The 5 Major Benefits of Intimate Weddings

As restrictions begin lifting around guest counts and travel, and wedding venues/vendors gain more expertise surrounding safety + sanitation, we’re still not seeing a shift towards 150+ guest counts any time soon. It’s not because of fear or uncertainty or the general economy, though these variables still certainly exist. In fact, it’s because more couples are realizing the sky-high benefits of intimate weddings. Not the least of which is access to crazy unique wedding venues with unforgettable backdrops.

Quality Time 

Couples who host 200-300 person weddings often recount the day going by in a blur… they aren’t even certain they saw much of each other besides the ceremony, portraits, first dance and speeches. Sadly, being pulled in every direction throughout the 4 or 5 hour reception results in less time absorbing the magic of the world you’ve spent the last year or so dreaming up with your SO and vendor team. 

Plain and simple, microweddings make room for more meaningful moments where you can be present with your partner, enjoy the full experience as a guest and have authentic conversations with the people you love most in the world. It’s also easier for them to build relationships with one another when they’re not a small fish in a big pond… what more could you ask for than your family + friends from every chapter of your life connecting so you can share more moments like this together in the future?!

Personalization

Wedding guests love feeling held, and when you’re building an experience for 20-30 people vs. 300, it’s a whole lot easier to create special and individualized touch points they won’t soon forget. 

Personalization also refers to the countless ways you can personalize the design elements of the day to reflect your story, culture and style. Perhaps it’s uber creative place cards, floral varieties representing the countries you’re from, where you met and where you got engaged, luxe welcome gifts giving your guests a glimpse into your world and the destination. 

Unique Experiences 

Another benefit of intimate weddings is that they give you a little more wiggle room for unique entertainment like live painters, fire dancers or cigar rollers, but also for multi-course dining experiences with wine pairings.

These unique experiences don’t need to be limited to the wedding day either. If your guests are coming in town for a few days, you can plan group activities before the wedding to break the ice for some of these loved ones who have never met each other. Depending on your wedding destination, sunset sails, hot air balloon rides, classic car drives, cooking classes and nature hikes are always crowd pleasers, and allow your celebration to last so much longer than a single day. 

Your Dream Vendors

Your guest count is one of the most significant variables when it comes to your wedding budget. After all, it affects the flowers, rentals, food, beverage and even in some cases, venue cost. It also has a direct affect on the labor line item for your vendors, due to the nature of larger scaled weddings requiring a greater capacity for setup, service and breakdown. 

All this to say, when you’re spending less on all these categories, you may have some room to splurge on your dream photographer you never thought you could afford. Of course, this is true for every type of vendor, be it a planner, designer, florist, caterer, stationer, musician, dog sitter (yes, that’s a thing!)… you name it! 

Budget Allocation 

Just as it is with your dream team of vendors, so it is with your sky is the limit design ideas. A lower guest count allows you to really go big with those design moments that are important to you, whether that’s the most lush ceremony aisle + arbor to ever exist or a die-cut accordion style wedding invitation featuring original hand-painted artwork of your story. You can truly have the best of the best when you’re not spending $500+/head on 250 guests. You don’t even have to do the math to know that’s enough to grant you your wildest dreams, and then some. Heck, even put it towards the honeymoon! 

The benefits of intimate weddings offer a strong argument for ditching the grand guest count you might have originally anticipated from feelings of obligation, etiquette, tradition, etc. And while the circumstances of the last year created trials and tribulations unforeseen by anyone, they did prove two fundamental things: 1) The love/relationship/marriage is more important than anything and 2) Modern tech makes it possible to include your loved ones near + far in a way that makes everyone feel special. So even if you’re leaning towards an intimate wedding beyond the age of COVID-19, you can rest assured that the wedding industry is pivoting towards these offerings even more (and so is society in general!).

Cover photo by Blush Wedding Photography from this intimate Vancouver wedding