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How to plan a micro wedding of your dreams! Our top 10 insider tips

by | Mar 19, 2021

Planning a micro wedding opens up an Aladdin’s cave of possibilities and can bring even your wildest wedding day wishes within reach.

The fact is that a wedding involving fewer people has the potential to create space for the most unique and memorable wedding day for you and your guests.

What’s more, organising a smaller wedding is fun from the get-go, without any of the stress points that can sometimes be associated with planning a larger wedding. You’ve fewer people to please, and those who join you at your intimate wedding ceremony and celebrations will be those who are supportive and understanding of you doing things your way. Far from being a compromise, those couples who truly embrace how to have a mirco wedding, enjoy some of the very best wedding experiences.

Having helped couples bring their micro wedding day dreams to life since we opened, we’d like to share our top 10 insider tips on how to plan a mirco wedding for the win.

Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography

Tip 1: Don’t Compromise

A small wedding is not a compromise, it’s a positive choice. This means you absolutely should: book the photographer whose style you love; engage the florist who has created your favourite looks for other weddings or styled shoots; choose your style of wedding day food prepared by the best local catering companies: and, book exclusive hire of your favourite venue, rather than feeling resigned to the myth that a smaller wedding means using a backroom at a large wedding venue.

Many wedding day service providers and venues like Brickhouse Vineyard offer bespoke exclusive-hire packages with timings and prices adjusted to suit smaller weddings, reflecting the lower number of people attending.

Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography

Tip 2: Be clear about what your small wedding package includes

All small wedding venue packages aren’t created equally. There’re a growing number of purposefully and thoughtfully designed wedding venues with packages that offer beautiful bespoke spaces and services for intimate weddings and elopements. There’re also some larger wedding venues that’ve started offering small wedding packages to meet the growing demand. These can be great too. We recommend that you make sure you find out: exactly where your wedding ceremony and celebrations will take place; where you’ll have access to at the venue and for how long: and, whether you’ll be sharing the spaces with others. There’re no right or wrong answers, but you’ll want to feel comfortable with what you’re being offered before booking.

 

Tip 3: Set a budget

Just because you’re planning a small wedding, don’t take your eye off your budget. Have a figure in mind based on what you can afford. Request quotes from all supplier before committing and make sure you know when deposits and final balances are due. Without the discipline of proper budgeting a wedding of any size can become more of a worry than a pleasure. Knowing you can afford what you’re planning is a quick win to minimise stress and maximise enjoyment from start to finish.

 

Tip 4: Go mid-week or Autumn / Winter for great value

If creating a magical wedding day experience on a smaller budget is important to you then size can truly be your friend. Smaller weddings come with simpler logistics and can be created in relatively small spaces. This means you’re not reliant on high season dates that require marquees or useable outside spaces to accommodate large numbers of people. Furthermore, it’s far easier to have a mid-week wedding as a viable option when you have a low number of guests diaries to co-ordinate.

Both mid-week and autumn/winter wedding venue hire may be slightly lower cost than high season dates at some venues.  

Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography

Tip 5: Make a short break of it

There’s nothing quite like spending some quality time with your nearest and dearest and we see the trend towards weddings that create extended time with a special few growing. Rather than restricting your wedding arrangements to a single day (and the pressure that puts on everyone), why not enjoy a few days together by booking accommodation close to your wedding venue where you can elongate this treasured time together at this pivotal time in your lives? Allow the creation of memories to flow naturally over 2/3 days of relaxed celebrations rather than feeling the pressure to make everything happen in one day?

 

Tip 6: Go Luxe on food and drink

When you’re catering for large numbers there’s usually a limited number of “crowd pleasing” options you can go for, both from practical and cost perspectives. However, with smaller numbers, comes flexibility and the opportunity to make food and drink a really spectacular element of your wedding day.

For example, you could choose a tasting menu and wine flight, incorporating a meal with all your favourite ingredients to be enjoyed alongside the ideal wine to create a treat for your taste buds; you may prefer to enjoy something more ethical or sustainable, opting for a vegan-style menu alongside vegan-friendly wines that may not go down well with a guests list of 200, but can provide a culinary adventure for 20 of you; or, perhaps you ask a chef to create a feast of bespoke dishes that reflect your journey as a couple. You could even create an anecdotal menu card to explain the meaning of each dish to you both for your guests or give short introduction to each course before digging in!  

Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography

Tip 7: Unleash creativity and meaning

The great thing about smaller scale weddings is that they come without the same level of expectations and rules that a larger wedding day encumbers.

Be as outlandish as you like with your styling of your venue and yourselves making it truly personal and authentic reflection of your relationship. And it doesn’t need to stop there: make the order of your day “your perfect day” by including things like a wild water swim or surf before breakfast; yoga or a massage before getting ready; an acoustic set of meaningful songs played by your chosen musicians to welcome your guests to your ceremony; choose a celebrant-led wedding ceremony that can reflect your relationship rather than purely ticking the legal boxes; dine and drink in your style even if this means toasting your marriage with a signature cocktail rather than traditional sparkles or a BBQ or picnic rather than a sit down meal. Whatever “your things” are, include nods to them throughout your day. Take the permission offered by smaller numbers and the intimacy of your relationship with these people who truly know and love you, to own your day. 

Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography

Tip 8: Surround yourselves with love

Your guest list is arguably the most important decision you’ll make regarding your micro wedding arrangements. By choosing to have a small number of people attend your wedding ceremony and celebration you free yourselves from those “duty bound” invitations to your second cousins who you’ve not seen in 25 years. Further, a short guest list leaves no room for anyone who you do not feel 100% sure will be a great guest to have around you on your wedding day. Where a big crowd can hide a little inconsiderate behaviour or the odd poorly timed comments, a small group is less forgiving. It only takes one guest to ruin a small wedding. Ensure that those you choose to invite will be those who will surround you with love, support and positivity on you special day.

 

Tip 9: Get everyone involved

One of the most wonderful aspects of an intimate wedding is that everyone you’ve invited can feel properly involved. Whether it’s playing a part in your ceremony, helping you on with your dress or driving you to your wedding venue, you can find a way for everyone to contribute and feel indispensable. This has the marvellous effect of ensuring everyone is involved with a practical role to fulfil and ensuring they’re also fully emotionally invested in your wedding day. Proactively finding roles for everyone also has the added benefit of limiting the risk of less welcome help by channelling positive energy where you guys feel it’s needed.

Tara Statton Photography
Tara Statton Photography

Tip 10: Bring tissues

Finally, we’ve been lucky enough to host some absolutely stunning and unique small weddings at Brickhouse Vineyard. Although each and every one of them is different, they all have one thing in common: tears. The intensity of emotion is not to be under-estimated. Make sure you have armed yourselves and your guests with tissues, as we know the odds are that these will be needed to dab the tears of joy that just seem to bubble over on these more intimate wedding days. Please don’t say we didn’t warn you…

If you’re considering a wedding that’s small in size, but big on love we’d love to be able to help you. If you’d like to find out more about our range of wedding options suitable for smaller groups at Brickhouse Vineyard you can take a look here

Photography by Tara Statton