Winter brides must see this charming Chamonix wedding (faux fur included!)

Charming Chamonix Winter Wedding With A Fur Coat – Katie Mitchell 19

Charming Chamonix Winter Wedding With A Fur Coat – Katie Mitchell 14

Yes, get out your faux furs bride buddies – it’s winter wedding time!

As we transition into cooler temps in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re making way to inspire our upcoming Fall and Winter brides deep in wedding planning. Today, we have the most charming Chamonix mountain wedding that’s absolutely giving us chills!

Mexican, French & Los Angeles transplants (with friends all over the globe) Carlos & Elvire wanted to find a place to marry that was special to both of them, so they chose their proposal spot in Chamonix. While most couples spring for summer weddings, the couple knew the French Alps deserve to be seen at their best: in Winter.

To show off the majestic mountains, the couple treated their family and friends to a mountaintop cocktail hour, and jaunted off for a dreamy gondola ride for the prettiest snowy wedding portraits (faux fur included!) captured by Katie Mitchell.

Our Love Story

Carlos and I met our senior year of college at the University of Southern California one month before graduation. His fraternity was having a fundraiser at a baseball game at Dodger Stadium, and I had bought a ticket. I was supposed to catch a lift to the game, but I was running late and missed my ride. A mutual friend told me someone else was running late and that person was Carlos. The next day Carlos added me on Facebook, and as they say, the rest is history.

We dated for almost five years before Carlos proposed to me on New Year’s Eve in Chamonix at my parent’s house after my whole family had gone to bed. We got married the following March (we were engaged for fifteen months).

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The Dress & Attire

I always wanted to wear a princess gown for my wedding, and since we were going to be in the snow I wanted sleeves. I saw many gowns online at Monique L’Huillier that had sleeves and thought it would be the perfect place. When I walked in Monique L’Huillier they had a similar dress then what I had envisioned, but the skirt was knee length. Fortunately, they were able to make a custom dress for me with the bodice of that dress and a long skirt with a train. I initially did not want a veil, but when I tried on the dress for the first time and tried on a veil, everything felt right.

For the shoes, I knew I wanted the same blue Manolo Blahniks that Carrie Bradshaw wore in the first Sex in the City movie. They were going to be my “something blue.” The earrings were diamonds borrowed from my mother, and they were my “something borrowed.”

Floral Design

Since our wedding was during the middle of winter, we wanted to make sure the arrangements did not feel out of place and chose flowers that were seasonal. I wanted the airiness of baby’s breath to be the main flower. We picked white and pink as our colors for the flowers, which would make a nice complimentary combination with the snow.

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The Destination

The most important thing for us when planning our wedding was for our wedding to reflect who we are as a couple and be able to share what we love with our family and friends. Chamonix held a special place in our hearts because that’s where Carlos proposed, so we felt it was the right place to have our wedding. We wanted to share this magical place with everyone, so we decide to have the cocktail hour at the top of the mountain so everyone from near and far would have a chance to see the beauty of this place.

We also wanted our families to be included, because they are our role models – they have proven to us that love can last. My parents have been married for 35 years and Carlos’ parents have been married for over 40 years. We included a picture of our parents’ weddings next to the guest book to celebrate their love as well. The rest of my family was also included in the preparations. My aunt sang in church and helped me pick the songs, and my cousin played the guitar in church. My mom, uncle, and grandmother read in church, and my brother was our witness along with my best friend. Carlos’s family is Mexican, my family is French, we live in Los Angeles, and our friends are from all over the world so we felt it was important to incorporate all cultures.

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Charming Chamonix Winter Wedding With A Fur Coat – Katie Mitchell 16

Photo by Katie Mitchell via Bridal Musings

The Ceremony

For the ceremony, we knew we wanted it to be in church. The church of Chamonix is nestled in the heart of the town and in front of the mountain range and we felt it was the perfect place. We selected all the readings, and songs to include the many different cultures we had present. Our ceremony was in French, and was translated into English in the church pamphlets that we created. The songs were in French, English and Spanish. Since Carlos understands a little French but does not speak it, we made sure the priest read the vows for us and only left Carlos to say “oui.”

Charming Chamonix Winter Wedding With A Fur Coat – Katie Mitchell 17

Charming Chamonix Winter Wedding With A Fur Coat – Katie Mitchell 32

Charming Chamonix Winter Wedding With A Fur Coat – Katie Mitchell 18

Charming Chamonix Winter Wedding With A Fur Coat – Katie Mitchell 22

Photo by Katie Mitchell via Bridal Musings

The Photography

I found Katie’s pictures on Instagram, and immediately fell in love. Her bright and dreamy style was exactly what I was looking for. She knew how to make couples look beautiful, and she had a lot of timeless shots. We chatted a bit on Skype to discuss our ideas and knew she was the perfect choice.

Katie was a dream to work with. She guided us and made us feel at ease right away. On our wedding day, she fixed anything that needed to be fixed and helped every time we needed help. She was nice to everyone, and it felt like we had been long-time friends by the end of the day.

Our favorite photos are at the top of the mountain. The photos of us with the French Alps in the background are worth a million words.

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Special Moments

The most memorable part of our day was being at the top of the mountain outside in the sun and then sending the Chinese lanterns into the rising moon. The moon had just come out from behind the mountain, and the lanterns took off high into the sky. My lantern was climbing higher than Carlos’ and our friends begin to chant Carlos’ name in hopes that his would eventually regain more altitude. We all laughed it was a wonderful memory.

The Decor & DIY Details

The mountain drawing at the top of our wedding invitation was custom-made based on a picture I took of the mountain range view from my parents’ house in Chamonix. My dad then used that drawing to make custom champagne labels with our wedding date and name. The same drawing was also used on the welcome bags for our guests with our wedding date and name.

The pictures of our parents’ weddings were copies we made from their wedding albums and we displayed by our guest book. The inside of the church pamphlets was DIY, as we wrote the texts and printed them ourselves on custom paper.

The Jordan Almonds were wrapped by mother, who added the custom-made tags with our names. The guest bags were filled with Chamonix maps and tour guides we got at the visitor center. We added a box of local “Chamonix” brand orange cookies along with a welcome letter (which we printed on the same paper as the church pamphlets) giving our guests an itinerary of events the day before, day-of, and day-after our wedding.

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Advice for Other Couples

I would tell other couples to plan early and that every step on your to-do list will actually take multiple steps so envision more time then you think. For example, for the wedding invitations, it’s not one decision: you have to choose the paper, the font, the colors, and the wording, engraving, how many prints, etc…and all this takes time!