In the era of the largest pandemic in nearly 100 years, it’s caused quite an upset in many industries. Particularly the wedding industry. Brides and grooms across the US are reconsidering their dream weddings and opting for alternatives like micro weddings. Micro weddings have become increasingly popular over the course of the past 12 months, and let me tell you - they’re not all bad. Actually, they’re pretty awesome if you ask me! 

Over the course of the past year, most of my brides and grooms have had to downsize their weddings in order to accommodate the ever changing state guidelines about social distancing and curve flattening. Generally speaking, I think most people who did have to downsize really weren’t all that upset about it after the wedding. I want to use this blog post as a way to recount my experiences as a photographer at these micro weddings and explain some of the upsides and downsides to anyone considering opting for a smaller wedding.

Pros:

1. More intimacy/Surrounded by the most important people

I think my favorite part about the micro-weddings that I’ve been a part of the past year is how much more intimate the weddings are. Since couples have chosen to cut back on the number of guests, they choose to invite only the people they are closest with like their immediate family and some friends. The best part about that is that now you’re only surrounded by the most important people in your life who love and care about you the most. You don’t have to entertain or invite guests you may have been on the fence about or that you may not be quite as close with. You’ll be able to spend the entire wedding day visiting and celebrating with the most important people in your life!

2. They’re more laidback

Since you have less people attending the wedding, it helps relieve a lot of stress on your wedding day! You eliminate one of the biggest stressors, lots of guests! This means less likelihood of your wedding becoming a cause of spreading the virus and gives you peace of mind that you and the people there will be more safe than having a large wedding. I’ve even had couples opt for backyard weddings where they have the comfort of their own home within feet of the ceremony and reception location.

3. More cost effective

With micro weddings, couples can eliminate big costs like venues, catering, extended photography/videography hours, and decorations. This is great for if you have just started planning your wedding because you can more than likely save a good chunk on the cost of your day. You no longer have to buy 150 plates of food from a caterer, or reserve a $5,000-$10,000 venue. You can opt for less hours with your photographer and videographer which means you can choose smaller, less costly packages. 

4. They’re more unique and memorable

Honestly, the micro weddings I’ve shot have been some of the most memorable weddings I’ve ever shot. They’re totally different from the norm and I think they were more meaningful for the couples. It will certainly be a day that you’ll never forget even if you don’t invite a large number of guests.

Cons:

1. It’s probably not the dream wedding you imagined

A lot of people have spent years dreaming about their wedding days and how special it will be. A day spent with the love of your life, surrounded by all of your family and friends at your dream venue where everything runs perfect because you’ve spent years fantasizing about it. It’s a tough decision to move away from that, especially after spending so much time visualizing the day. Choosing to have a micro wedding could be a little disappointing at first.

2. Replanning a wedding can be difficult and stressful

If you’ve already sent out your invites and locked in your wedding vendors, it can be very difficult to try and reschedule everything or notifying guests that their invitation no longer stands. Many vendors have limited dates available due to all the other reschedules and nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news to their family and friends that they can no longer attend the wedding.

3. You may lose deposits if you have to cancel vendors

Depending on your vendor and their policies with cancellations, you may risk losing your deposit on their services. From what I’ve heard, most vendors are trying to be as accommodating as possible, but they’re still businesses and the pandemic is impacting them hard as well. In order to keep their doors open, some vendors (especially venues) I’ve heard about have been a little difficult for couples who try to reschedule or downsize their weddings.

4. You may have to un-invite some guests

This is an awkward conversation no couple wants to have with guests they’ve already invited to their wedding. Sending out messages to family and friends letting them know they’re no longer invited can make for some difficult conversations. That being said, what I’ve noticed is true friends and loving family members will be understanding of your decision and respect your choice to rather be safe than sorry.