When it comes to winter wedding décor and fashion, texture is key! This cozy winter wedding inspiration combines our favorite chilly weather textures (think: furry fabrics and warm knits) with super cool, unexpected details like an icy palette, amber glassware, and faded vintage rugs. Event stylist Amanda Blair by Design and Heather Burris Photography captured the romantic spirit of winter with a seated dinner-for-two punctuated with dreamy florals from Wildly Cultivated and hand-painted ornaments by One + Only Paper. We can’t get enough of this bride’s cozy off-the-shoulder wrap knit sweater covering her Sweet Caroline Styles tulle bridal gown!
Kirsten and Justin’s Foxfire Mountain House wedding combined their love for their shared Norwegian heritage with the playfulness of their favorite Scandinavian fairy tales! Kirsten and Justin invited their closest family and friends to their magical wedding weekend that included a Pagan ceremony, a harvest dinner, and two seriously awesome cakes. This very crafty couple placed an emphasis on making sure every detail of their wedding was thoughtful and local, from their DIY garlands made of foraged wheat and flowers down to their hand-fasting cord woven from local wool. We can’t get enough of the perfectly ethereal images Erin Wheat Photography captured of Kirsten and Justin’s upstate New York wedding!
The most important thing about planning our wedding to us was to orchestrate a day that gave our guests a peek into the life we have created with each other. We wanted a small ceremony, attended only by those closest to us, whom we knew would be deeply emotionally invested in the event. Those family members and friends who were with us for every step of our relationship and understood the sacrifices and commitments we had made to one another.
The entire day was perfect from the moment we opened our eyes and kissed each other good morning to the minute we privately exclaimed, “We did it!” Films don’t get weddings this flawless. Our wedding style was based on our Norwegian heritage mixed with items from our childhood homes and imagery based on Scandinavian fairy tales.
I loved the simplicity of my gown. I created my headpiece using wheat, bay leaves, porcupine needles, and white statisce, it was inspired by the head piece worn by the fictional character Ozma from the Wizard of Oz series.
We spent months drying wheat and wild grasses in our apartment to use in the wreath for our ceremony. One of my favorites was our handfasting cord. I weaved it using wool yarn from a nearby farm and spun in mountain goat wool we collected on one of our adventures. We wanted nothing artificial, everything local and created with deep meaning and love.
Our ceremony was based on a traditional pagan wedding celebration. We called the quarters and sought blessings by the elements around us. It felt unnecessary to write vows explaining the love we had for one another, we knew how we felt. We often read aloud to each other, or listen to audio books on long drives to the mountains. Our favorite lines becoming part of a secret language only we understand. We each chose an excerpt from one of our books to read aloud.
We found our photographer Erin through Instagram. Her and I started chatting about the wedding at first and later realized we had much in common and shared a similar set of values. We became fast friends and talk almost every day. The day of the wedding we sat wrapped in downy blankets sharing a cup of coffee and discussing the last year of friendship and all the years to come. She is such a wonderful person and is passionate about her work and every couple she shoots. It felt like having another family member there.
Everything for our wedding was handmade. A craftsman by trade, this was one of the most important things to me in planning the day. I cut every flag and strung every garland with flowers grown in my mothers garden and wheat from a local grower.
There is so much information out there about hiring the right vendors, picking the right colors, inviting the right people. We picked the things that were most important to us and forgot the rest. The less hurdles you build for yourself the better. We made sure to not put ourselves in situations that might end in disaster. For example; maybe don’t try to step into that unsteady canoe just for that one lovers rowboat photo op. Not worth ending up in the pond. If family members aren’t happy with your decisions, don’t sweat it, the day is about the couple. Expect things to go wrong and know how to say “it’s no big deal.”
We had two wedding cakes, one was made my sister and was a white cake with Italian butter cream and a dandelion syrup we brought our family from Iceland. We also had a traditional Norwegian wedding cake I made called a Kransekake, which consists of tiered rings of marzipan.
We wanted a menu that reflected the harvest, hearty root vegetables and flavors based on the season. We served pasture raised chicken with handmade dumplings, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower wrapped in eggplant.
After a day full of laughter and tears we realized we were the last two still awake. The fall air was warm and filled with the smell of damp leaves. We held hands and walked back to the spot under two tall pines where we said our vows just a few hours ago. We wandered around the grounds listening to the last frogs of the season singing to each other. We sat in the garden and didn’t need to say anything to each other. We were just in the moment.
Cassandra and Warren’s Williamsburg wedding combines classic NYC sophistication with a hint of hip Brooklyn vibes! This couple’s intimate wedding at Aurora featured a super cool marsala color palette, gorgeous florals by Bloom Bar, and unique guest activities like a DIY loose leaf tea bar and an interactive drawing booth. Cassandra works for Kate Spade New York, so her minimalist Houghton bridal gown was punctuated with fun Kate Spade New York details like a leather jacket, a parrot charm, and playful jewelry! Kelly Giarrocco Photography captured every detail of Cassandra and Warren’s day beautifully, including their seriously fabulous reception tablescapes.
It was incredibly important for our wedding to feel like us! We wanted it to be intimate, cozy and romantic and we wanted our guests to feel the love in the details! It was also important for us to partner with small business owners, showcasing their artistry and business acumen.
We knew we wanted an intimate restaurant that was equal parts romantic, rustic and cool. Aurora was all of this wrapped up in a perfect package! The outdoor garden with soft hallo lighting, exposed brick, shelved wine, and hanging copper pots equated to a uniquely warm and sensational vibe. Needless to say the food was amazing and the staff was hospitable and professional! It’s an added bonus that we can visit it anytime we want to relive one of the most memorable days of our lives!
There were so many moments, it’s a day I want to relive over and over again! If I had to choose, one of the most memorable aspects was seeing Warren for the first time as I walked down the aisle. Nothing can compare to having all of your loved ones in one place, their eyes filled with joy and tears, with a 2 piece string band playing “I Can’t Help Falling In Love” as you gaze upon your future. I could literally feel the love and was overwhelmed with gratitude.
I truly believe that the wedding planning process is a part of the overall memory of your wedding so I made a promise to myself to keep my stress low and creativity high. I wanted to enjoy the journey. Here are my pieces of advice for wedding planning and the actual wedding day: 1. Pin down your wedding venue first – it will set the tone and make other decor decisions much easier, since every idea won’t fit with every venue. 2. Trust your instincts and don’t overthink your decor and vendor decisions. Pinterest is amazing since it allows you to clearly see themes in what you’re attracted to. Once a theme is evident, for ex. a semi-naked wedding cake, just roll with it and find a vendor that can deliver your vision. 3. Let things fall into your lap and seek ways to simplify the process. Take your co-worker up on their offer to make your veil (check), take Ubers to your venue instead of fussing with a limo (check, check), find your makeup and hair artists using an app (check, check, check). 4. Enlist a day-of-point person – I loved planning my wedding and knew that I wanted to fully enjoy the day so a week prior to my wedding, I passed off the reigns to a day of coordinator that I fully trusted (and had a background in wedding planning – lucky me)! 5. Lastly, this piece of advice was given to me by one of my best friends. Make a promise to yourself to let go any of the little details that won’t go the way you planned. The day goes by way too quickly and every moment is precious!
For us, choosing a beautiful restaurant in which many accommodations were built in, meant we could focus our resources on personal touches. Our guests are a part of our love story. They’ve contributed to who we are as individuals, and as a couple. Our surprises were our way of saying thank you for being apart of our tribe.
It was important for us to give our guests wedding favors that they could use and felt personal to them (and us)! So we gave each guest a wooden laser cut “name card” as apart of their table setting and they were a huge hit! We also had a DIY “tea bar” where guests could create their own mini tea kit to-go. Our favorite loose leaf teas captured our personalities – cool peppermint and sassy pumpkin spice, can you guess who’s who?! :)
I was also simply delighted by the talented small business owners that I had the pleasure of building relationships with, seeing their artistry come to life was pure magic in every sense of the word. From the speeches, to the dancing to the ice cream truck, Warren and I loved every moment of our wedding day!
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