A micro wedding is a much smaller wedding celebration, usually with around 10-50 guests. It gives you the opportunity to spend quality time with your guests and create a more personalised experience that reflects your unique love story. While the guest list might be smaller, a micro wedding can still include all the traditional elements of a wedding day, from the ceremony and photographs to speeches, dining, and dancing. Having a smaller guest list also offers more flexibility with regards to food, styling, and timings. When choosing a micro wedding venue, look for a beautifully intimate setting with characterful spaces and stunning surroundings, without losing that all-important sense of occasion.
Put off by the idea of a large wedding with hundreds of guests, endless formalities, and a jam-packed schedule? Why not consider a micro wedding? Smaller in size but every bit as special, they offer a more relaxed and meaningful way to say “I do” and celebrate your love story with the people who matter most to you.
Here’s everything you need to know about micro weddings, including what they are, why you should choose one, and how to find the perfect micro wedding venue for your special day.
A micro wedding is a wedding with a smaller guest list, typically made up of your closest family and friends (usually around 30 guests). There is no strict rule about guest numbers, but most micro weddings usually have between 10-50 guests.
But a micro wedding is much more than just a scaled-down version of a traditional wedding. It gives you a more intentional way to celebrate with your nearest and dearest loved ones, rather than inviting extended circles of family or friends out of expectation.
Micro weddings are incredibly versatile, whether your vision is formal and elegant, rustic and relaxed, or modern and minimalist. You can still have a romantic ceremony or blessing, drinks reception, photography, wedding breakfast, speeches, and evening celebration, just like with a traditional wedding. The difference is that everything feels a little more intimate and more personal to you – but if you still want a big evening celebration, that’s entirely possible too.
One of the biggest advantages of a micro wedding is getting the change to spend quality time with the people who matter most to you. Rather than having to circulate around your guests and cram in just a few snatched moments with each person, you can enjoy more genuine conversations and a calmer pace throughout the day. This helps to make your whole celebration feel relaxed and connected, with every guest leaving knowing they were truly a part of your celebration.
With fewer guests to worry about, you have more freedom to personalise your day in your own unique way. You could give your guests bespoke wedding favours, have more meaningful ceremony readings, or create a more casual dining experience that encourages everyone to relax and savour the moment. These little touches are much easier to coordinate when you don’t have hundreds of guests to worry about.
Micro weddings also offer much more flexibility when it comes to food, styling, and timings. For example, you could choose to have a later ceremony, extend your drinks reception, host a romantic faux candlelit dinner, or create a more relaxed celebration that doesn’t follow a traditional wedding format. This is ideal if you want your day to feel more natural and less bound by traditional wedding expectations.
A smaller guest list gives you greater flexibility in how you choose to spend your wedding budget. Rather than spreading it across a large number of guests, you can focus on creating memorable experiences and elevating the details that matter most to you. Many couples use the opportunity to introduce elements that might be difficult to justify at a larger wedding, such as a live cooking station, an artisan cocktail bar, abundant floras, or exceptional photography and entertainment.
Things to look for in a micro wedding venue
Start by thinking about the feeling you’d like to create at your wedding. For example, you might be picturing a romantic countryside setting, a refined manor house celebration, or a relaxed gathering that flows naturally from ceremony to reception. The right venue should help bring that atmosphere to life.
The scale of the space really matters for smaller weddings. Look for a venue with beautiful rooms that can accommodate your guest list, and make sure they don’t feel too large or impersonal. The goal is to ensure that your celebration feels intimate and perfectly suited to the number of people sharing it with you.
A micro wedding doesn’t have to follow a traditional format, so choose a venue that allows you to shape the timings and structure around what matters most to you. For example, you might want to opt for a later ceremony or a more relaxed dinner, or you might want to replicate a full wedding day just on a smaller scale.
The setting around your venue can make a smaller wedding feel even more special. Picturesque gardens, countryside views, and tranquil outdoor spaces all create wonderful opportunities for photographs, drinks receptions, and mingling with your guests, helping your day to feel more relaxed and memorable.
Most micro weddings include between 10 and 50 guests, with our intimate wedding packages at Solton Manor covering between 30 and 50 guests. You should focus on inviting the people who are closest to you, rather than following a traditional guest list structure.
Micro weddings can be more cost-effective than traditional weddings because there are fewer guests to cater for. This gives you more opportunity to invest your budget into details such as food stations, flowers, photography, styling, or entertainment.
Yes, a micro wedding can still feel like a proper wedding, offering all the emotion and celebration that comes with a larger wedding. It’s vital that you choose the right micro wedding venue that can help bring your vision to life.
