — so people can plan how they’ll attend your ceremony and their holiday plans.
Essential Christmas Wedding Decor
Ready to visualize your ceremony and reception space? This Christmas wedding decor will look fabulous with any theme or venue. See which options work with your budget as you piece your dream day together.
1. A Realistic Pine Garland
Garlands are a quintessential Christmas decoration. Use this gorgeous pine model to decorate your venue’s fireplace mantle or your wedding altar. You could even hang it over doorways into your ceremony and reception area to make each space more festive.
2. Mini Fairy String Lights
Christmas wedding decor often involves string lights because they’re on every Christmas tree each year. Wrap mini string lights around your centerpieces, food displays or gift table. They operate on individual battery packs so you can easily turn each one on and off without using all of your venue’s electrical outlets. They’ll add soft mood lighting that makes your ceremony more romantic.
3. 30-Piece Snowy Pine Tree Table Toppers
Couples choose floral arrangements for their wedding centerpieces, but you might not want spring and summer flowers at your winter reception. Pine tree table toppers are an excellent alternative. They come in varying heights so you’ll still get visual depth on each table while matching your centerpieces to the time of year.
4. Emerald Green Velvet Table Runner
Velvet is a foundational part of Christmas wedding decor. It adds visual texture to any space and makes the room appear cozier due to its rich fabric. It’s the perfect option for table runners on your gift table, reception tables and even your altar.
Choose a dark emerald green to pull evergreen pines into your wedding decor while matching the green of most Christmas trees. Even if you go with this table runner’s other color options, like burgundy, it’ll still enhance your wedding theme in the background of your big day.
5. 24-Pack of Battery-Powered Flickering Candles
Candles always make spaces feel more intimate. Many venues don’t allow live flames in their spaces due to the fire risk. Battery-powered candles are the ultimate compromise for couples who want mood lighting throughout their ceremony and reception.
Place these votive candles within candle holders that match your theme. They’ll look lovely inside red glass holders or mini rustic lanterns. When your wedding ends, you can even reuse them at home. They could light every Christmas Eve celebration in years to come while you reminisce about your wedding with your partner.
Plan the Ultimate Christmas Wedding
Hosting a Christmas wedding is so much easier once you have decor pieces that tie your theme together. Start planning your big day at least six months in advance to book your dream venue, give your guests enough time to arrange travel plans and collect all of the Christmas wedding decor you need to celebrate your nuptials in style.
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