As a Wedding Planner in Minnesota, we hear a lot of concerns from couples about their days. What they may not realize, is that many of those concerns can be solved by just having a smaller wedding. We wanted to make the case for small weddings and show how it might be the answer to some of your biggest stress points.
The Budget
Yes, this first one is obvious but it’s also typically one of the biggest stress points for couples. The answer is simple: if you have less people at your wedding, it’s quite likely it will cost you less. The parts of the day that are based on guest counts such as catering, bar service and the amount of floral, decor and rentals you need may go down with smaller weddings. Less guests may not make a difference in the pricing of your venue, photographer, videographer, music or planner, but it probably won’t make them more expensive like a large guest count might.
The Guest List
Annoyed that your parents want to invite people you have never met? Agonizing because you want to invite some coworkers but not others? Don’t want to have children at the wedding but are concerned that if you invite everyone who could babysit it will make it hard for parents to come? All of those things can be solved by having a smaller wedding. By drawing the lines early and letting people know you are having a small wedding, people will understand when they aren’t invited. (Note: make the decision early to have a smaller guest count and be sensitive to who you invite to an engagement party or shower, if you will not be inviting them to the wedding. Some may not care if they are not invited to the wedding, but others definitely will!)
The Greeting
One concern we hear a lot from couples with larger guests counts is that they don’t feel like they will have time to greet everyone who isn’t in their wedding party or close family that will be in photos. Couples subject themselves to a receiving line (which no one likes to be in), or they try to rush around from table to table during dinner, and never feel like they get enough time with everyone. An easy way to solve that problem is to have fewer people at your wedding to greet. The number of people you won’t see at other points during the day before the ceremony will be a lot less, which means you will feel less pressure and will likely be able to spend more time with those closest to you.
The Timeline
Depending on where you are having your wedding, you may be limited in time you can be there for your ceremony, when you can get into the space, or when you need to be out by. This can cause stress for couples to figure out how to fit everything in these timeframes. It comes down to simple logistics: it takes a lot less time to move 100 people around than it does 200 from one part of the day to the next. It takes less time to feed 75 people than it does 150. Having fewer guests will make the flow of the whole day go more smoothly and you’ll feel less stressed about having to rush guests around and wait on more of them to start dinner, etc.
The Experience
Giving guests a great experience at their wedding is important to couples. Having fewer guests will typically mean less time in line for the bar and less time before your guests get served their meals. If you have fewer people, maybe that means you can have a fully hosted bar for guests or serve them more or higher-end meals. Perhaps a smaller guest count means you have more in the budget for transportation or to pay for valet parking. Small weddings provide the opportunity to be surrounded by the people who are the closest and most important to you. Shouldn’t you treat them like the VIPs they are?
Bonus Reason: The Group Shot!
It’s so much easier to get a group shot when you have less people, and such a fun memory!
Photo Credit: Vick Photography
Some people may find the idea of having a smaller wedding with fewer guests hard to wrap their heads around, but if you really take the time to consider all the benefits of it, and who you really want to spend the day with, then the decision may easier than you thought.
Having a planner is no less important for small weddings! Feel free to contact us with any questions or to book a consultation.
Want to see a perfect example of a small wedding? Check out THIS blog to read about a stunning backyard tent wedding we planned.
Cover Photo Credit: Vick Photography
