Benefits of an Intimate Wedding

Hey friends! We are back with week two of our intimate wedding series. Today I wanted to talk about some of my favorite benefits of small or intimate weddings (spoiler- there are so many)! Some of my all time favorite weddings that I have ever designed or planned have been with less than 50 people. I tried so hard to reduce all these benefits down to my top three but just couldn’t do it. Therefore, I present to you, my top five reasons why I love small weddings.

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More Personalization

I absolutely love any excuse for personalization and special touches on wedding days. When you have a smaller guest list, you are able to incorporate so many more customized touches to your big day. I had one couple once pre-write the CUTEST handwritten thank you notes for their guests and leave them on the table as place cards. Small weddings are perfect for making your guests feel extra loved and for you to show some extra gratitude to the people who mean the most to you. My heart gets so excited when i think of all of the amazing possibilities when it comes to designing weddings with a smaller guest list.

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More Time Enjoying Your Wedding

It breaks my heart when my brides spend their entire wedding day talking with and greeting their guests that they don’t have time to really enjoy themselves. With small weddings, your guest list only consists of the people you simply could not imagine your wedding without. That means you’re not stuck spending 30 minutes catching up with your mom’s second cousin instead of dancing with your very best friends. I love getting to watch my brides live their wedding day to the fullest and small weddings are perfect for that. You can socialize or catch up with friends any day of the week but your wedding day is your day to celebrate and dance your heart out!

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larger value

As mentioned in last week’s blog post, the number of guests you have is one of the biggest expenses for a wedding. With the number of people you have to feed, the size of the venue, and everything in between (chairs, favors, drinks, literally everything) the cost of your wedding increases with your guest list. On the flip side, you could also use that extra money from a smaller guest list to have a more extravagant wedding! I have a lot of brides who use the money they save on their intimate wedding to curate their perfect day. They are able to spare no expense on exactly the food, cake, venue, etc. If you are looking to splurge on parts of your wedding but worried about your budget, I would highly reccomend concidering an intimate wedding.

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More Venue Choices

Speaking of venues… your options multiply with smaller weddings! it’s no secret that some of the best venues just aren’t equipped to handle the guest lists of some larger weddings. Some of my favorite wedding venues have been ones that only seat 30 people! Furthermore, there is definitely something to be said about intimate wedding spaces and how beautifully they can be decorated and designed, especially with all of those personalized touches!

Less Stressful

Last but certainly not least, smaller more intimate weddings tend to be so much less stressful than weddings done on a larger scale. My brides get to spend their time partying it up and celebrating their wedding day. Smaller weddings tend to be a little easier to plan (especially with a planner!) and easier to make decisions since you are accounting for fewer people and have more freedom in your choices. If thinking about making a guest list makes you want to break out in hives, keeping it to just the closest of friends and family helps you know where to make the cutoff. If you are looking for a less stressful day, or tend to get stressed out more easily, a smaller wedding may be the right choice for you!

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I would love to hear your thoughts about small weddings and all of their benefits in the comments and stay tuned for the next installment of our small wedding series! If you’re interested in reading more about intimate weddings from some of our sweet local vendor friends + see their perspective, as well. You can find a post from Amanda of Amanda Olivia Photography HERE + Whitney of Whitewood Events HERE + Lindsey of Georgian Hall HERE + Addie of Whitewolf Floral HERE!

Photography by Rustic White Photography