There is a growing trend for smaller weddings leading to many couples choosing to host a micro-wedding. Here’s some inspiration for hosting your perfect intimate, luxury micro-wedding whilst incorporating all of your dream wedding day must-haves.
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Authors Bio: Vivienne May Weddings was founded and created by Kerrie May. With over 8 years of experience in the luxury wedding & event industry, Kerrie has worked at some of the UK’s most iconic venues alongside a selection of renowned industry professionals and worked with a selection of high-net worth couples.
Kerrie is a UK Wedding Planner and has a distinctive reputation amongst her fellow luxury wedding professionals. Her wealth of experience, industry knowledge and unrivalled passion for bringing her clients vision to life is what drives her to plan impeccably designed, style-led and perfectly co-ordinated weddings, with romance at it’s heart.
There will be lots of questions circling around in your head at the moment if you are considering scaling down a traditional wedding day to host an intimate celebration. I have created a selection of suggestions for you to consider when planning your luxury micro-wedding.
Luxury Micro Wedding - The Guestlist
This is perhaps the hardest decision for couples like yourselves to make. If you’re struggling to get the guest numbers down to your preferred numbers, each write your top guests in order of importance to you and the reasons why – this will help distinguish the true meaning behind who you invite to your wedding day. Some couples choose to keep the ceremony as family only to avoid any issues with choosing between friends and family, or you could each invite a friend to be your Chief Bridesmaid and Best Man and keep the remaining guests as family. Remember it’s your day, your decisions are what makes ‘Your Wedding’ uniquely yours.
Luxury Micro Wedding - The Venue
Once you have your guestlist finalised, this will help you to know what size of venue you require. Many luxury UK wedding venues have a selection of spaces available for you to celebrate your special day, meaning you are sure to find your dream venue without compromising on your venue wish list. By hosting your micro-wedding in an intimate setting, you are able to focus more on the finer details, allowing your venue to be transformed into your ultimate style and design.
If you’re looking for luxury, UK micro-wedding venues, click here to see some of my favourites.
On the other hand, if you fall in love with a wedding venue but the space is larger than you need there are still many ways to bring your vision to life. Having a large space means you can divide the areas into different (but still intimate) parts for your day. For example, if the bar area is in a separate room to your main wedding room, ask if you could close it off and have a portable bar in one corner of your main wedding area. Not only does this prevent guests spreading across different rooms but it also adds atmosphere to your main space. You could then hire some comfy sofas, chairs and tables to place around the bar area to fill the space. Another section of the room could be separated by flower walls (also a perfect backdrop for photographs!) You could also have a games section to keep your guests entertained throughout the day – there are so many options. The main thing to remember here though is the logistics; make sure it flows seamlessly from one area to the next.
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Luxury Micro Wedding – Catering
Aside from your venue hire this tends to be the next most expensive part of your wedding day however, by only catering for a smaller amount of guests means you can really take it to the next level. Most venues/caterers provide a standard 3 course meal however you could now add a sorbet or cheese course (or both!) to your wedding breakfast. Adding these additional courses will make your wedding day stand out from a typical wedding as it allows you both to fully personalise a part of the day that your guests are sure to remember.
Luxury Micro Wedding – The Details
Anyone that knows me and my signature style knows that ‘attention to detail’ is my middle name. From charger plates, to crockery/cutlery/glassware, to favours, there are many options to choose from when looking to personalise your intimate wedding. Think crystal glassware, gold plated cutlery, vintage charger plates and personalised favours – it adds another level to your design and guests will be in awe of the level of attention to detail that you have put into your wedding day.
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Luxury Micro Wedding – The Flowers
All of my couples know how obsessed I am with flowers and one of my biggest pieces of advice is to not underestimate the impact of real, fresh flowers on your wedding day (no matter the size/budget). When it comes to your Wedding Breakfast it is likely that you will only be decorating a few tables but there are also other areas to consider decorating to add extra depth and character to your space. One of my favourite floral designs that my couples love when hosting stately home weddings is to decorate an ornate fireplace with an abundance of flowers and candles, a truly magical backdrop.
Luxury Micro Wedding – The First Dance
Some couples choose not to have a first dance or cake cutting when hosting a micro-wedding but you can still add this traditional touch to your wedding day. With your first dance, you could have an area set aside (or even position your tables with a space in the middle for your guests to see you enjoy that special moment together). And your cake can still look as incredible no matter how many tiers it has. You can choose the most delicate design for a single tier wedding cake or if you are looking for a multi-tier, extravagant wedding cake then you can simply ask your cake artist to use dummy tiers, allowing you to have 1 or 2 edible tiers at the top for you and your guests to enjoy without any cake going to waste.
Luxury Micro Wedding – The Evening Reception
Finally, at the end of the evening (and if you are lucky enough to have a venue that allows fireworks) why not go out with a bang! The perfect end to your perfect wedding day.
No matter the size of your wedding there are still a lot of logistics, suppliers and planning required to host your luxury intimate wedding day. If you are looking to host a micro-wedding but need professional guidance to bring your vision to life, contact me here to discuss further.