Creating Your Dream Wedding - Micro Style!

I remember when my husband and I first started talking about marriage and our ideal timeline. He basically told me, "We can have a big wedding in two years or we can elope." My immediate thought was, "Does this man not know I have my whole wedding planned out on Pinterest??" However, I understood that we'd be paying for the wedding ourselves and being a finance guy, he knew we couldn't plan my dream wedding in a year.

So I started doing some research. I was trying to figure out how we could feasibly handle planning a wedding in less than a year. Then it dawned on me, why not have a smaller version of my dream-Pinterest wedding?

WHAT IS A MICRO WEDDING?

A micro wedding is a wedding that has 50 guests or less. A micro wedding is similar to a traditional wedding, but it is smaller and more intimate. It is an affordable alternative that can be as elaborate or as simple as you want.

HOW IS A MICRO WEDDING DIFFERENT FROM ELOPING?

Traditionally, an elopement is all about the marriage and the two getting married. Eloping usually occurs without telling family or friends. It can take place at a courthouse, in your backyard, or even internationally. The idea has transformed and couples who decide to elope will sometimes tell their family members and even invite a few people to the ceremony.

IS PLANNING A MICRO WEDDING DIFFICULT?

Like any wedding, a micro wedding still requires a significant amount of planning. You still have to find a dress. If you decide to have a wedding party, your bridesmaids and groomsmen will need dresses and tuxedos. There's flowers, music, menu, decor, cake ... all the things you think about for a traditional wedding but on a smaller scale. I think the biggest thing that was difficult for David and me was the guest list.

WHY HAVE A MICRO WEDDING?

• Budget - As I stated before, a micro wedding is a good option if you're trying to save money. If you're like me, you had you dream wedding planned on Pinterest before you even found your spouse. Well, once my husband and I sat down and started crunching numbers, I realized everything I wanted was going to run us over $40,000. We weren't willing to spend that much for one day. A special day, but a day nonetheless. Having a micro wedding allowed me to get what I wanted without having to skimp on the details and/or quality.

• Splurge - This goes hand in hand with the budget. Having a smaller wedding allows you to splurge on your guests. Because we only had twenty-three people at our wedding, we were able to spend more per guest than normal. We provided our guest with a full weekend of events, welcome boxes and a gorgeous view of Camelback Mountain. David and I live in DC but got married at the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia. I had never been to Scottsdale and having a destination wedding wasn't even on our radar until we decided to have a micro wedding. Once we determined that we were going to scale back our guest list, I started looking all over the U.S. for the perfect venue. After I narrowed it down between Napa and Scottsdale, we chose the Omni in Scottsdale because their package offer gave us more bang for our buck!

• Intimate - This is probably my favorite part of our micro wedding. During the planning stages I kept hearing couples say they didn't eat at their reception or that they didn't get to talk to all their guests. We didn't have that problem! David and I were able to sit with our guest and enjoy their company. We also enjoyed that expensive meal we paid for haha.

ARE THERE ANY CONS TO HAVING A MICRO WEDDING?

While I wouldn't change a thing, I will say there are some cons for going the micro wedding route. The biggest one I can think of is the short guest list. That was so hard, y'all. I have four siblings, David has a lot of aunts and uncles and we both have countless cousins. Deciding who would make the cut and who wouldn't was hard and I even cried about it. So it isn't an easy decision. There will likely be hurt feelings - if they love you, they will get over it. At the end of the day, this day is supposed to be about you and your future spouse. Do what works for you two and makes the two of you happy!