29 Festive Ideas for a Christmas Wedding

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Photo: Kate Headley

Let your "something borrowed" be one of these details from Christmas weddings we've featured over the years.

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Kate Headley

Looking to deck the halls at your December wedding? While getting married during the holidays doesn't necessarily mean you have to have eggnog or a green-and-red color palette, it is fun to get in the spirit with a few festive touches. Here, a collection of our favorite ideas to tastefully incorporate the season into your Christmas wedding.

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Festive Save-the-Dates

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Kate Headley

Send save-the-dates by Cheree Berry Paper featuring silver foil-stamping on a red backdrop.

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Christmas Wedding Invitations

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Elizabeth Messina Photography

Set the mood with stationery that borrows from a traditional holiday color palette, but is elegant enough to distinguish itself from a Christmas card. For this San Francisco wedding, Alan Hillsheim Letterpress created a simple red and charcoal suite with a subtle wreath motif.

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A Warm Welcome Treat

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KT Merry

Before the ceremony starts, greet guests with mugs of mulled wine and ginger cookies.

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Christmas Wedding Bouquet

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Charlie Juliet Photography

Walk down the aisle with a pop of Christmas flowers, like this bouquet of red garden roses created by Winston Flowers.

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Green Velvet Shoes

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Carrie Patterson

Add a bit of seasonal texture to your ensemble, like this bride did for her nuptials in Jackson Hole. She wore a pair of green velvet Gucci shoes as her "something new."

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The Bridesmaids' Bouquet

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Kate Headley

Have each bridesmaid carry a petite bouquet of amaryllis flowers surrounded by pine branches, red berries, and silver leaves.

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The Flower Girl Blooms

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Elizabeth Messina Photography

Arrange your flower girl's blooms in an ornamental cone, subtly accented with a red ribbon, like the bride and groom did at this end-of-the-year celebration in California.

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The Boutonnieres

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Incorporate Yuletide hues in an understated manner. This elegant boutonniere for a Christmastime wedding comprised white freesia, green seeded eucalyptus, and red pepperberry.

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The Programs

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Maura Mcevoy

Borrow an idea from this Oregon celebration and festoon programs with cedar twigs—or boughs of holly—tied with brown taffeta ribbon.

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Velvet Ring Pillow

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Elizabeth Messina Photography

Present it like a gift, adding a red velvet bow to the ring pillow.

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Christmas Wedding Decorations

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Christian Oth of Christian Oth Studio

Dress up the ceremony space with a spray of vines, evergreens, anemones, and persimmons, like this one floral designer Sullivan Owen created for a Philadelphia wedding.

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A Special Surprise

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Elizabeth Messina Photography

Go caroling, or invite a group along to do so, like the staff did at this San Francisco wedding. They surprised the newlywed couple with a boys choir that sang Christmas tunes as the pair exited the church.

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Jingle Bell Exit "Toss"

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Kate Headley

As guests exit the ceremony give them bells to ring as the couple makes their way out.

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Gingerbread House Card Box

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Kate Headley

Instead of using a typical card box, why not use a gingerbread house like this couple did at their Christmas-themed wedding?

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Champagne Cocktail

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Elizabeth Messina Photography

Make a toast to the special time of year. The poinsettia, served in a coupe glass, was the custom libation of the night at this real wedding. The seasonal drink was made with Champagne, cranberry juice, and Cointreau.

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Candy Cane Cocktail

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Kate Headley

For your signature cocktail, serve candy cane martinis made from strawberry vodka, crème de menthe, cranberry juice, and the minty holiday candy.

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Cranberry Escort Card Display

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Kate Headley

Fill gold trays with cranberries to prop up escort cards (calligraphed by Arney Walker).

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Reindeer Place Cards

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For a playful touch originally used at a barn wedding held in England, accent each escort card with a toy reindeer. If you're really getting into the holiday spirit, replace traditional table numbers with the names of Santa's helpers (the head table would be Rudolph, of course!).

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Christmas Wedding Centerpieces

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Aaron Delesie

Follow this couple's lead and set your reception tables in red, white, and green bountiful arrangements of ranunculus, roses, grasses, and berries.

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Festive Table-Settings

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Laura Murray Photography

Curate your reception tables with candlelit lanterns and red-and-green plaid runners, like Stacey and Eric did at their Beaver Creek mountain wedding.

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Wedding Wreaths

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Elisabeth Millay

Spruce up the ceilings and chandeliers of an event space with eucalyptus wreaths, like these ones created by Branch Design Studio for a South Carolina soirée. Wreaths are not only a classic Christmas decoration, but also a symbol of everlasting love.

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Christmas Candy Favors

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Steal an idea from this mid-December affair and label muslin sacks with "naughty" or "nice" to leave out for guests, near a sign reading, "Please conduct a brief self-evaluation of your behavior this year, and choose one accordingly." The naughty bags held chocolate "coal"; the nice bags were filled with peppermint sticks and peppermint-chocolate bark.

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Christmas Ornament Favors

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Aaron Delesie

Guests at this English wedding received ornament versions of the couple's getaway car as favors.

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Christmas Flower Favors

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Hannah Hudson Photography

Send guests home with individually wrapped bouquets of Christmas ilex, winter greenery, and amaryllis as a takeaway favor from the flower bar.

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Christmas Wedding Cake

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O'Malley Photographers

For a twist on a traditional wedding cake, try a version of millefoglie, which was given a festive touch with red fruit and greenery for a winter celebration in the Rocky Mountains.

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Christmas Wedding Cake Alternative

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Cassidy Rehwaldt

Skip the wedding cake and instead serve a classic Christmas dessert, like a homemade bourbon pecan pie, which looked scrumptious on the table at this snowy wedding in Vermont.

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A Late-Night Treat

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AVERYHOUSE

Take a cue from this Chicago wedding and serve hot cocoa with peppermint stirrers for a perfect end-of-the-evening pick-me-up.

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The Turndown Gift

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Kate Headley

While guests are at the reception, have the hotel staff place gold Christmas ornaments on their beds as a surprise for when they return to tuck in for the night.

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The Getaway Car Wreath

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Kate Headley

Decorate the front of a vintage getaway car with a wreath of evergreens, pinecones, and a big red bow.

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