Frosted Pastel Winter Wedding Inspiration
When most of us imagine
winter weddings, we think of rich colors—burgundy, aubergine, emerald— and of jewel-toned bouquets and evergreen-trimmed aisles. While I love traditions and traditional values, when it comes to wedding styling, I tend to prefer the unexpected. And so, the most exquisite winter wedding I can imagine is one designed in pastel shades. These pale hues would feel almost frosted: icy lilac, powder blue, blush pink, mint green. Colors that create a sense of wonder, of enchantment. Imagine a precious opal or moonstone, how the gemstone refracts and scatters light, and contains traces of pink, blue, green. The loveliest pastels also have this iridescence, this pearlescent or opalescent quality. A certain shimmer. A magic.
These colors evoke the feeling of sparkling snow. Of ponds frozen over, and ice skating in December. Of a winter sunrise that touches a snow-covered scene with a soft, pink glow. Of icicles and snowflakes, those tiny masterpieces of divine creativity. And of a little pink chapel, buried under snow, its steeple gracing a sky of swirling lavender and pink, streaked with gold.
I prefer to draw wedding inspiration from unexpected places: landscapes, fashion collections, literature, and personal memories—to create a design that is abstract and poetic. Nothing literal, nothing Pinterest-driven. Suggest rather than tell. Someone can find design inspiration from the way a field looks, frozen with ice. From a lark’s song on a pale winter morning or a single flower that blooms, miraculously, under a crust of alpine snow. A spark of inspiration can come from rosettes on a gown or white ribbons of tulle, reminiscent of softly fallen snow. From the feeling of a snow day or a memory of pink hot chocolate, an overwhelming comfort at the end of a freezing cold ski day.
In the context of event design, frosty pastels read “wintry” and “awe-inspiring” without going the route of traditional Christmas décor. Such an unconventional approach, one that breaks from the expected to embrace gentle and luminous colors, has the potential to feel pure, hopeful, and exquisite. Like a hymn, a song, a moment of wonder. Colors like these can feel almost angelic.
“These are less colors than suggestions, mere whispers of a color"
From icy lavender to mint green, pale pink to icy blue, these are less colors than suggestions, mere whispers of a color. They are gentle and very sweet. At times childlike in their innocence, they can nevertheless reach imaginative heights and feel couture in their expression. I am reminded of the masterful S/S 2020 Collection by Guo Pei, with its vision of the snow-capped Himalayas, and of the exquisite skating costumes of my favorite ice skaters and dancers, like Madison Chock’s lavender dress covered in opalescent and rose-colored stones, and Sasha Cohen’s white, feathered Badgley Mischka dress, a couture vision of the white swan. These are the places and things that spark my creativity— these fields unrelated to wedding design. I marvel at the intricate beadwork on a gown, or the visionary heights of artistic genius, expressed through dance, fashion, music, or movement. These things allow me to see color with new depth and understanding. I am reminded, in moments of beauty, that design can be a vehicle for something more. I remember to approach weddings as more than an event, but as living art.
It would be beautiful to channel these pastel colors and this enchanted feeling through the floral design, table accessories, and wedding fashion.
When creating winter bouquets, I like to swap traditional green foliage, which can make bouquets feel heavy, for preserved white fern, which feels as soft as feathers, as wings. These white, dried elements add something angelic to handheld flowers-- a certain lightness of touch. Lunaria looks luminous when preserved, its seedpods giving off an iridescence worthy of its common name, moonflower. Other white, dried elements lend texture and interest to bouquet work, from preserved nigella pods to pennycress and natural tallow berries. These white, preserved elements work so well together, each with an ethereality that’s difficult to describe.
Lunaria images from One Fab Day
For ultimate glimmer, style these high-fashion flowers on tables with crystalware and colored glass in shades of lavender, blue, or green. Imagine how the table would shimmer with colored crystal and candlelight, as a soft glow touches each element. Even the flowers, with their pearlescent glow, would catch the light from crystal and candle.
I am, to put it mildly, obsessed with the color mint green, and wish more fine art weddings embraced it. As a floral designer, I loved hand-painting white, preserved elements in mint hues— a color which does not really occur in nature, but lends to flowers a surreal, artistic quality. Some of my favorite iconic fashion moments— like J.Lo’s Valentino homage to Jackie O— involve mint green. I can scarcely imagine a more enchanting winter wedding color, whether expressed through gowns, flowers, colored glass, or any other aspect of wedding styling.
Classical meets couture. I loved creating this abstract design, and especially loved painting the mint green elements.
Another pastel arrangement in a Classically inspired vessel, this time in icy lavender.
Ice and powder blues evoke frozen landscapes and have an almost untouchable, forbidding beauty. The beauty of these colors is just out of reach— ethereal, otherworldly. I love my blues with a touch of frost, and my whites with a bit of shimmer. In the context of a wedding design, these colors offer a cool, elegant answer to “something blue.”
That look of an ice skater in an ethereal dress, or Sugarplum onstage for her dainty, delightful solo.
Winter fashion is never more magical than when it involves pastels, the soft shades disarmingly beautiful when they are least expected. Pastel gowns in shades of winter mint, icy blue, periwinkle, frosted lilac, and ballet pink look enchanting and soft, feminine. Whether as a bride, member of a bridal party, or as a wedding guest, it would be so surprising and beautiful to embrace fashion in these frosty hues. While most would expect dark jewel tones, velvets, and red cocktail dresses at a winter wedding, I find that mint green and icy lilac, feathers and fluted sleeves, more fully capture the feeling of winter. That look of an ice skater in an ethereal dress, or Sugarplum onstage for her dainty, delightful solo.
For inspiration, I turn to pieces like Rodarte’s shimmering slip dress and bolero jacket to interpret the softer side of winter. All-over, pale pink sequins ooze glamour, creating a liquid glow, a kind of Mother of Pearl finish. A white silk rose adorns the bodice and feels ‘90s in the best way, while the matching bolero jacket, with its frothy ruffles, has a marvelous tutu effect. Then there is an ice blue, pleated tulle cape by Oscar de la Renta, so ethereal and wintry, with its cascading spray of white petals, it looks like something a snow queen or treetop angel would wear. 16Arlington’s Solaria dress is a mint green, glimmering dream of a dress, which, with its split-sleeves and nostalgic silhouette, also invites 90s-era styling and accessories (mint green butterfly clips, anyone?). Few labels do iridescent as beautifully as Temperley London, something that’s made clear in the exquisite Celestial style, aptly described as a “shimmering dreamscape of a dress… designed to light up any room,” whose “hand-applied crystal embellishments evoke the natural beauty of a sunrise at every turn.” Opalescent sequins catch the light in such a nuanced way, changing with movement, at turns peach, pink, and frosted white. Meanwhile, the flared sleeves—which feels almost period in their daintiness and refinement—mirror the hemline of the tulle skirt, features that add unexpected subtlety and delicacy to this showstopper of a dress. Finally, there is the by-now iconic Festival, fluted crinkle lamé dress by the Vampire’s Wife—beloved by figures as far-ranging as Kacey Musgraves and Catherine, Princess of Wales.
Yet few things could capture the luminous beauty of a December sunrise, or the subtle glow of light on snow, like certain gemstones do. Take Irene Neuwirth’s dazzling opals, one-of-a-kind stones in the most otherworldly shades: lake blue glimmering with jade green, creamy white swirling with peach, kaleidoscopes of color shifting and changing with the light. Opal rings offset with diamonds, pink opal earrings studded with sky blue stones, pendants hewn into heart shapes… these pieces are surreal in their beauty. Then there are lustrous stones, artistically imagined by Cathy Waterman, like a peacock amethyst, an indecipherable lavender that turns, at certain angles, an almost apricot color. One is instantly reminded of the lustrous and surpassing beauty of a cold sunrise, and the feeling of winter, ethereal, untouchable, and pure.
Peacock amethyst by Cathy Waterman, and frosted flowers via Pinterest.
For even more wintry beauty, one can accessorize with a Mae Cassidy handbag, which looks like a very cool take on a Faberge egg, with cool blue or lavender panels encircled with pearls or antique metalwork. Made to be worn in the crook of the arm or on the wrist, bracelet style, the piece culminates in tassel chain that swishes with you as you walk.
Green opal ring by Goshwara via Moda Operandi, opal heart necklace and earrings via Irene Neuwirth, handbag via Mae Cassidy.
As is evident on Chapel’s pages, my love for custom illustrations runs deep. I can scarcely imagine how thrilling it would be to work with a stationer to create winter wedding illustrations (although I have a good idea, based on my ongoing collaboration with the exquisitely talented Emily Mayne, including her recent Christmas and winter creations for Chapel, as seen here).
I imagine watercolor wedding invitations depicting scenes of frozen grandeur. From the exquisitely minute, like snowflakes, to the breathtakingly grand, like snow-capped mountains, winter offers scenes of such surreal beauty—scenes that beg for an artist’s brushstroke. A stately wedding crest would be elevated by the introduction of wintery details—for instance, snowy pine needles for the organic bride or Sugarplum-kissed illustrations for the ballerina bride. For destination weddings, nothing could be as magical as a hand-painted wedding map that transports viewers to the site of the wedding. I imagine a map illustrated with alpine mountains and fairytale villages, and, of course, at the heart of it all, a sweet chapel, the place where bride and groom will marry. Throughout, excursions are highlighted, beautiful places for guests to explore—from snowy trails and ski runs to frozen ponds where, of course, an ice skater spins.
Whether through enchanting floral designs, table accessories, stationery, or fashion, these shades are both gentle and surprising. They can feel icy and glamorous, or quite soft and sweet. And in a season whose colors can be quite drab, pastels are as unexpected as waking to the season’s first snow— of seeing the world covered in shimmering white light. What I love most is their luminous quality. Advent is, after all, the season where Light breaks through and conquers the darkness, the season where the Light of the world, Jesus, our true hope, arrives. We celebrate the season by lighting candles of hope, peace, joy, and love. We illumine our Christmas trees and our homes. On the shortest days of the year, we rejoice that Light has come. And a winter wedding can also be luminous, lustrous. A beautiful testament to the Light of the life.
This storybook beauty belongs exclusively to winter. It is a season which inspires the angels to break forth in song and believing hearts to swell with passionate praise. Shepherds look upward and behold the heavenly host. Heaven and earth rejoice, for every fear has been calmed, every desire met, and peace with God restored. Our Savior is born: dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.
May you be inspired to embrace this miraculous season, where we light candles for the Source of all our hope, where we long for reunion with Him. This season reminds us that He can transform the coldest heart or bleakest day.
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