Southern Weddings

Happy Thursday, friends! Today we have a fun little three-part series for you. We often get emails from readers with various questions and queries, and though we don’t have time to post about every one individually, we try to when we can. Reader Madi emailed us a few weeks ago, and this is what she said:

“I am a student at Texas Christian University, and I am a huge fan of Southern Weddings Magazine! Just two weeks ago, the sweet love of my life proposed, and since then I’ve been like a giddy girl as we’ve been exploring and contemplating the many options that come with planning our “big day.” Though I grew up in Kansas City, I’ve always been a Southern girl at heart, and even hurried South as soon as I could! I always thought I’d be married in the summertime, but our timing of things is looking more like a celebration in the winter, which could mean cold weather and possible snow fall! I always envisioned a ceremony outside of a barn and a reception with mason jars, cowboy boots, great food and beautiful floral arrangements… but winter timing may tweak all of that a bit. Is there any possible way y’all would share some ideas or do some sort of feature on how to pull off a traditional Southern wedding in a colder climate or even during the winter months? I’m looking for the warmth of Southern hospitality to surround us on that day.”

We loved the idea of dreaming up Southern ideas for a winter wedding, so today, we’re posting a three-part series for Madi. Up first is my inspiration board, then Marissa will be posting about winter fashion, and lastly Nicole will round us out with some Southern winter finds and DIY projects. If you have a brilliant winter wedding idea of your own, we’d love for you to chime in in the comments!

There’s absolutely no reason why traditional Southern style can’t be translated to the colder months, and I hope this board shows that. In fact, some Southern staples – raw cotton in particular – are more than perfect for winter. Use the fluffy bolls in bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces for a lush winter look.

Madi wants to get married in a barn, which is also totally doable in the winter. Just make sure to rent heaters, as older barns can be pretty drafty!

For tablescapes, I love the idea of substituting flowers (which would be pricy, and probably not all that pretty) with low clusters of cotton in vintage silver containers surrounded by white and ivory pillar candles (probably in hurricanes, if we’re talking about a barn!). A tone-on-tone dotted linen or runner would complete the scape.

Throughout the day, concentrate on layering texture – cotton, wood, nubbly linen, luxe chiffon – over a pretty neutral palette of white, ivory, and barnwood gray.

Credits, clockwise from top left:

Cotton bouquet photo by Pasha Belman via Southern Weddings; Samuelle Couture dress photo by Eric Kelley via Grey Likes Weddings; monogrammed mason jars photo by Vue Photography via Southern Weddings; cotton boll boutonnieres photo by 13:13 Photography via Southern Weddings; dotted linen photo by Sylvie Gil via Style Me Pretty; hot cocoa from Martha Stewart Weddings; wood fireplace photo by Thayer Photo via Snippet & Ink; Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyard photo by Eric Kelley via Grey Likes Weddings

To tide you over until Marissa’s post, here are a few of my favorite winter weddings we’ve featured:
Molly + Ben’s Chapel Hill Christmas wedding (here + here)
Lizzie + Greg’s glam New Year’s Eve wedding (here + here)
Sarah + Ryan’s rustic barn winter wedding (here + here)
Ashley + Judd’s glittery ballroom winter wedding (here + here)

Written with love by Emily