5 Reasons to Consider Having a Small Wedding
Having a small wedding is something lots of engaged couples are considering these days. COVID-19 has forced many couples to make alternate wedding plans, and this often includes postponing the big party to a later date. But even when the large reception has to be moved months in the future, opting for a small, intimate wedding or elopement on your original wedding day can be a special way to celebrate! Plus then you get TWO days of festivities!
In addition to keeping your guests’ health and comfort in mind by putting off the large gathering, there’s plenty of other great things about small weddings too. It can be disappointing to see your wedding plans change so much, but here are 5 reasons why having a small wedding can still be just as fun:
There are tons of location possibilities - Have you ever thought about getting married on a mountaintop? That’s much easier to do with a small wedding than a big one! With an intimate wedding, you’ll have a lot more flexibility in the location for your ceremony because you don’t need to worry about fitting 100+ chairs into the space. You can go for something nontraditional like one of Skyline Drive’s overlooks, your favorite park, or can even get married in the comfort of your own backyard.
You’ll get to spend more time with each of your guests - When you’ve got 250 wedding guests present at your big day, it’s unlikely that you’ll get to spend quality time with every one of them. Even if you do a receiving line or make the rounds to visit every table at the reception, chances are your interactions will be brief and not extend much beyond a “thanks for coming” with many of them. There’s just not enough time in the day to talk to that many people! But when you keep your guest list small, you’ll get to have genuine, memorable interactions with everyone who is there. Your closest friends and family will be there and that is who matters the most!
There’s no rushing around - Big weddings usually mean there’s a lot more going on. There’s often a full bridal party getting their hair and makeup done, rushing to get to the ceremony, shuffling 100+ guests from the ceremony to the cocktail hour, trying to get all the photos done in that one hour, and then getting to dinner on time! While all that excitement is definitely part of the fun, the day can become a blur for some couples, and that can usually be avoided with an intimate wedding or elopement. There’s typically fewer locations involved and the timeline isn’t as strict, so you can be much more stress-free! Although big weddings can absolutely still have a laid-back and relaxed atmosphere, it is much easier to come by with an intimate gathering.
You’ll have more time for photos - Obviously I’m a little bit biased as a photographer, but I love it when wedding days have tons of time built in for photos! And that is much easier to do during a small wedding than a big one. With an intimate wedding, you have more timeline flexibility to get photos in different locations, you won’t be rushed to get to the next event, and the two of you will be much more relaxed during your portraits (which creates better photos). If the sunset is beautiful and you want a few more minutes of taking pictures, you won’t have the pressure of 150 guests waiting to eat dinner until you get back!
You can avoid the pre-ceremony nerves - For couples that don’t love being the center of attention, having an intimate ceremony with fewer guests can be perfect! Reading personal vows out loud can be intimidating in front of a large crowd, but is much easier to do with just a few close guests. Some couples are opting to do a vow renewal ceremony at their reception later (so that those guests get the ceremony experience too!), but you can do it on your terms and maybe make the intimate ceremony more sentimental.
See what some married couples have to say about their small weddings:
“One of the things that was really special about having such an intimate wedding was that our closest family members (parents & siblings) were really part of the ceremony. They were all right there and it felt like a true joining of the families. Some of our favorite photos of the day are of us exchanging vows with our family all around us.
The rest of our relatives were still part of our wedding experience, even though they were not there on our wedding day. We put together a beautiful photo album almost immediately after the wedding (big thanks to Megan, for how quickly we got pictures back) and we went through that album with every aunt, uncle, cousin, and friend. Having the photos and looking at them with our relatives, even months after the actual event, was really special and made 2018 feel like our wedding year instead of just our wedding day. It was a really nice way to connect with our family members and bring them into the celebration. Honestly we probably spent more time with each of those people than we would have at a traditional wedding!”
Gillian and Ryan, 8 guests
“When we started wedding planning everyone told us how much of a blur their day was because they felt pressure to talk to everyone. Being the type of couple that enjoys doing things at our own pace, we decided a smaller ceremony would be better suited for us. How right we were! We enjoyed every moment of the day because we didn't feel the least bit rushed to get from point A to point B! The icing on the cake (no pun intended) is that we got to extend the wedding celebrations over the course of the following year by having additional informal celebrations with extended family and friends. We have so many amazing memories from the day and would not have changed a single thing!"
Julia and Nick, 10 guests
“Our wedding was so perfect. We didn’t want anything big, just small and intimate with family. What an amazing and memorable experience it was. Our photographer, Megan, was able to capture some very meaningful and precious photos that I feel would have never been captured if there were a lot of people around. It was simple and perfect, with Chick-fil-A nuggets, fruit and veggies, a beautiful cake and an awesome photographer. Would not have had it any other way!”
Janice and Tom, 14 guests
See more photos from intimate weddings in these blog posts!
