Over the weekend I received a letter in handwriting I instantly recognised. An old friend had invited me to her winter wedding in December, to be held in the colder northern climates of Edinburgh. It’s been a while since I actually wrote about something wedding related on my wedding blog; I’ve been enjoying covering all aspects of my life after marriage, the challenges me and my husband face and how my interests have evolved and changed over time.
Despite this, to say I was excited to be receiving a wedding invitation is an understatement. I love weddings, and to see my best friend finally set a date was amazing. Then it hit me; a winter wedding? In Scotland? This would require a special kind of attire the likes of which I’ve never put together before. For that matter, there’s probably many people that have never put together an appropriate attire for a winter wedding.
This blog started life as a means to help others plan their wedding and have an incredible day like I did two years ago, and today it returns to these roots. Got an upcoming wedding you think you’ll be enduring in the cold dampness of a typical British winter’s day? I’m here to help with a few tips from experience!
Shoes
I’ll start with shoes because these are the, in my view, both the essential piece of a quality wedding attire, as well as the barrier between soggy and dry feet. I’ve made this mistake before; I wore high heels to a garden wedding that was subject to a downpour of biblical proportions. As such, I ended up having to take them off and soldier on in nothing but tights to protect my feet. Not my finest moment.
Carefully consider your environment before deciding on footwear. Also, don’t take what I said as a blessing to wear trainers to a weddings. Trainers at a weddings are an affront to all things inoffensive and are totally suitable for a happy couple’s big day.
Dress
Always keep it formal regardless of the weather. Apart from that, one of the most important things about choosing the right dress for a winter wedding is weight. I’m not talking about your personal weight, but more the weight of the dress materials and fabric itself. Anything made of heavy fabrics should be avoided as much as possible. Most winter wedding venues will have an inside area for you to keep dry of course, but there’ll eventually come a point where you want to go outside, so don’t be caught out by a dress that holds water. Anything with full sleeves is also a bonus, as this will keep you warm and is currently in trend.
Along with keeping dry, you want a dress that you can be comfortable in all night regardless of the weather. Light and breezy materials are highly recommended, as you want to be able to get up to the dancefloor and strut your stuff without being held back by heavy clothing.
Accessories
Accessorise appropriately for the winter weather. This means all the favourites of the season; hats, gloves, scarfs, and anything else you may need to wrap up warm. Winter has always been my favourite time to accessorise, because of the sheet variety afforded to you that simply doesn’t exist in the warmer seasons.
To be different, I always deck myself out in bright coloured accessories during winter. This is because I’ve noticed people tend to stick to more monotonous colours when it’s colder, so try and break this if you can and bust out some you more colourful clothing choices. Just remember to keep warm!
