5 Reasons To Have a Small Wedding

While a small wedding might not be your immediate ideal, I have for you five reasons to have a small wedding. In short, small weddings have fast become my favourite and I’m excited to tell you why.

Having a small wedding is hardly a new phenomena, and yet we’ve seen an explosion (due in large part to necessity) of small or ultra-small (think 10-25 people) weddings. With this has also come an increase in elopements. Maybe eloping is something you’ve never considered, or maybe it’s something you’ve always planned. Maybe you always envisioned a large wedding with 200 hundred of your “closest friends and family” – but are now considering a wedding of under 50. Either way, whether it was always your plan or something you’ve only recently considered, here are 5 reasons to have small wedding (or even an elopement!) may be a better option than you ever imagined:

Reasons to Have a Small Wedding: A More Intimate Occasion

Your wedding can – and should – be one of the best days of your life. It also can be – and often is – overwhelming. Having a small wedding, or opting to elope, can remove (or significantly lessen) that overwhelm. Allow your day to simply be celebrated by you as a couple, and your closest circle of immediate community. Rather than a big, seemingly public event, let the day be a day that is smaller, quieter, more intimate, and more reflective of your love for one another – not only of you as a couple, but also of you and the people who’ve loved you, walked with you, and invested in you the most through the years. Having a small wedding or elopement also helps eliminate rush – forget about trying to rush from one place to another and another for ceremony, photos, and reception. Stick close, take it slow, and savor the moment.

Check out the American Creek Lodge view for a perfectly intimate ceremony!

Reasons to Have a Small Wedding: Better Guest Interaction

Have you ever been to a wedding where there were so many people, the bride and groom only made it through half the room to say hello? A small wedding allows you to truly spend a bit of personal time with each guest – or at the very least, with each table! Not to mention, having to keep your guest list small means it is far more likely that you will actually want to see everyone there, making it far easier to prioritize in your day.

(Even if guest interaction is on Zoom, it’s still interaction!)

Reasons to Have a Small Wedding: Take Better Advantage of the Budget you Have

If you are planning your wedding on a fixed budget, having a small wedding or elopement can make it feel like you have significantly more to work with. Think 25 instead of 150 … slices of cake, centrepieces, wedding favours, plates of food, space to rent… all costs that decrease significantly when you have a more intimate wedding. So rather than cutting something that you’ve always wanted to be a part of your day, consider scaling down the invite list in order to give yourself a bit more wiggle room. Not to mention, if you choose to elope, you save the (often massive) costs of venue and equipment rentals. Trust me – your wallet will thank you!

Example: fewer slices of cake equals bigger floral statement piece? Maybe?

Reasons to Have a Small Wedding: Clarifying What is Actually Important to You

While I will always be the first to say that someone else’s expectations should NOT be the deciding factor on your wedding-day decisions, it’s hard to deny that they do play a role. Having a small wedding allows you to strip away some of those expectations, and simply embrace showcasing who you are as a couple, and inviting your close community to celebrate with you. That long standing tradition you hate, but that your great-aunt’s second cousin insists is an absolute necessity? No longer an issue. That idea you had that someone else thinks is “not the right fit” for a wedding? Maybe what you really want is a night time picnic under the stars, or all you actually want is some really good pizza and wings. Do it. Having a small wedding or an elopement gives you freedom from expectations you’d rather not try to fit within, and lets you focus on the things that matter most to you, and settle into that “just us” sort of feeling.

I loved watching the care for thrifted detail at this microwedding.

Reasons to Have a Small Wedding: Utterly Unique Photographs

Last but not least (and my obvious top reason), is the gorgeous photos. A small wedding or elopement often has a calmer, more natural and relaxed feel, which allows your photographer to really capture the moment. The lack of rush and extra people to coordinate gives more freedom to really lean in to the photos you want, and capture your truly unique experience in an intense and passionate way. No rush, no complications – just you.

Whatever the season – whether a small wedding or elopement is mandatory or not, there are so many reasons to choose to embrace the simpler route. Intimacy, close interaction with a small group of people, cost effectiveness, focusing on what matters to you, and (of course) the gorgeous photo opportunities, all make for a magical day, no matter the reason.

Go to multiple locations or take a helicopter or trash your dress. Your day, your way…and lots of photo ops to prove it!