Small weddings. There’s something so romantic and special about being part of an event that has an exclusive guestlist and all focus on the bride and groom. Whether it’s for economical reasons or for destination wedding desires, intimate nuptials are big in popularity. Why?
- The most special day you’ll experience with your partner will be spent among only your nearest and dearest! Whittling down your people means you have fewer guests who are extraneous or friends of relatives you hardly know. It’s all about the quality instead of the quantity!
- Ahh… you can breathe! Fewer people means less pressure. Because of the small amount of guests, your wedding day jitters will likely shrink down to little to none. This is because you won’t have seemingly-foreign eyes on you. Among your closest friends and favorite family, you should feel much more relaxed. No dog and pony show for your VIPs. Just party on in a fancy dress! Om to that!
- Cha-ching! You’re saving money, friends! Who doesn’t like that? Fewer people means fewer homes to send invitations (which means fewer postage stamps); Fewer tables means fewer centerpieces or printed menus at each place setting; Fewer people means fewer favors and that means fewer labels with your logo to stick on such favors. See where I’m going with this? It’s not just saving on the catering bill. It’s saving on every element that would normally be attached to a guest.
- Go big! If you’re on a budget, I would strongly advise you don’t cut corners and, rather, you cut people. You can still have a high-end, beautiful wedding supported by top-notch vendors if you declutter your guestlist. Want to splurge on your dream photographer? Want to indulge in a gourmet meal that stands out from your usual banquet chicken-and-‘tatoes grub? You can when you don’t have to pay for so many people!
- With a smaller wedding, you have more choices in selecting a venue. Since you won’t need to accommodate a large amount of people in a space, you could get married in some really unique and cool locations. Art galleries, boutique restaurants, university libraries… you can have a more personal experience in a unique location.
- You can actually schmooze with your guests! You are inviting all your favorite people, right? So that means you can actually talk to them! It’s always so sad when the bride and groom miss out on face time with the people who’ve come to celebrate them. I know I missed out on seeing some people at my 162-person wedding and I STILL feel guilty about it! The day goes by fast, no matter how many people you invite. Big wedding, small wedding — the day flies by. You’ll want to be able to steal a hug from the people you love and if you have a smaller guest list, you’ll be able to get as many squeezes as you’d like!
- People will remember your wedding! Because it won’t follow the cookie-cutter format that most large weddings employ, your guests will recall it was a unique day, representative of you as a couple! For people who get around the seasonal wedding circuit, weddings can become fairly assembly line-like and very predictable. That’s not necessarily a bad thing — chocolate cake is pretty predictable and it’s delicious every time — but it is nice to stand out and make a mark, especially on a day that’s yours.
- Save some money for later! If you’re contributing to your own wedding, either fully or partially, you already know that you’re spending on one amazing day. But it really is one day. One. Ouch. That’s a lot of cash to spend on 1/365th of a year. If cash is tight — and these days, it’s likely everyone’s holding their wallets a little more tightly — you’ll want to save on your wedding with an intimate guestlist so that you have more funds for your honeymoon, a house, or a rainy day.
Weddings of all shapes and sizes are truly special in their own way, but if you’re on the fence about whether to have a large wedding or a smaller sized event, hopefully this list helped make your decision a little easier. A small wedding can still have a big heart, and when it’s all over, it’s all about the two most important guests of honor: you and your b’shert!
Elizabeth Zuluaga Photography
