A Christmas elopement wedding
Ah December elopements. A proper winter wedding. With us that usually means getting married in front of our open fire on the terrace under the glass roof. Sound good?
Now, not everyone who wants a December wedding wants a Christmassy wedding. But when they do, oooh we love that.
How we design a winter elopement wedding
How do we do that? Attention to detail. A shed load of decor. And a love of creating a completely custom look for each couple.
It starts with the ceremony. The most important part of your wedding is the ceremony. That’s the whole reason for this. So the ceremony space is super important.
Then where will be drinks reception be? Are there guests? What time of year will it be? What’s the weather forecast? Do we need a Plan A and Plan B on the day for a quick switch?
The wedding breakfast table set up. Where is it located? How many people? What kind of table? (sweetheart table just for two, round table for up to 10 or long tables for up to 12?). Table linen, chargers, napkins, runners, tealights, centrepiece.
Cake table? Again we need to nail the location. Type of table – half moon, square, vintage hand cart or maybe an oak barrel – all details to be finalised. Once location and table type are sorted, it’s onto the details. Table linen, cake stand, lanterns, cake plates. Everything adds to the overall feel. And the cake table has to co-ordinate with the wedding breakfast table – it’s gotta look like they’re both at the same wedding. Well, yeah.
Evening set up. Lounging furniture. Again depends on how many people and the time of year.
Helen & Hayley
Helen and Hayley got married with us at the beginning of December 2023. They wanted “Christmas winter cosy”. Yes!
Then we heard one of them was wearing a red dress. YES! But they were clear, they didn’t want the whole thing to be red, that was a hard no. Ok.
Working with Helen & Hayley in the 3 months leading up to their wedding date, they agreed their flowers with Jodie our florist. They requested “wintery foliage with white flowers and red roses”. Got it.
Then the cake. Working with Harrie our elopement cake maker of Boo To A Goose, they went for “a white wintery sponge cake with fresh foliage.” Great.
Using those details, a couple of pics they sent of some of our other winter weddings they liked and with that “Christmas winter cosy” firmly in our heads, we set about creating their dream elopement wedding.
Shall we look at how it all turned out? Spoiler alert, it was fab.
Ceremony
Ok let’s start with the ceremony. Location? Well it was December so that meant the options were the wedding barn, the main house or the terrace in front of the fire. Helen & Hayley were very clear, it was the terrace by the fire for them, that was their dream.
We set up one of our wooden arches on the terrace. The terrace had already beeen decorated with twigs and ivy by the florists for our November elopements. Come December we added mini snowballs and baubles. As Helen & Hayley were having touches of red, we added some red fairy lights to the arch too. Lanterns and tea lights on the floor with white wax christmas trees and a white fabric back drop created the perfect place for a Christmas elopement wedding.
We set up the Registrar’s table opposite the ceremony arch, next to the open fire. In keeping with a Christmassy cosy feel we dressed the Registrar’s table in dark green linen with a dark green matte sequin overcloth and white linen fringed runner. Upholstered button back chairs and tealights in white and green finished off the table.
And here they are…
Drinks reception
It’s a Christmas elopement wedding so although we have had outside drinks receptions in December, it really wasn’t forecast to be warm enough on this wedding. We whisked everyone indoors for a drinks reception in the main house. That option is available in the coldest months, so November, December and March.
As it was December the house was decorated for Christmas. Oh yeah, and we had the fire going in the house too.
NGL if you don’t want a Christmassy feel but you’re in the main house for your arrival drinks, wedding ceremony and/or your drinks reception, I ain’t taking the Christmas tree down. If the house is Christmassy, your wedding will be too, if you’re in the house. Sorry ’bout that.
Wedding breakfast table
Loved designing this table set up. Helen & Hayley had 6 guests so with the 2 of them that’s 8 people in total. They wanted a round table for eating and our 5 ft round table is perfect for 8 people.
In the winter the eating location is limited to in front of the fire. We don’t offer other options in November, December or March – you’ll definitely be eating in front of the fire.
We had already set up the dining table out of sight so whilst the drinks reception was taking place in the main house, we carried the table fully laden with linen, crockery and crystal glasses onto the terrace. Yes that takes confidence and no, I’ve never smashed a glass or broken anything doing it. Skillz right?
We matched the table linen with the Registrar’s table, dark green round cloth topped with a dark green matte sequin overcloth. We topped the green sequin overcloth with a white sequin runner. Sequins are so super sparkly as it gets dark and they twinkle in the candlelight – just the job.
We kept it mainly green and white but we added small touches of red with the charger plates, the bridal bouquet centrepiece and some extra rose petals. We brought in accents of gold in the napkin ring holders and the amber water goblets. Tealights in frosted white, bark and red summed up the rustic wintery vibe Helen & Hayley were after.
Winter wedding cake
And then onto the cake…
We used the existing Registrar’s table for the cake table, just swiveled it 180 degrees and placed it under the ceremony arch. Bingo, one cake table duly set up.
Remember Helen & Hayley wanted a white wintery cake with fresh flowers? How ’bout this?
The white fringed linen runner and the arch fabric backdrop gave all the snowy feels. We used our white milk glass cake stand and the florist provided extra flowers (plus pine cones) for our cake maker Harrie to decorate the top of the cake. More tea lights in white, red and green, more rose petals and ta da – a white wintery cake table of dreams.
and here’s how the cake table relates to the wedding breakfast table. These two look like they’re at the same wedding for sure.
Overall
So that’s a whistle stop tour through a Christmas elopement wedding from just a couple of weeks ago. If that doesn’t put you in the Christmas mood, well you just ain’t a Christmas person.
Some final gorge pics of this beautiful Christmas wedding before I let you go…
Credit where credit’s due:
All pics: Clare Kinchin
Cake: Boo To A Goose
Flowers: Moss & Mushrooms Floristry
Venue, decor and styling: Ever After
