Wedding Snow Weddings?!!!

[Blackpaw]

Anyone had a wedding in the snow? My SO and Ý have been discussing the idea. Except for us that means going from Aus to North America (snow is prettier there!!) so will prolly mean we''ll have all of ten guests! Immediate family and the couple of our friends that will take any excuse to go snowboarding.

But seriously, im wondering if anyone has done it or though of doing it? Was it great? Crazy expensive? Beautiful? Were people reluctant to attend?

 

[doodle]

have you been around snow before while in formal wear? i''m thinking cold, wet, uncomfortable, and trickier to arrange travel--only snow can make mere walking complicated! i should mention, however, that i have a natural bias against the stuff--where i''m from, 3 inches LITERALLY classifies as a blizzard, and because we''re TOTALLY unprepared for it, even flurries shuts my entire town down until it melts away because people here don''t know how to drive in it. even school closes for flurries in central georgia, haha! it is pretty though!

 

[Blackpaw]

doodle - lol!! Ý have given some thought to this though ive only visited the colorado rockies once and there werent any blýzzards at the time! Ceremony and reception would definitely be indoors though.

Maybe im just a romantic but i like the idea of my wedding night having something to do with a log fire and a shag pile rug

Or maybe that''s not romance but something else im talking about?!!!

 

[doodle]

this is awful, i know, but as soon as i hear the word "shag", i immediately think of austin powers, EW EW EW! i see what you''re saying though--i really wanted my family to be at my wedding, but FI and i loved the idea of getting married in Italy. we decided instead to have the wedding in our hometown with everyone there, serve Italian food, and go to Italy for our honeymoon. I CANNOT WAIT!

 

[mjso]

Before our actual engagement I REALLY REALLY wanted to get married in the winter (Nov-Jan ish) and have it be snowing and get "driven" to the ceremony in a horse and carriage. I <3 winter and snow. I think it is so pretty and romantic. I have seen some awesome pictures of weddings in the snow.

But...after the engagement, I asked FI when he wanted to have the wedding and he was an emphatic "spring" person, so I nixed my idea of the snow-horse drawn carriage idea and switched it up for a spring beach wedding.

I think it would make for awesome pictures and be a really unique wedding, but if having all of your friends/family there is really important to you, it could be a deal breaker.

 

[misspinky]

I''m from the Midwest and our weather is so erratic both in the summer and the winter. We could have 12 inches of snow for Christmas or it could be 50 degrees outside....

I''m not usually a cold weather fan, but my fiance and I decided that we didn''t want to wait a year to get married, so we''re having a New Year''s Eve wedding. I think it would be fabulous if it snowed a *tiny* bit because the pictures would be awesome.

And most of our family lives right in our area, so travel shouldn''t be a problem.

 

[saltymuffin]

My brother, and one of my best friends were both married in January. (Two different weddings, not to each other!) I live in Canada, so this means COLD and SNOW! Now, I wouldn''t have called them "snow" weddings, but winter weddings instead. In neither case did the bride and groom frolic in the snow for photos. The ceremony and photos all took place indoors - aside from the few chilly shots taken on the church steps. You really can''t bet on having snow, and weather warm enough to be outside.

Despite this, I can envision a FABULOUS winter wedding at one of the Fairmont Hotels in the Canadian Rockies. It wouldn''t be cheap, but the Jasper Park Lodge, sounds exactly like what you are envisioning. The property is a series of "cabins" with a main lodge where there is a huge rustic fireplace in the lobby/lounge. They have a couple of larger cabins which sleep about 10-12 people. This is a luxury resort, so I am using the term "cabin" loosely, staff will cater food/events from within your own cabin if you don''t want to go to the main lodge. The "luxury signature cabins" I am speaking of have hosted English Royalty, including Kings and Queens, Marilyn Monroe and Bob Hope, among many others. It is one of my favorite places, especially in winter, and would be an amazing spot to get married. It is right on a lake, which they groom for skating, and minutes away for a ski hill for snowboarding.

To avoid the hazards and lack of predictability of winter driving, you can take the train to Jasper from Edmonton (4-5 hours), which has an international airport.

check out the website, there is a virtual tour of some of the cabins, including the Outlook cabin:
http://www.fairmont.com/jasper/

 

[saltymuffin]

the train in winter

 

[gogosi]

Well I''m from Canada and we defiently get our share of snow. One thing you should consider especially since you would be flying out here are the bad storms that may or may not happen in the winter... This past winter there were some terrible snowstorms, airports were filled with people who could not fly out due to the weather, in one storm a poor fella got stuck in 3 airports taking him about 4 days to get from Vancouver to Toronto. That would be my main concern! In terms of price, us Canadians are not big fans of the snowy months and it''s usually a pretty dead season for weddings so you can get some great rates.

On the other had we''ve had years where we''ve barely gotten any snow and you end up coming all the way up here just to freeze and not get any of that picture perfect white snow and all...

You could go to places like Whisler out in BC but you''ll pay quite a premium for it. It is up in the mountains and you would be guaranteed to have the picture perfect snow but as I said it''s fairly pricey.

Good luck with the planning.

 

[saltymuffin]

The main lodge at the JPL in winter

 

[Blackpaw]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Saltymuffin the fairmont is to die for

Its perfect!!

I should have been clearer in my original post - we were thinking of getting married at a ski resort. So while cold is ok a blizzard is not desirable!! The big issue is i guess the guests. As for the cost we thought that maybe as no-one would come we''ld pay about the same as for a wedding back home!!

Sýgh.... I want to get married at the fairmont

 

[MustangGal]

I went skiing at Crystal Mountin near Seattle last year, and they had the cutest little church at the bottom of the slope. I think there was actually a wedding there that weekend. They had a pretty lodge and little condos you could rent.

A snow wedding would be fun, and much different than most "destination" weddings that tend to be beachy places!

 

[olyelr]

well, we had 11 guests.... and we skied. I had a strapless dress ($40, used) and he bought a tux from Craigslist. We bought everyone''s lift ticket and ski rental... great time! I got a white down jacket and duct taped flowers to my ski poles. It was beautiful and just the way we wanted it - we are different though, I know that....
here''s what we looked like on the day....

 

[matildawong]

Ooh I love it, olyelr...

 

[Blackpaw]

Thanks everyone for the replies. My SO and I still really like the idea, I think the battle will just be with family

Olyelr your wedding looks amazing

You''re braver than me though, id be strictly indoors for the ceremony (though would definitely hit the slopes beforehand!!!) I cant help thinking it must have been cold under the dress!

 

[trillionaire]

I remember walking through 3 inches of snow, one Valentine''s Day, to go dinner with SO. I had on garters (which he didn''t know), so I spent my time trying to keep my stockings and draws from fallin down in 3 inches of snow and three inch heels. It was... challenging. We took a cab home. I am not trying to discourage you, but really just offer some additional things to think about.

Cold weather doesn''t bother me, so your idea sounds unique and fabulous! Good luck!