Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal – a perfect time for the new adventure that a marriage brings. Yet in the race for most popular time of year to get married, spring is a distant third place behind summer and autumn. This is good news if you’re planning a spring wedding, as more top-notch vendors will be available, and you may be able to get discounted rates, especially on sites and travel.

If you’re considering a spring wedding, start off by thinking about your favorite parts of the season. Is it crocuses poking up through snow? Perhaps you’ll want to have a wedding early in the season, and offer the respite of floral abundance and warmth when guests come in from the cold. If it’s the emerging sunshine, choose bright colors and May weather. Here are some ideas to get you started on planning your spring wedding:

When to Have a Spring Wedding:
If you’re getting married in a church, talk to them about their Easter decorations.

You may be able to save money by using theirs. Vendors and sites may be more available in the spring than in the summer, but remember prom; you may need to book limousines and tuxedos extra early.

Spring Wedding Dresses:
Most wedding dresses seem made for a spring wedding. Wedding magazines are full of large skirts that may be too warm for the summer, and sleeveless tops that may be too cold for winter. Look for a versatile dress that can be paired with a wrap if you’re chilly, yet is still light and airy.

Many more brides these days are opting for a hint of color in their wedding dresses – be it a baby blue sash, an allover hint of pink, or light colorful embroidery. These touches will look perfect at a spring wedding.

Attire for the Wedding Party:
When dressing for a spring wedding, keep in mind that the weather can be dodgy. You may have 70 degrees and sunshine, or you may end up with a damp, chilly day. Choose dresses with sleeves on them, give your bridesmaids wraps to wear as their bridesmaid gift, or go for a vintage look with cardigan sweaters.

Spring weddings are full of the classic (and sometimes dreaded) pastel bridesmaid dress. Make things easier on your bridesmaids by allowing them to choose the color or cut of their dress, and you’ll hear far fewer complaints. Or go in a different direction with turquoise or lime green dresses, accompanied by pink bouquets. For a daytime wedding, men look dapper in tan suits, a colored shirts and coordinating ties.

Because of April showers, avoid putting your wedding party in satin shoes, and consider buying them matching large umbrellas, just in case. Don’t worry if it rains; there’s something so romantic about a bride and groom under a big black umbrella, shining and smiling in love.

Spring Wedding Menu Ideas:
Celebrate spring in your menu with fresh young vegetables such as baby carrots, baby asparagus (or regular asparagus), new potatoes, sugar snap peas, and haricots verts. Gently evoke Easter with a chocolate cake with coconut icing. You could also opt for carrot cake with a cream cheese icing. Strawberries, rhubarb, and apricots are delicious at this time of year, and mangos and pomegranates may work as well. Try phyllo dough cups with mousse or custard topped with strawberries.

Decorations:
The preppy pink and green color combination couldn’t be more spring-like, and is perfect for a beautiful, fresh spring wedding. Accent your tables with polka-dot or gingham fabrics and ribbons, and use alternating pink and green chair colors. For a more elegant look, combine celadon green with white, using silver as an accent color. If you’re having an outdoor wedding and a fair amount of children, a may pole does double duty as entertainment and elegant decoration. Instead of rice, consider asking your guests to throw rose petals, or release butterflies.

Spring Wedding Flowers:
Flowers in season include roses, tulips, hyacinth, lilies and Gerber daisies. Multi-colored calla lilies are very popular and look beautiful in a spring arrangement. Combine a dozen with lemon leaf or maiden hair, or create a simple hand tied nosegay.

For centerpieces, subtly evoke the Easter season by using white baskets filled with oasis floral form and an abundance of spring flowers. An inexpensive centerpiece for a garden wedding is a terracotta pot with a spring-moss or ivy covered Styrofoam ball affixed to it. Add small candles around it and/or some rose petals.

Consider tying your bouquet with polka-dot or striped ribbon in a bright or pastel color, adding a bit of unexpected pattern and freshness.

Spring Wedding Favors:
Give favors of seed packets or bulbs, with thanks for supporting the growth of your love. Consider giving birdhouses – you can usually find these inexpensively at a dollar store or craft store. Around Easter, send your guests home with a chocolate Easter bunny, a ceramic Easter egg, or a birds nests (either from the craft store or made from chocolate and/or coconut) filled with robin’s egg candies.

From Nina Callaway

Themed weddings are becoming more and more popular. Not the themed weddings that consist of people wearing Hawaiian shirts, but rather weddings with holiday or seasonal themes. A wedding with décor and fashion planned around the season in which it takes place can be a very elegant and beautiful expression. Or, if you prefer, you can turn your wedding into a season that is, well, out of season (a “summer” wedding during winter). No matter how you do it, however, putting together a wedding with a seasonal theme actually makes the planning less stressful. After all, the season provides the colors and the décor. And can even help you figure out what you want the members of your party to wear.

Winter

Dark, rich color is reminiscent of winter. Burgundy, deep blue and green, and even dark purple all add warmth to your reception. Choose a hall or church with wood accents to increase the warm feeling. Faux white fur on your dress, and faux fur trim for the bridesmaid dresses can add a wintry look to your wedding party. You can even indulge in a Christmas theme. But rather than put bridesmaids in bright green and red, instead clothe them in toned-down gold, or silver-gray. This is a more elegant Christmas motif.

Spring

A spring wedding is fresh and beautiful. However, unless you plan to marry in late spring, it is best to plan an indoor wedding. Fresh spring flowers, like crocuses, tulips, snowdrops, and pansies are lovely and colorful, and make great centerpieces. Dressing your bridesmaids in cheerful and bright colors mimics springs bursts of life. You can use a color run (dressing each attendant in a different color of the same style dress) to imitate the look of colorful flowers.

Summer

Many brides are beginning to choose wildflowers for their bouquets. Summer blooms of daisies, buttercups, and other pastel and light colored flowers make excellent choices for the bridal and attendant bouquets, as well as for décor. Colors inspired by summer’s easy-going attitude are pale, like pastel yellows and blues, reminding guests of blue water and sandy beaches. Sundresses make elegant and simple dresses that can be used by the bridesmaids – or even the bride.

Autumn

This season presents many beautiful possibilities. Adding colored leaves to a bouquet of roses is a unique and charming touch for a bridal bouquet. Have boutonnières and attendant corsages made from groupings of autumn leaves of red, yellow, gold, and even dark purple. Colors that make good décor for fall weddings are earth tones: rusts, golds, yellows, and light browns.