Intimate, Smaller Weddings
When deciding to host a smaller wedding, it’s not all about just cutting the guest list. There are many reasons more and more couples are choosing to have a more intimate celebration. Especially now in 2020, due to the corona virus outbreak, a lot of weddings had to be postponed or cancelled, and couples had to sit down and rethink their options. As large gatherings are banned during this time, a lot of couples decided to go ahead with their weddings, but on a much smaller scale instead. But a ban on gatherings isn’t the only reason for hosting a smaller scale event; there are many bonuses to keeping things more intimate.
Why Have A Small Wedding?
It’s Cheaper
Having a smaller head count means less money. In a wedding, one of the biggest expenses is your venue and catering, which is often charged per person. So having half the amount of guests could potentially save you thousands. You can also hire smaller venues as well, which will keep the costs down even more. You’ll also save on the smaller things, like the amount of stationary you need to buy or make and the amount of decor you’ll need. Your budget will go further with less guests so you can afford to spend a bit more money on those things that really matter to you.
It Can Be Less Stressful
Planning a huge event like a wedding can be one of the most stressful things you do in your life. So hosting a much smaller event will certainly take some of that stress off as there won’t be as much to organise, and not as many guests to worry about.
It’s Quality Time With Everyone
One of the drawbacks of a big wedding is that it is very difficult to spend quality time with every single guest you invited. There’s often too much going on, and you can’t be in two places at once. Having a smaller affair means you can spend much more time with each of your guests which is a precious thing.
Ideas For Creating Your Own
First Create Your Guest List
Just like a large wedding, the first thing you need to do is work out a rough guest list. Having the number of guests in mind will help you with choosing your venue and all your other choices to come. Unlike a big wedding though, creating a smaller guest list could be a more difficult task as you have to be more ruthless. Try to limit it to only immediate family and a few friends. If you are concerned about offending anyone by not inviting them, you can kindly explain to them that for whatever reason, you have decided to have a very small wedding. If they love you, they will understand.
Finding Your Venue
If you have a smaller wedding, your choice of venue is a lot wider. You can opt for more quirky venues as well as you aren’t limited by maximum capacities. There are many restaurants and hotels that host private functions, or you could think further afield and rent a really nice holiday home for a weekend, either in the UK or abroad. The only thing to consider when choosing a venue is the manner in which you plan to marry. If you want the ceremony and reception to be in one place, then you will still need to choose a venue that has a marriage license. There are ways round this though. You can always have a blessing ceremony instead wherever you like, then you can make it legally binding on another day at the registry office. If your stuck for inspiration visit Petite Weddings for their list of small venue ideas.
Know Your Crowd
You can really tailor a wedding with a smaller amount of guests. You need to cover the basics of a wedding of course, such as food, music and alcohol, but after all that you can pick and choose what you want to be included, and decide on any typical wedding traditions you want to ditch. If you and your guests aren’t big partiers for example, you can forgo the evening of dancing and replace it with something else like a quiet, sophisticated evening meal and entertainment. If you do want music and dancing though, maybe consider a DJ instead of a band, or a very small band if you want live music. Having more members in the band than guests will likely be a little strange!
Go Custom
As you won’t need to purchase as much decor, you can really go all in on the bits you do buy. You can customise everything, from invites to place names, and menus to centrepieces. It will create a more memorable and immersive experience for your guests if they are surrounded by handmade, thought-out designs that really embrace you as a couple. You can really use this opportunity to make it truly meaningful.
Use Wedding Vendors
Just because your wedding is smaller, doesn’t mean you have to forgo hiring wedding professionals. No matter how big or small the wedding, you should always hire a photographer if you can, so you can capture all those wonderful memories, and all those fantastic details of the day you’ve worked so hard to put together. Talk to a florist as well; you don’t need to go crazy, but getting a florist to create a one-off, show-stopping centrepiece for your table will make a big difference.
Where To Start?
Not sure where to start with your planning? Here is a list of useful websites and links for creating intimate weddings. I’ve also included a few links to some of my other wedding planning blog posts for more inspiration. Happy Planning!
Venues:
Further Inspiration:
(All photos in this post are copyright of Aby-Joanne Photography).
