Hello, dear readers! It’s time to embark on a journey into the enchanting world of planning your micro weddings.
Planning an intimate celebration is a beautiful endeavor, and today, we’re diving deep into the basics.
Grab your notebooks and get ready to discover how to create a day filled with love, joy, and all the charm of a micro wedding!
Table of Contents
Planning Your Micro Wedding: Understanding Micro Weddings:
Let’s start by delving into what micro weddings truly entail.
A micro wedding is an intimate celebration with a smaller guest list, typically ranging from 20 to 50 guests.
The allure lies in the opportunity to curate a more personal, meaningful, and often budget-friendly experience.
Check out the Top Trends for 2024 HERE!
Planning Your Micro Wedding: Crafting Your Vision:
Crafting a vision is the foundational step in planning your micro wedding.
Envision your dream celebration – think about the setting, the atmosphere, and the emotions you wish to evoke.
Whether it’s a cozy backyard affair, a scenic outdoor setting, or an intimate venue with character, defining your vision will guide every aspect of your planning journey.
Planning Your Micro Wedding: Budgeting Wisely:
Budgets are the backbone of any wedding plan, and the good news is that micro weddings are often more budget-friendly.
With a smaller guest count, you can allocate resources efficiently, focusing on quality over quantity for a more personalized experience.
Planning Your Micro Wedding: Crafting the Guest List:
Crafting a thoughtful guest list is a crucial step in ensuring an intimate atmosphere.
Consider those who mean the most to you and whom you genuinely want to share this special moment with.
Keeping it small allows for more meaningful interactions and connections.
Planning Your Micro Wedding: Selecting the Perfect Venue:
With a smaller guest count, the venue options open up to unique and non-traditional locations.
Consider charming backyards, picturesque outdoor settings, or intimate venues that resonate with your vision – the possibilities are endless.
Planning Your Micro Wedding: Infuse Personalization:
Personalization is where the magic of micro weddings truly shines.
Tailor your celebration to tell your unique love story – from custom decor to a specialized menu and unique entertainment, infuse elements that make the day distinctly yours.
Planning Your Micro Wedding: Curating Your Vendor Team:
Curating your vendor team is an exciting aspect of micro wedding planning.
With a smaller event, explore boutique options and niche services.
Collaborate with vendors who understand your vision and bring a specialized touch to your celebration, enhancing the intimate vibe.
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Planning Your Micro Wedding: Embracing Flexibility:
Flexibility is a cornerstone of micro wedding planning.
Whether choosing a date with special significance or adapting plans to unexpected circumstances, embracing flexibility adds a personal touch to your intimate celebration.
Planning Your Micro Wedding: Capturing Every Meaningful Moment:
Finally, focus on capturing every meaningful moment.
With fewer guests, your photographer and videographer can zoom in on intricate details, genuine emotions, and candid moments, creating lasting memories of your intimate celebration.
And there you have it – a comprehensive guide to planning your dream micro wedding!
If you found these tips helpful, stay tuned for more wedding inspiration.
Wishing you an incredible planning journey filled with love and joy.
Until next time, happy micro wedding planning and happy love celebrating!
💍🌟🎉 *Happy Planning!*
Planning a wedding is a huge task and can be really overwhelming and stressful.
Here are my Top 5 Ways to Have Stress-Free Planning!
1. Stay Organized
- Being organized is SO important when you are planning your event.
- You don’t want to get a random phone call from your florist and not be able to find those notes you left on that one notebook somewhere.
- Stay organized and keep a file for each of your vendors.
- Have a separate file for all of the different vendors you have as well as keep all of the notes you make in the same file.
2. Hire a Wedding Planner
- Hiring a wedding planner will take a tremendous amount of stress. Being able to have someone keep track of all the little details so you can focus on the big picture is huge.
3. Delegate
- Delegate, Delegate, Delegate. You have so many people around you, let them help you!
4. Schedule days off from planning.
- Planning is so time-consuming, but make sure you take the time to relax and enjoy the planning process as well as the one you are marrying!
5. Hire Vendors you can trust
- When you are hiring your vendors it is easy to get caught up in prices and the nice faces.
- But don’t forget that you will be spending the next year with these vendors. Make sure you spend time with the people themselves
If you’re someone that is wondering “What the heck is a wedding theme?!”
It’s okay, you are not alone! Let me explain below.
A wedding theme is an overall vision of what you want your event to look like.
So, when you picture your wedding you might picture big trees in the middle of the woods, a beach or maybe with a mountain view, all of these are related to your theme.
Whether you are picturing a horse-drawn carriage or a fancy limousine it is all related to the vision you have for your big day.
Below I’m going to give you the top 5 things to consider when you are choosing your wedding theme.
Though none of this is unchangeable, it will help you with your budget and decipher what is truly most important to you.
1.) Venue
Venue is number one.
Once you chose your venue or venue style it will help you SO MUCH with your budget.
The venue is going to be one of the most expensive things in your whole budget.
Determining your venue style is a must.
2.) Season
Whether you what to have a summer or winter wedding, choosing this will be extremely helpful when you are trying to come up with your overall vision.
Once you choose your season (Not necessarily your date) it will help you with your colors and floral choices.
(NOTE: It’s important to keep in mind that not all flowers are available all year around. If you have specific flowers, you already know you what, it would be worth you looking into the floral seasons a little more.)
3.) Color
As mentioned above, the colors will depend a lot on the season you choose.
Just like every year has its color theme, every season is the same. I’m sure just by doing your research you’ve already noticed a pattern in colors and styles.
Though it is not unheard of to choose a color that is not in the season, keep in mind that seasonal colors rely greatly on floral availability.
4.) Both of your interests
This is what makes your wedding more you.
Whether you put your favorite sports team on the groom’s cake, pictures of your pets on the cocktail napkins or simply have pictures of the two of you on the tables, this is what makes your event you.
When deciding what you want to do, consider things you both love.
Maybe you both like to watch the office or met at a roller rink, these are all important things to think about when coming up with cute/ fun ways to make your event special to you.
5.) Your budget
At the end of the day, it always comes back to your budget.
We all know that staying within your budget is important, if you have your heart set on something that is not within your budget it’s okay, we’ve all been there.
Consider doing something else DIY style instead of paying for it.
There is always a way.
You can read more about your wedding budget here
Click here for an awesome guide to help you pick out your theme!
Once you start planning your wedding, you’re very quickly overwhelmed by the amount of work and will probably start looking into somebody to help you with the load.
Often people are confused by the whole new set of vocabulary that comes with the wedding industry. Often people think that all wedding planners are just the same. But they are not. Every planter comes with a different set of skills, abilities and helpfulness based on what you need. You will want to make sure you hire the right one for you and your event.
Below I will explain the difference in all of the jobs.
Wedding Planner
A wedding planners’ main job is to help you plan the event, not necessarily execute it.
Though planning companies often offer the day of services included in the wedding planner package don’t just assume that they will be there on your wedding day, it’s always a good thing to double check.
A wedding planner will help you with the little stuff, if you feel overwhelmed in the very beginning stages it’s more than likely that you will want to get a wedding planner. The closer your wedding day gets the more things that you will have to do, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and if you are wanting to have a relaxing day I highly recommend you do this so you can be sure that all the little details are covered.
Wedding Coordinator
Often you’ll hear a coordinator referred to as a day of coordinator. This is not necessarily accurate. A day of coordinator does not exist, when you hire a coordinator they help you the month, week, and day of your event. This is not somebody you can just hire for simply one day.
A day of coordinator is a MUST for every wedding. Without having a coordinator on-site, the day of your event you will physically have to be in the venue to help the vendors set up, answer any questions everybody has, and direct everyone where to go. This is simply impossible for a bride to do herself, or any family member that wishes to be a part of the big day instead of working all night.
If you are simply looking for a little bit of help so you can relax on your day of, this is the way to go. You need to hire a wedding coordinator.
Wedding Designer
Think of all the pretty stuff, this is everything a wedding designer handles. A designer’s role is the aesthetics of the event this does not include anything to do with logistics.
If you are simply wanting somebody to help you make your wedding look and feel like you and not just some plain old wedding this is somebody will want to hire.
A designer is exactly what you would expect them to be. They help you design your wedding but do not offer any help with the logistics.
Venue Coordinator
This is not the same as a day-of-coordinator!
This is one of the most common mix ups of all of the wedding planners. A venue coordinator strictly is responsible for everything that has to do with the venue.
This means they are only responsible for making sure that everybody stays within the rights of the venue.
They oversee all set up of vendors and wedding parties they are there to assist you if you have any problems concerning the venue but they are not there to help you with your wedding. They are strictly there to work the venue.
With all of that being said, you will want to make room in your budget to hire someone to help you with your wedding.
It is A LOT of work and you want to enjoy the process. Not be super stressed about it!
Happy Planning! – London Wnek
Get more advice on the difference of wedding professionals here!
Next check out our post – Top 5 Wedding Colors of 2022!
1.) How Much Is Your Minimum Cost For Weddings?
Often larger event floral companies will have a minimum fee for a wedding.
So make sure you ask this right from the start because often the minimum is around $5,000 (in-season) and that’s often too much for a wedding on a budget.
2.) Are My Flower Choices Cheap?
If not, what flowers are similar that are cheaper?
It’s not abnormal to have flowers that look VERY similar be VERY diffrent in price.
Make sure to ask if you can get the cheaper flowers instead of the expensive ones.
I promise you will still love them.
Here is a post that will help you find cheaper flowers!
3.) Do You Have a Design Fee?
Floral designers are like artists, not everyone does the same styles!
For example, if you go to a flower shop and want something super specific that they can not do then they might have to bring in a designer from somewhere else and that can get costly.
Be sure to look for a florist that fits your style!
Here is a website that will get you started on choosing your bouquet style!
4.) Do You Have a Travel Fee For Our Location?
Normally a budget wedding should not have a travel fee unless the florist is driving a long way.
If they say you do have a travel fee when your venue is under 50 miles, ask why.
Sometimes they put in these little extra charges or simply forget to take them off from the previous invoice.
5.) Do You Charge an Installation and Teardown Fee?
Okay, let’s be real, it would be weird if they didn’t charge an installation fee.
It’s a lot of work for a florist to do the installation and teardown.
But I will tell you… You will want to pay for this. No matter how much you think you and Aunt Susie can do on the day of, it is still worth it.
Venues require all the decor to be removed by the end of the night, so you can either pay the florist to do it or you will get a large charge from the venue because someone will forget.
Here is a very good source to have you get an idea of how they charge for deliveries and installations!
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When you start to plan your budget it can get kind of overwhelming…
There is so much to think about and pay for! This post is going to help you identify the Top 10 Things in Your Wedding Budget.
(Keep in mind, you can add or take away anything that doesn’t apply to you! This is just to help you get started on planning your budget. Every wedding is different so it’s okay if yours is not anything like this one.)
deciding budget overall price
When you start to think about your overall budget amount, bring everyone who will be helping pay for / plan the wedding. This way everyone is on the same page and you will have a realistic budget to go off of.
(NOTE: don’t be afraid to talk to your family about money, often people want to help pay for things to make it the perfect day for you.)
After you all feel that you have a realistic budget, take a break from your meeting and write out the percentages and amount for each category in your budget.
Once you do this, share your budget with everyone involved in helping!!! This will allow anyone helping you to be able to help you brainstorm on when will be contracted out and what will be DIYed, it will also help keep Aunt Susie from pressuring you to do something that is not within your budget!
Budget Break Down
1.) Venue 40%
Finding the perfect venue is hard ESPECIALLY finding the perfect venue within your budget..!
But…. It is not impossible!
There are so many small venues out there that are not well known but are absolutely stunning. It just might take a little while to find it.
You can expect about 40% of your total budget to go to just the venue (I know that seems like a lot of your total budget but the perfect venue is worth it!)
2.) Photography 15%
This one can be tricky sometimes, there are good photographers out there that are significantly cheaper than others but often they don’t have the same number of reviews and experience the more expensive photographers do.
Photo by Rene Asmussen on Pexels.com
I highly recommend going all out on this, photos last a lifetime and a good photographer will change your whole experience the day of your wedding!
Check out these awesome tips on choosing your photographer
3.) Music 10%
Music will largely vary on if you have a live performer, a whole band, or just a DJ. All are great options it just depends on what the mood is that you’re wanting to set for the night.
Here are some tips on choosing your ceremony songs!
4.) Flowers 10%
Do you love flowers? If your answer is “UMM… WHO DOESN’T???” than you can expect to use the whole amount that will be in your budget+ some..
Florals are a lot of money, many people underestimate just how much they will actually cost.
(NOTE: When you meet with your florist for the first time be sure to give them the exact number that’s in your budget (Maybe even less than what your actual budget is.) so that way they can work with you to say in it. They will also be able to tell you if your wants are reasonable for your budget as well.)
Check out this checklist for florals!
5.) Décor 10%
This might seem like a weird thing to have in your budget but included in “Decor” is anything you make/ buy for your tables (Signs, Candles, Napkins, etc.), Rental chairs (If you choose to use some not provided by venue), Linens, lanterns for ceremony, Draping, etc.
So as you can see, there Is A LOT that goes into this one item on your budget so make sure you don’t cut it down.
This will help you choose your wedding decor!
6.) Attire 5%
Attire will include everything you wear from garter to your shoes to your hairpins.
Keep in mind the 5% in the line item is ONLY for the bride and groom. This does not include anyone else’s attire (Parents, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Kids, Officiant, etc.).
7.) Transportation 3%
Transportation is a HUGE struggle that people often have on the day of their wedding because the “Forgot” or “I didn’t think about it!”, don’t be that person that makes all of your guests have to uber from the ceremony to the cocktail hour. There are so many great options for transportation that will make your guest’s experience so much more enjoyable and they will feel very taken care of…
8.) Stationary 3%
When you think of stationery, you’re probably just thinking of the invitations… right?
Yes, Invitations are a big part of this but there is a lot more to this than you would think!
Included in this can be save the dates, formal invitations, place cards, menus, order of service (For ceremony) and a timeline if you choose to have that available for guests), and to finish everything off thank you cards!
Here are some great stationery brands!
9.) Cake 2%
Unless you’re a big cake fan chances are you wouldn’t even think about the cake until grandma asks what color it is…
Wedding cakes can get VERY pricey!
If you are not a big cake fan and don’t really care to spend 2% of your total budget on it, consider asking your caterer what dessert options they have and you can just get a small 6” cake for the two of you to cut if you want the tradition!
Here is a list to give you an idea of how much a cake will cost depending on the amount of guests
10.) Favors 2%
Nowadays this is an optional thing, I’d say about half of the weddings I do have favors and the other half do not.
It’s entirely up to you if you decide to do this or not. Keep in mind the guests never expect to have a wedding favor at the end of the night, when they do receive one they are grateful but if they don’t your guests will never even tis about it.
Here are some ideas for cute wedding favors
Let’s sum it up,
When you’re planning your budget just keep in mind that everything will change, you won’t spend as much as you thought on some things and you might spend more on others.
This is a very basic budget, so when you are also thinking through your budget don’t forget to include catering, hair and makeup, and a videographer!
This part of the planning process can be a little stressful, but don’t let the numbers overwhelm you!
One step at a time.
Feel free to leave a comment below I you have any questions or need help with anything, for real though, I’m a real human being and I love to help any way I can.
Talk soon! London Wnek
You can learn more about me and who I am here!
