It’s time for our second post in our Winter Wedding Series! Today, we’re featuring Derek and Denisse, who came all the way from Texas to celebrate their wedding in the beautiful snow Northern Michigan has to offer. For their winter wedding, the couple chose to bring out the sparkle of the winter season! With accents of silver, ice blue and white, their Queen’s Tavern ceremony and West Garden Room reception made for a truly a glamorous winter celebration. There were snowflakes, jewels, white flowers, and ornaments all around the room, and the couple made their grand entrance through a tunnel of sparklers! Scroll on for photos, and a word from Denisse and Derek.
My fiancé and I got engaged over the summer. Shortly after that, we decided to have a “Winter Wedding,” just six months later. Mostly this was due to wanting to enjoy the snowy weather in closer proximity to his home-state (and much closer to his family), plus we wanted our guests to experience something a little more original and different than the average wedding. What better way to make our wedding stand out in everyone’s minds than by an amazing snowy winter wedding followed by skiing?
We began the planning by picking the venue and date. We quickly agreed that Castle Farms would be the perfect place for our most special day. The Castle proved very flexible, and very reasonably priced. Once the date was set, we started on the details: our wedding theme and colors, plus the size of the guest list.
Early January proved to be perfect. It’s still part of the Holiday Season, with everyone still glowing in the holiday mode, and possibly still on vacation after New Years. The little town of Charlevoix (where Castle Farms is located) was still decorated with Christmas trees and lights, adding to our Winter Wonderland Theme. Since I wanted to avoid any “red-and-green-and-Santa-Christmas-influence”, we opted for winter hues of icy cobalt blue and silver. To accent the Winter Wonderland Theme, plus add a splash of sparkle and elegance, we decided to add crystals to the decorations (and even on my dress!). After that, the ideas started flowing. We decided the “snowflake” would be a big part of our theme, adding even more of a winter mood to the overall experience. We were able to find quite a few snowflake-themed ideas for decorations, such as frosted glass vases and crystal trees, plus wedding favors such as small metal snowflake ornaments, which made it easier for our guests to take home. The snowflake was also an easy logo to print on our customized napkins, banners, programs, invitations, etc.
It was a very small family-only wedding, and ultimately, that proved the key to helping make our wedding so rich in details and decorations. With a guest list of less than 35, we were able to focus on every detail, making our Winter Wonderland Wedding a very intimate and exquisite experience for all who attended. And while the formal family wedding photos were taken inside Castle Farms, my Groom and I toughed it out in the snow for the Bride & Groom photo session. Those outside shots of the two of us together in our Winter Wedding Wonderland added a special magical touch that will forever remain in our hearts.
Photos by Darrell Christie Photography