Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, having a small guest list is a safer way to get married, and make the day as special as they’d hope it would be. A smaller wedding is an opportunity to create an extremely intimate and personalized experience. No matter having a small intimate wedding is your first instinct or it is something you’re considering due to the current state of the world, they’re trending lately.

What is a small intimate wedding?

It has many similarities to a ‘regular’ size wedding, but with a smaller scale. The main difference is that intimate wedding has guest lists of less than 50 people, usually around 20 or less. And unlike elopements, intimate wedding still has handful od your nearest and dearest people and all wedding vibes, include decoration, dinner, dancing….

Intimate weddings are less stressful to plan, allow you to focus on what’ important; Intimate weddings allow you to focus on quality over quantity, while also saving money. An intimate wedding slows things down a little and allows you to really be present and soak up every minute!

It is a compromise for couples who aren’t interested in a big shebang, but who still want to spend a special day celebrating their love with their closest family and friends.

There are plenty of benefits to intimate weddings, and so many ways to make the day special without sacrificing what’s important to you, here are best ideas for small intimate wedding:

What can you do for a small intimate wedding? How do you make a small wedding feel special?

Some couples use intimate weddings as an opportunity to REALLY ball out and make their dream wedding a reality with closest friends and family members. With a smaller guest list, you’re able to spend more money per guest, which means that delicious caterer, nicer florals, your dream photographer or a beautiful destination wedding becomes a more viable option; More space to incorporate memorable details than you would do with a large wedding. From over-the-top venues to drool-worthy menus to cocktail option, from unique entertaining ideas to more customized dining options, we have plenty of small wedding ideas to help make your day memorable.

• Your big day should feel like you. When planning your wedding, brainstorm with your fiancé about ways to mix your own personalities into the wedding, unique wedding favors, different dessert donuts, cupcakes or pie to replace traditional wedding cakes

• Know what you need and what is important;

No matter the size, every wedding plan will include venue, some décor, flowers, food, a bar, staff rental and entertainment, keep those basics in mind when planning your wedding. You’ll love where your money goes and have tons of memories with every single guest. Most importantly, use any extra money in your budget to enhance the details that matter most to you, creating an immersive experience you and your guests will treasure.

• Start with priorities when coming up with intimate wedding ideas;

Splurge the money you’ll save on keeping smaller wedding in other area reflect your personalities and your relationship.

If you both love music, prioritize your budget on hiring a live band to play at your reception

If there’s somewhere you always dream of getting married, then go for it although a good chunk of your budget will go toward it.

• Book your dream venue, consider small Nontraditional venue;

Get married in the woods. With some lights, a few chairs and some flower petals, you can celebrate the new life with the ones you hold close.

Backyard BBQ wedding is for a more casual reception with some delicious food. It is a simple way to celebrate you and your partner’s love out of the comfort of your own home. Invite friends and family over, place tables and chairs under a canopy decorated with string lights and greenery, enjoy some delicious ribs, pulled pork, corn on the cob and potato salad. You can even make a dance floor on the lawn with recycled wood pallets.

    Or choose to get married on a boat. Guests can opt for a dip in the sea during the reception and you two can make an awesome exit on a jet ski. Your photographer will get same great photos of the ceremony with the city’s skyline as background.

    Go on a camping trip with family and closest friends and get married among the trees and tents and celebrate around the campfire.

• More personalize invite;

Instead of sending wedding invitations out, calling each of them personally to invite them to your special day, it will make them feel even more appreciated. And in addition to send a formal invite then; compare to normal wedding invitations, try some trendy different style wedding invitations for a creative touch, pocket wedding invitations and acrylic wedding invitations are both your choice.

• Get creative with seating plan and consider family-style seating arrangements;

Play with different shapes or forma a spiral aisle to walk down with the officiate in the center, or arrange chairs in a spiral shape.

When it comes to your reception, fewer seats make it easier to get creative with seating. Rather than struggling through the seating chart, having assigned seating for your guests, allow them to choose their own seat like family-style.

• Have a to-die-for menu; Replace formal cater with food truck;

No matter if you and your partner are food lovers or not, go all-out with the menu. With fewer guests, you might have enough budget to hire a food truck serve dishes of Pizza, street tacos and even ice cream, or serve hors duoverse during cocktail hour. Also organized brunch the day after the ceremony for the immediate family and friends. Or you can ask each guest to bring their specialty dish to the party, it is a great way for guests to get to know one another and participate into your wedding. It will be a special memory.

• Hire musicians or make a playlist;

Invest on having a few musicians at your small wedding to show you appreciate to the guests. Compile you and your partner’s favorite songs and queue them up as reception song playlist.

• Don’t forget to set up a comfy lounge area;

Set up a comfy lounge area or a fire pit for guests to sit around to create opportunities to gather and socialize. your guests will feel right at home.

• Get your guests involved in the event and have fun group games;

If you want more of a party atmosphere rather than simply a dinner reception, go over the top with the entertainment to keep your guests’ attention. It can be a photo booth, giant outdoor Jenga, break open a pinata or even fun scavenger hunt, murder mystery game. Have a special price ready for the one who wins.

• Be sure to take group photos;

Capture is necessary and group photos are needed to. Have guests stand together outside of the venue or get a serial shot of you and your guests standing in something special, heart shape, event date or something special.

• Wearing something unique to celebrate your personality;

For a non-traditional approach, explore colored wedding dresses instead of a white gown and pair it with beautiful flower boutique.

• Consider throw a post-reception after party;

Host an afterparty at your favorite dive bar or grab a late-night snack and some drinks to continue the celebration after the reception is over.

• Make personal welcome gifts to make your guest feel special;

For example, drop off brunch boxes the night of the wedding for the next morning, or leave special messages in guests’ room each evening with small gifts of what’s to come all the way until they depart.