Winter has always been a magical time of year to me, which makes me wonder why winter weddings aren’t more popular? It may be cold, but with some creative planning you can really beat the drudgery and warm things up a bit. I had my wedding during the winter season and want to share with you how I did it without taking out a second mortgage or maxing out my credit cards. With some patience and a little bit of research, it really isn’t that brutal to create the wedding of your dreams. Don’t forget that part of your dream wedding should be in actually enjoying the planning and preparations for the big day. You don’t want to turn into bridezilla, and you certainly don’t have to!





Fortunately, you are already saving money by choosing this time of year to tie the knot. Most Wedding Venues are cheaper during the colder seasons because they don’t have quite the demand. In fact, if you look hard enough, you’ll find that many of them offer special deals along with their discounted pricing, such as a free limo service, free or discounted decorations, as well as coupons and savings at partnering hotels. Just don’t be afraid to ask! And, don’t ask questions in general, ask specific questions. Keep in mind that they are more willing to offer deals on things that won’t cost them any extra money, such as decorations that they already own (They usually charge extra for these), but if they are already sitting in their storage, then they might be willing to offer them to you at no cost just to be competitive. It’s important to make sure they know that you have other options, and don’t necessarily have your heart set on them as your final pick.

Your other wedding vendors, such as your photographer, cake designer, DJ, etc., are also needing your business this time of year, so you should be able to save quite a bit there as well, as long as you put some time into the research and are willing to negotiate.

Cheap Winter Wedding Centerpiece Ideas:

Now, here’s the fun part: creating your own table centerpieces for the reception! I actually recommend making a party out of it. Get your family and friends together for a day of crafts and champagne. You can even substitute this get-together for the bridal shower. Here are some ideas that I did for my wedding:

1. Flowers are expensive, but elements from nature that you can find around your home, a nearby park or wooded area are not. My favorite look is with the use of branches and twigs. You can collect as many as you can and put them in clear glass vases in assorted sizes and shapes (easy to find at thrift stores, flea markets, or antique stores). The taller more substantial vases tend to give the most dramatic and best look for this project.

After collecting an assortment of branches and twigs, you can either leave them in their natural state or decorate them with white, silver, or gold spray paint, and/or fake snow or glitter. To really spruce them up, you can hang glass icicles from some of the branches, and maybe some glass droplets on the smaller branches. You can also decorate some of the stems with rhinestone or acrylic crystal garland – just don’t over do it. For a really romantic look, try hanging small candle lanterns from the branches; just make sure you are using vases with heavy bottoms and sturdy branches.

Place a small tap light (found at most hardware stores) at the bottom of each vase and surround it with translucent marbles or pebbles in the color of your choice. If you’re going for the winter white look, clear marbles look best. You will only need enough marbles to disguise the edges of the the tap light while still letting the top of the light peek through. The light shining up through the marbles and twigs creates beautiful shadows! To really create a stunning look, place your vase(s) on top of small round mirrors. This creates more interest and depth.

You can surround your vases with elements that will tie the look in with the rest of your wedding theme. Use centerpiece items such as moss, river rocks, candles, garland, lanterns, diamond confetti, pearls, pinecones, acorns, herbs such as rosemary, and of course, seasonal flowers. If you are going for a more green or natural look, moss works wonderfully placed sporadically around your vase, helping to disguise the edge of the mirror, if you chose to use one. I particularly like the look with moss, large river rocks and miniature lanterns surrounding your uniquely created vase. Or, if you want all white, you can use floating candles in mini square glass vases filled with rocks or marbles, white gardenias, and diamond confetti to finish your look.

2. This is a very simple idea that won’t need much preparation. In order to fill up some empty space at your reception, such as your cake table or surrounding your table centerpieces, fill wine glasses (preferably those with a shorter and thicker stem) 3/4 full with water, and let a single flower, with maybe just a 1/4 of an inch of the stem still left on, float in the glasses. I’ve found that roses look the best and will float perfectly with the petals right side up. Using deep red roses, I lined the back of my cake table with this idea, and placed a beautiful gold, silky and shimmy scarf on the table weaving in and around the glasses with a few loose pearls resting on top. It looked amazing!

3. One of the easiest and stress free solutions to a great centerpiece –without a lot of fuss — is by simply filling large glass vases of your choice with artificial snow and shimming pinecones. Surround it with candles, and voila! You’ve got a natural and organic centerpiece that will really warm things up.

Here is a list of elements that work perfectly for a winter wedding. Keep these in mind when creating your own unique centerpieces:

pinecones

twigs/branches

candles

acorns

glass icicles

glass droplets

diamond confetti

rhinestone or crystal garland

fake snow

pine tree garland

white christmas lights

glass vases

lanterns

pearls

glass marbles or pebbles

ornaments

wood

fruit such as apples

vegetables such as artichoke

twine

ribbon

scarves

wine glasses

seasonal flowers

cranberries

tap lights

rocks

holly berries

pine tree stems

artificial snow

I think that the most romantic and cozy atmosphere just comes from the use of a lot of candles and spot lighting. Fortunately candles can be incorporated into any design idea, so make sure you use plenty of them!

How To Make A Winter White Table Centerpiece: