Help...February or July Wedding

It's all going to boil down to what you want. Winter weddings can 've very beautiful but could stop guests travelling a long way due to weather. Summer weddings can be hot or it can pour down with rain. I think when you envision your wedding what do you see.

Oh wow, I would hate to have my wedding date dictated by one person especially as the dates you're "allowed" are so wildly different!

Personally (assuming I wasn't willing to tell my sister tough luck and go with my original date anyway), I would choose February. A bright winter day can give some gorgeous photos, you'll save money and I don't know what your plan is regarding honeymoon but if you were thinking of going straight after the wedding, July will be peak season so cost even more £££ than the extra you have to shell out for the venue and there will be loads of kids about!

I don't think it's so much that she is being dictated to and told when to have her wedding, more that she wants her sister there.

If it was me, I'd pick February as yes it may be cold but we've had some horrendous July's where is hasn't stopped raining all month. Hopefully it won't rain in February now (now that I've jinxed it!)

Also, just make sure those dates are definite for your sister to get time off! You don't want to decide on a date and then her not get the time off.

If you went for February you could always buy some lovely brollies for you and the bridal party, possibly for other guests too dependent on cost. I've seen some lovely pictures of couples in the rain with an umbrella.

I have one of these anyway but fully intend on taking it with us just in case of a spring shower or two!

I love the sky on this last one!

And you might get snow. Love my pics in the snow. And of course venue might have an open fire. Hot chocolate welcome for guests.

You know what, you could have a beautiful day in February and it could absolutely hammer it down in July! This is England after all. So many summer weddings are reliant the sun coming out and are totally ruined if it doesn't. I think it's the atmosphere you build on the day and how you make it a reflection of your personalities that will make your day memorable. Here's a wedding I shot in December 2014:

http://www.clickclackphoto.co.uk/andrea-sam-clandon-park

It was a bit muddy here and there, but the wellies came out and it ended up being epic! Whatever you do, just make it you!

Hi Thanks for your comment, yes they are so different from each other there was another couple of weeks she could come home but our venue is already booked up on those dates. It's not that she was dictating to me and making me change the date of my wedding it was more the fact of how much do I want my sister to be at my wedding and if I do to try and potentially change the date to fit in with times she will be able to travel home.

People have told me that I am being very considerate and changing my date but I would rather my sister be at my wedding than not, but I can see how potentially it could come across to someone else.

The honeymoon prices I hadn't thought about so thank you for mentioning that.

I just want to make a point of the gardens, since that seems to be one of the factors swaying you towards July. I went to a wedding last August at a beautiful country house with gardens but none of the guests really saw them. We had welcome drinks on the patio but spent the rest of the day inside a windowless barn or standing right outside of it while they changed it over for the evening. I stayed for several days since my OH was an usher but we never ventured off to explore. Even the group photos were taken on the lawn right next to the patio so although there was grass on the ground there weren't any flowers in the background.

If the grounds don't like as nice in the winter is there somewhere nearby you could sneak off to for couple photos?

Another vote for February! Weather is the weather is the weather, regardless of date or time of year.

You'll also be married sooner

Thank you all for your help, looks like everyone is swaying towards February!

We are going to visit the venue again in February this year to see what the grounds will look like, I've been told the gardens are covered in snowdrops

They have big beautiful fireplaces which would be perfect for a cold day and hot chocolate on arrival is a great idea. We would go into the ground for photos rather than just outside the building no matter what the weather, we've already thought about wellies and umbrellas just in case of a showery day.

I think making the decision on the date has been hard but you've all made me think February would be perfect. Thanks so much.

I got married last week in January in Scotland. The house we were married in has beautiful grounds, and in winter gardens can still be beautiful but in a different way.

We were lucky enough to have snow on the ground, the trees were bare but some branches still had bright red berries on them which looks fab in the photos.

I wouldn't write off a february wedding just because you want to have photos in the gardens. Google winter weddings, or check my report. There are some beautiful photos to be had, and actually sometimes better photos than sunshine and greenery

As you say, you could get married in July in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Hope you come to a decision that you can be happy with x

I got one of those heart brollies too and even got my wellies out so I didn't ruin my shoes.

Ps having the wedding in January didn't stop anyone travelling from Essex to Scotland for our wedding... in fact, only around 15 of the 150 odd we invited didn't make it for various reasons, but none of them were due to travelling or the time of the year. x

I bought a clear brolly but in the end went with the snow and stuff the hair.

If you decide to go with February, you could always have an engagement shoot in the summer in some beautiful gardens. We get married in August but our shoot is a week on Sunday, a wintry sunrise shoot, completely different from our wedding!