In Praise of Tiny Weddings!

Last weekend, I had the distinct honor to be a part of a very tiny wedding. Only one witness for the civil ceremony, two for the church blessing and a total of twelve guests for the wedding luncheon.  After planning hundreds of weddings having anywhere from 100-700 guests, it was quite a change.
About fifteen years ago, I planned a similarly intimate wedding of seventeen guests but just about every wedding between now and then has been at least one hundred guests and many have topped four hundred. 

Most people don't hire full-scale wedding planners for small weddings, which is a shame. All weddings have virtually the same number of components it's just a matter of increasing volume of people. The small wedding from this past weekend had just as many, if not more, details as my larger weddings and required the same attention to that detail to make it a success. We had a timeline and we followed it!

What I love about the small wedding is that it allows even more customization and personalization. This weekend, we used the client's own antique china service and sterling silver for lunch, as well as his grandmother's vases to hold the centerpieces. It made the table so stunning and wouldn't have been possible at a larger event. Each guest received a beautiful bag of personalized gifts selected by the couple that went far beyond the usual wedding favor. Again, something that would not be possible if the client had to prepare (and pay for) two hundred of them.

But most notable was the intimacy of the wedding and reception, the feeling that everyone in attendance was important to the couple. And when you're exchanging once-in-a-lifetime vows, isn't that the way it should be?

So, although most couples don't feel they could ever have a twelve person wedding, if you find yourself considering a teeny tiny celebration, don't be afraid of it. There are many wonderful advantages to small weddings. Sometimes size isn't everything.