Seasons of Love: Winter

On their second dating anniversary, January 15, 2008, Jeremy Reed proposed to Margaret Murrell after a dinner at Nicollet Island Inn and a horse-drawn carriage ride across the Stone Arch Bridge.

Jeremy and Margaret first had known each other online as friends. Then, after spending time together when Margaret moved from England to Minnesota to pursue her degree in food science, the relationship grew.

Harried as she was with school, they decided to have the wedding over winter break in early 2009. “Once I realized this was a good time for us, I fell in love with the idea of a winter wedding. The area of England I’m from doesn’t really get snow, so the idea of it was something I could have never done in England,” she says.

Winter can present challenges some brides are afraid to take on. Not Margaret. “I made up my mind that nothing would stop me just because it was a winter wedding,” she says. Strongly against having a “Christmas wedding,” she aimed for an elegant-yet-antique feel and was determined to have outdoor photos.

“I had two veils, purely by accident, and I had the same shoes as someone else in my family, so I wore theirs outside for photos and used one veil outside,” she says. A bridesmaid held her dress away from snow, and Margaret wore a friend’s Fair Isle–style mittens, which lent a homey detail to an otherwise Masterpiece-Theatre-meets-high-fashion photo shoot. A groomsman kept a car idling nearby, for quick warm-ups.

To minimize the need for guests to navigate the snow, Margaret and Jeremy decided to host the whole shebang at The Depot Minneapolis. Skyway-connected hotels meant many didn’t have to venture outside if they didn’t want to or couldn’t. “It really helped to tell people, once you’re there, you’re there. You don’t need to drive all over,” she says.

Incorporating a love of travel and Margaret’s British background also was important. “It was very much feeling like it goes beyond these four walls,” she says.

Jeremy wore a traditional English cravat with tails. The cake, by Gateaux, Inc., incorporated the travel theme and memories the couple shared with their families. After the couple surprised their loved ones with a choreographed first dance, guests donned crazy accessories and lit up the photobooth all evening.

One of Margaret’s strongest memories is from the reception, when she and Jeremy stopped to watch for a minute. “We just observed everything together for a few minutes, and time stood still,” she says.”