Winter Wedding - Is it right for you?

Every bride wants her wedding to be special and memorable. The 'wedding season' has traditionally run from May to September in the UK when there's more chance of warm weather. For a wedding venue like Holdsworth House, the benefit of a summer wedding is that the gardens also come into their own from spring. Blue Johnson geraniums, marigolds and clemetis are frequently see packing the borders or climbing the walls.

In the 90s however more and more couples began exploring the option of getting married overseas. The British weather can't always be relied upon to deliver glorious wall to wall sunshine so the appeal of a beach wedding on warmer shores is understandable. But often the expense, the beurocracy of ensuring the marriage is legal and the fact that many guests won't be able to join the special occasion are largely inhibiting factors that put couples off.

Most will agree that when the sun does shine, there's no better place to be than in glorious England. Beautiful architecture, dramatic landscapes and great food, particularly in God's Own County, mean that bagging a Yorkshire venue for your wedding offers plenty to look forward to.

Why do so many couples pin so much of their hopes on the weather? After all it's the one thing about a wedding you can't control. Summertime will be warmer but whether you're graced with sunshine, rain, showers, rainbows, wind or an overcast day is another thing. What's pretty certain about a winter wedding is being blessed with a cooler climate! We say once you choose your date, forget about the weather - it will do its own thing and us Brits are well versed in preparing for any eventuality.

The benefit of a winter wedding is that it's different. Think back 30 years, no-one got married in winter. Today some brides or grooms find a winter wedding gives guests a real, exciting break from the norm: summer holidays are over and people are back to work, fake tanning creams are back in the cupboard and there's a bit of a lull either side of Christmas. Holding your wedding in winter usually offers you a price benefit too as there are fewer couples vying for a handful of key dates.

Then there's the venue dressing to consider. In summer you dress your room but might spend much of the time outdoors in the beautiful grounds. Close to Christmas is different though and at Holdsworth House we take venue dressing seriously. From November we bring in designer Susy Stirrup to weave her magic touch into the house to make it all festive, providing a pretty, twinkly background for any wedding photographer.

There are some fabulous seasonal foods out in winter too that you just can't get in summer, or that simply don't work on a warm wedding day - like mulled wine or delicious homemade root soups.

As an historical building like Holdsworth house (which was built before the likes of central heating and loft insulation, which we now have of course!) features were made of the large stone fireplaces so there's nothing better than coming in to seeing these roaring and crackling away; it's a cosy yet opulent feel and smell that takes you back to a bygone era.

As for blue skies, we've seen our most stunning photographs captured with the low winter sun filtering through the mullioned windows. Robins, hedgehogs all live in the grounds in winter and in recent history there's never been a day the hotel has had to close due to adverse weather. But whilst we can't promise a sprinkling of frost or snow, when it comes it's the stuff of picture postcards. Bliss!

Winer wedding gallery
Winter wedding package