What Are the Best Winter Wedding Themes?

There are a huge number of items to check off your wedding checklist when you’re planning your big day; you need to choose a wedding venue, hire a wedding photographer, choose your wedding dress, build your wedding party… the list goes on.

But one element that will go a long way in determining the look, feel, and overall vibe of your wedding? Choosing a theme. And if you’re getting married during the winter, going with a seasonal wedding theme could be a great way to get a wintery feel for your big day.

But what seasonal theme options are available? Let’s take a look at some of the best winter wedding themes to inspire your cold weather “I dos.”

Photo Credit // Amy Bennett Photography

Winter Wonderland

When you hear the word “winter,” there are certain things that come to mind. Think a blanket of fresh, white snow, twinkling lights, and drinking hot chocolate by the fire; essentially, a winter wonderland.

And because these elements evoke such a strong feeling of winter, why not incorporate them into your wedding theme and go full-on “winter wonderland” for your big day?

With a winter wonderland wedding theme, you want to incorporate traditional winter elements to bring the look, feel, and coziness of winter to life at your event. How you do that is up to you; for example, weather permitting, you could hold your wedding ceremony outside in the snow—or, if real snow isn’t an option, blanket your venue with fake snow and pine cones to recreate the look and feel of a snowy day. You could string up white string lights across your reception space, serve a traditional winter drink (like a hot toddy!) as your signature wedding cocktail, or, for dessert, treat your guests to a hot chocolate bar along with your wedding cake.

Holiday Cheer

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Valentine’s Day… there are a ton of holidays that happen during the winter months. And if your wedding day happens to fall on a date close to one of those holidays—or one of those holidays holds special meaning for you and your partner—incorporating that holiday into your event could be a great fit for your winter wedding theme.

When it comes to infusing holiday cheer into your wedding style and design, you have a few different options. You can keep your nods to the holiday subtle (for example, by incorporating a few golds and silver Christmas ornaments into your centerpiece design) or you can go all out (for example, by making your wedding invitations look like Valentine’s Day cards, carrying a bright pink and red wedding bouquet, and sprinkling the tables at your cocktail hour with candy hearts). Depending on how strongly you feel about the holiday and how much you want your wedding to feel like a holiday-themed event, a subtle holiday nod or an all-out holiday celebration could work.

Photo Credit // Idena Beach Photography

Winter-Inspired Wedding Colors

Many couples want to keep things more subtle with their nod to the winter season. If that feels like you and your partner, use winter to inspire your wedding color palette.

If you wanted to keep things elegant, you could make white the focal point of your wedding colors. It’s not only wedding appropriate, but also a subtle nod to snow. If you wanted more color, you could also incorporate silver (as a nod to ice) or blue (as a nod to frost and cold weather). You could use winter colors in every part of your wedding design—or keep it focused on a few key elements, like your centerpieces, your table settings, or your wedding cake or dessert bar.

Get Out There and Plan Your Perfect Winter Wedding

If you’re planning a winter wedding, these winter wedding themes are a great jumping-off point to incorporate seasonal elements into your big day. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and plan a winter wedding you, your partner, and your guests will never forget.