FH wants a January wedding, I don't.

February 2018 in Boston here! I wanted a winter wedding because I hate being hot and love a great deal. Many vendors were able to offer special off season pricing, and we know most of our friends and family members don't have other weddings to compete with our date. We were initially looking Jan-March but had to squeak in before Greek Orthodox Lent began to allow a traditional ceremony. A convenient Saturday turned out to be my Great Grandmother's birthday and Great Aunt's wedding anniversary, so it seemed like destiny after all.

The biggest blizzard I ever dealt with was in March -- a nor'easter in PA that dropped almost 3 feet of snow.

I personally think January weather is actually easier to deal with; you can be pretty sure it will be cold and probably snowy. March, as PPs have pointed out, can veer wildly all over the possible weather conditions...sometimes in an hour.

Photo ops in winter can be amazing, especially with snow.

Maybe y'all could compromise on a Valentine's wedding. Because the not compromising bit is probably the biggest issue.

@goldfisch PA bride here too!! I wanted a winter wedding sooooo bad. He wanted to be married sooner. Our first compromise. Lol but I agree the weather is a fickle bitch these days everywhere. I say you Rock Paper Scissors for it if each month doesn't have some sort of special meaning.

MA bride! It is just as likely to snow in march as it is in January and anyone from MA knows that. Also if it's important to your FH and you have no sentimental reason for wanting march why wouldn't you give him what he wants and make him feel included in the planning process?

We had a January wedding but we live in California, so no snow. It was really beautiful, and I love winter. It was rainy and you do miss out on the extended daylight you would get in the spring. We just had an earlier ceremony, and we got some amazing outdoor photos. My sisters friend married in either December or January (can't remember exactly) in the Midwest, she had no regrets and the snow was gorgeous in her photos. It was very sunny on her wedding day, so the snow was really sparkling and she got to wear one of those fun faux fur wraps.

I'll be the unpopular vote and say go with the in between month, February. I feel like you need to really talk it out. Personally, I would go with March, but I don't know what weather is like in Massachusetts. January in Utah is basically a living hell, it's not pretty, at this point it's just dirty snow and slush. If it does mean a lot to him though, I would just come to a compromise, winter wedding can be very beautiful. My FH and I had a convo just like this. He wanted September and I wanted May, he feels there's too much going on in May, but May has a very sentimental meaning to me, especially the date we picked. September I was iffy on, but we eventually jut agreed with May.

I'm from MA! We would have had a winter wedding in New England if we didn't have mostly OOT guests! January is fine, and honestly a prettier month than March (plus March was crummy weather this year) ... Just go in assuming it WILL blizzard and plan for that the whole time so you are prepared. If you don't have a lot of important people in your life that are OOT, go for January. Also, venues are cheaper so that is a bonus!

January bride here! I live in California so the worst we would get is some rain. January is usually the cooling down month and I hate the heat. My favorite season is also winter and it just so happened to be considered non peak season so we got better deals.

@A, that's funny, I'm in MA but from NH... the opposite of you!

OP, I get your concern. it may very well snow in January and February and March. I personally think winter weddings are beautiful! But if you're that concerned, you have to talk to FH. what would his plan be if they declare a state of emergency and your guests can't come? see what he says. and if he's willing to move the date, definitely think about April.

Wanted January and settled for March because of FH- the weather for both on the east coast is equally testy//equal chance of being perfect or horrible! However, many people travel for the holidays, and since most of our friends aren't from NY where we are getting married- we thought it might be too stressful financially to ask people to fly again immediately after.

One thing I'll say about March is HUGE DISCOUNTS! I didn't know going into it but we had $5000 waived from our venue just because it was a march wedding. It doesn't fall really into a "season" so vendors are slow at the time. January is also beautiful though, I still have a board of winter January wedding ideas and totally understand that whole vision! For all I know Jan could also have discounts- didn't get that far before we settled on March.

ETA: auto correct and broken glasses

Also we are getting married on Saint Patrick's day- not for the "drunk bright green reasons" but because I'm first generation and FH thought it would be a good/respectful homage to my Irish parents, and our first date was on that day as well, so just to give some insight as to why FH pushed for it.

All though we'll all be getting drunk! Don't know why I'm over explaining. Probably because I got flagged for the first time today and now I'm scared

I've always wanted a Winter wedding because it can beautiful and romantic. Being in Ohio, it has the same chance of snowing in January as it does in April so it could also be 65 and raining. Why don't you try to compromise to a February wedding?

We live in Nj and wouldn't want guests to travel in shitty weather

I'm from the NH/MA border and we had a January wedding. DH was ok with the idea of snow, but we both agreed that the much lower rates were a huge motivation for us. I on the other hand thought about the weather up here for the last 5-10 years and realized that most of our big storms have come in February/March, as opposed to January (particularly Jan 1 in our case)! sure enough, it was sunny and in the 50s on our January wedding day, which was even nicer than I'd hoped for.

I think you have a better shot of having no snow/storms in January (the earlier the better) vs March.

Also, even if it doesn't snow in March, it's usually cold enough that you'll be surrounded by that icky dirt snow/ice plough piles from February.

My friend got married December 27th in Maine and it was beautiful! Perfect night with lightly falling snow.

She also had huge discounts for that time of year.

Living in MA, my experience so far has been that March weather is worse than January weather. I would suggest December for a winter wedding if you can find a venue that isn't decorated for the holidays unless that's something you'd want. But personally the beautiful snow on the ground would not be worth the stress of worrying about a potential blizzard.

FH and I didn't agree on a season even at first, he wanted spring, I wanted late fall. We eventually agreed on early fall, mostly because that's when our dream venue was available.

I got married this past January in NYC so I can definitely weigh in on this. Like anything else, there are some serious pros and cons.

PROS

- If you choose early Jan. (like I did), it is like an extension of the holiday season-assuming you are into that. My church and the common areas of my venue were already decorated still from Christmas, so I saved a lot of money on flowers and décor. Also, my bridesmaids wore a deep red, which is something different than youd typically see.

- The price per head was half of what it would be in the summer for the same venue. We could have never afforded a summer, or even spring/fall, wedding there. This was the main factor.

- Vendors tend to be more available and offer discounted services as it is slow season.

- If it snows, pretty snow pics!! and fur!

CONS

-WEATHER... while it makes for pretty pictures, it can be a challenge if it snows. It only snowed three times this winter and my wedding day was one of them. At the time, I was devastated because we didn't really take pictures outside (it was blizzarding) and about 10-15 people couldn't travel the day of. Now, it was less of a big deal and the snow in the video/pics .. I can share just let me know, is priceless.

You may also consider some random things like.. outdoor spaces at a venue that it'll be too cold for. Also, my limo driver does not drive his "classic" cars in the winter so we had to choose a Bentley instead.

All in all, I think it was worth the risk due to the pricing but you have to weigh your options.

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