Micro Wedding Planning Tips

The internet lied to you. Not every wedding is or has to be a massive event. You don’t need to invite everyone from your hometown. You don’t need your distant family members. And you certainly don’t have to spend $50,000 for a venue drowning in florals, champagne towers and an 8 tier cake. In fact, there are many more small, micro and elopement weddings happening every month. 

But there is good news.  There are lots of wedding vendors bringing BIG wedding energy to tiny weddings all over DC and Maryland. I recently worked with The Tiny Wedding Collective for a wedding. Their work demonstrated you can have an elevated and gorgeous wedding without enormous costs.

The Tiny Wedding Co. is a woman owned, wedding planning service working throughout Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC. They are the authority in micro wedding planning,. Services include coordination, photography, florals and my favorite, cake.  For a couple planning a small wedding, the Tiny Wedding Co. is a one click service for your entire wedding. 

Lauren, their founder, provided me with some information on how you can plan the perfect micro wedding with them. 

 

Q: “First, what is a micro wedding and who is it for? “

A: “We define a micro wedding as a wedding with 50 guests or fewer, give or take. Couples who choose to have a micro wedding are either budget focused, busy professionals who would rather spend their time and energy planning a honeymoon or would prefer to stay out of the spotlight and are looking for something more intimate. For those who’d rather elope, a micro wedding is a compromise for those who wish to have their close family and friends witness their marriage. “

Q: “How does your service work? Do couples provide you what they want and you find it or is it more of a “lets figure this out together” plan?”

A: “We offer all-inclusive packages that include a day of coordinator, photographer, florist, officiant and a wedding cake! We also help with timeline creation and provide tools to help the couple stay organized throughout the planning process. For those who come to us before they’ve chosen their venue and need extra support, we offer both partial and full-service planning options. That service would begin with an onboarding call where we talk, in detail, about budget, guest count, style and vision. From there, we research a handful of venues that we think would make a good fit and present them to the couple. The couple tours the venues they love and makes a decision from there! No matter what they include in their package, all of our couples receive access to both our preferred venue and vendor lists to help make the micro wedding planning process as smooth and stress free as possible!”

Q: “What’s the best thing about having a micro wedding?”

A: “From a stylistic standpoint, I love how far the decor and rental budget can go when planning a micro wedding. Instead of having to rent 200 place settings which will cost you thousands and thousands of dollars, you can rent really beautiful, high quality rentals for a fraction of the cost. It’s a myth that micro weddings have to be boring or dull, even when working with a smaller budget!”

Q:” What’s the difference between a wedding planner and a day-of coordinator?”

A: “Our planning option supports the couple from the day they sign their contract with both the stylistic and logistical details until the end of the wedding. Our Day of Coordination begins about 3 months out and is day-of support heavy. We begin with an onboarding call once booked to ensure our couples are armed with the tools they need to plan and then jump back in 3 months out.”

Q: “What are some of the trends you’re seeing with micro weddings in the last couple years? Are there more things people are adding from traditional weddings or are there things people are moving away from completely?” 

A: “We’re seeing a lot of thought go into the guest experience. When you’re having a small wedding, the dinner is often the main event, foregoing the DJ and dance floor. Instead, couples focus on highlighting their meal offering with a Michelin-star chef or by including an interactive experience for their guests, like a live illustrator or live music.”

Q: “Any tips for picking your guest list for your wedding and how do you keep your guests list from exploding even for a regular sized wedding?”

A: “The guest list most heavily impacts the budget. The more guests you have the more you need to spend on linens, florals, seating, food etc. We have a really great blog post on our website where we interview a wedding etiquette expert where she recommends creating a set of rules and sticking to those rules.”

Q: “Wedding big or small, what are some tips for saving money and what are some things you might want to skip?”

A: “If you’re looking to save money, we recommend skipping on decor pieces or traditions that don’t speak to you as a couple. It’ll be different for everybody but we think couples can skip on things like welcome bags, especially if they’re filled with items guests can find at a local drugstore, cheap favors (unless it’s something like a snack your guests can munch on the way home), and unnecessary signage. Unless you’re having a signature drink or only offering a very limited cart, there’s no need for bar signage. Check out our Splurge or Save video on Instagram for more examples!” 

About the couple:

Chelsea and Alan were world travelers who knew from the beginning that they wanted  a unique, intimate wedding. Chelsea’s dress was a shining example of breaking traditions that weren’t important to them. Their cake also was a japanese- inspired flavor of matcha and yuzu. Their intimate feeling and expertly designed wedding really made their day a shared, emotional experience for all. 

Venue: Swann House

Planning: The Tiny Wedding Co. 

Hotel Prep: St. Regis Washington DC

Hair and Makeup: Royal Hair and Makeup 

Music: District Strings

Florals: Stem and Thistle Floral Design

Officiant: Spirit Fire Life Ceremonies

Cake: Frost and Flourish