10 Small Wedding Ideas to Inspire Your Celebration – Part 1
Once upon a time, there were two options for a wedding – a large-scale traditional affair with 100+ guests or an elopement with just your significant other. These days, a third option is on the rise that combines the two – the micro wedding.
Intimate weddings like these are all about celebrating your love in a more personalized way while still having the romance and excitement of a traditional wedding. But they open up a world of opportunity when it comes to planning your wedding and doing things a little differently at beautiful small wedding venues.
In this guide, we’ll introduce 10 small wedding ideas that we absolutely love to incorporate into your special day.
1. Hire a wedding planner or day-of coordinator
Just because you’re going small, doesn’t mean things are necessarily going to be logistically easier. A wedding planner will take care of so many behind-the-scenes details that you might not have considered while a day-of coordinator will ensure your wedding flows naturally and without any hiccups. Both will bring years of professional experience in the industry and will help transform your micro wedding dreams into reality.
2. Keep the guest list to a minimum
Saying you want to have a small wedding is one thing and keeping the guest list to just a handful of your closest family and friends is another. If you are having difficultly deciding who to leave off the list, consider how close you are to that person and whether in day-to-day life you would be willing to spend $100+ on a meal for them (or however much you are budgeting for your wedding per person). Don’t feel pressured to invite people because someone else (eg. your parents) thinks they should come. Remember, this is your day and if you want to keep things intimate, it’s in your hands.
3. Handwrite your invitations
If there are more than 100 people on your wedding guest list, then you’d be forgiven for wanting to go down the printed invitation track. But for an intimate wedding, consider writing your own invitations and personalizing them to the guest. You can include a few details about what they mean to you and why you would be honored to have them attend your wedding. Showcased below is a beautiful hand written invitation in a bottle from https://www.mospensstudio.com/product/handwritten-message-in-a-bottle-wedding-invitation/. Can you imagine how awesome it would feel to send these to just a small, intimate guest list?
4. Wed at your favorite restaurant
One of the great perks of having a micro wedding is that you have hundreds more options when it comes to venues, including some less traditional choices. If the menu is particularly important to you, consider holding your celebrations at a favorite restaurant or somewhere you’ve always wanted to dine that’s a little bit special. Most restaurants will be open to the idea of hosting a private function, meaning you and your wedding party can enjoy exclusive use of the space.
Beautiful Hand-Written Invitations from Mospens Studio
Wed At Your Favorite Restaurant
5. Customize your catering experience
Speaking of food, the catering options really are endless when you’re planning a micro wedding, from a decadent buffet to a multi-course degustation with wine pairings or eclectic food trucks. Once you start looking outside of traditional wedding venues, you won’t be restricted to onsite caterers or set menus that don’t speak to you. Think about the food you love (or have loved sharing with your wedding guests in the past) and how the experience could be replicated with a touch of something special.
6. Say “I do” at home
Unless you’re living in a mansion or on a sprawling estate, most homes aren’t suitable for hosting large-scale weddings. But intimate weddings are a completely different affair and can easily take place in an average-sized backyard. There’s something incredibly sentimental about starting your marriage journey in a home that’s important to you, whether it’s your parents’ house or where the relationship between you and your future spouse has blossomed. An added bonus: you’ll be significantly keeping costs down when there are no venue fees involved!
7. Book a private residence
If your home isn’t suitable for a wedding, you might want to consider looking online at vacation rental websites to find a space that suits your needs. Aside from luxury residences and country ranches, you can also find quirkier options that you might never have considered before. Be sure to check with the owner before setting your heart on this small wedding idea as not all will allow gatherings or parties.
Customize Your Catering Experience
Say I Do At Home
8. Go small at a traditional wedding venue
Just because you’re having a micro wedding doesn’t mean you can’t host it at a traditional venue, such as a hotel or a country club. Many purpose-designed wedding venues feature a variety of spaces that can accommodate both large and small venues. Perhaps there’s an intimate courtyard where you can exchange vows or an elegant library for the reception. So don’t be put off booking a traditional wedding venue for a non-traditional celebration.
9. Ditch the traditional round tables
If there are just 20 or so on your wedding guest list, it doesn’t make much sense to have just a handful of round tables when you could do something more inclusive. Consider a long reception table for a family atmosphere or opt for a U-shaped setup that will inspire conversation. No matter what type of table you decide on, ensure everyone has enough elbow space and easy access to water and wine. You might also want to personalize the place cards with hand-written names and/or a little gift to welcome them to the table.
10. Discover your inner interior designer
If you are planning to hold your small wedding in a relatively large space, there are ways of making it feel more intimate. Aside from reception tables, you might consider adding a lounge area or a creatively designed bar, as well as different food stations set up around the room. This is where an experienced wedding planner can be worth their weight in gold, with an understanding of how to design your space so that it feels like it was always meant to be that way.
Want more small wedding ideas? We have 10 more to share here!
Go Small at a Traditional Wedding Venue
Ditch The Traditional Round Table
The Sheraton Portsmouth has a beautiful room for your small, intimate wedding. You can ditch the traditional round table AND have your small wedding at a traditional wedding venue.
