Micro weddings are IN for 2025. Here’s why
Micro weddings have been around for as long as couples have been tying the knot, but they made a big resurgence in the post-pandemic era, and they’re not going away anytime soon.
Our 2025 wedding season prediction: micro weddings are IN—and they’re here to stay.
Now, we may be biased (speaking as a micro wedding photographer), but there’s a good reason we have a soft spot for intimate weddings. There’s a certain magic about smaller gatherings where a couple and their nearest & dearest gather together to celebrate their love and commitment to one another, and while we’re all for big weddings too, the unique beauty of a micro wedding is just in a league of its own.
If you’re thinking of having a micro wedding in 2025, we’re here to share the reasons why these intimate, small weddings are continuing strong in the new year’s wedding trends and why they’re here to stay—and most of all, why you should consider one, too.
MICRO WEDDINGS ARE IN FOR 2025. HERE’S WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER HAVING A MICRO WEDDING!
1. Intimate weddings are, well, more intimate
There’s a reason they’re called “intimate weddings”—it’s not just a polite way of saying “small wedding”, it’s because intimate weddings truly have a level of closeness and depth that larger weddings can’t quite capture. A micro wedding allows for a more quiet, heartfelt focus on your love for one another, where your romance truly takes center stage. Instead of the focus of the day being on wowing your guests with dazzling entertainment, unique cuisine, or an out-of-this-world reception, you and your new spouse play a central role in your special day alongside those you love the most.
2. Micro weddings are wildly affordable
As food prices increase and the cost of getting married in 2025 continues to scale right alongside them, more and more couples are opting for the affordability of a micro wedding. A smaller guest list means a smaller cost for your wedding venue (though there are ways to save money on your wedding venue, no matter where you choose to get married!), catering, and other wedding expenses. You can choose a wedding venue that’s better suited to a smaller celebration, have your wedding reception at your favorite restaurant, or even plan a backyard home wedding—there are limitless ways to plan a budget-friendly micro wedding with less restrictions than a larger celebration typically requires.
Couples often seek to plan a micro wedding to not only save money on the wedding itself, but to then allocate their budget to other priorities such as a destination honeymoon or future investments such as home ownership (the average cost of a wedding in Orlando could easily be a generous down payment on a first home!). As the economy continues to fuel higher costs of living, the prospect of spending less money on what is essentially a one-day party and utilizing those funds instead to set themselves up for future success is becoming more and more appealing to newly-engaged couples.
3. Planning a micro wedding is less stressful
Now, of course there are caveats to this—let’s be honest, any wedding you plan is going to have some level of stress! However, if you’re someone who is easily stressed or simply too busy to pull together all the details of a large wedding (especially if you’re planning your own wedding without a wedding planner), a micro wedding is a wonderful way to plan an unforgettable day without the overwhelm. A micro wedding simplifies the wedding planning process by allowing you to focus on what truly matters to you as a couple and eliminating the rest. Whether you’re working with less wedding vendors, opting for more DIY options, or simply planning a more laid-back gathering, a micro wedding can reduce the amount of stress and busyness that so often accompanies the hectic engagement season.
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4. Your micro wedding can be as unique as you are
While any wedding can be as unique as the couple wishes it to be, one of the benefits to holding a more intimate wedding is the flexibility for customization without blowing the budget. With fewer guests and a lower overall cost, your micro wedding can be as personalized as you want it to be. You can choose a unique wedding venue, customize your reception menu, hold your wedding reception at a café or restaurant, and even get creative with your decor (we recommend thrifting!)—all at an affordable price. Unless you’re planning a truly sky’s-the-limit celebration, larger weddings often have more restrictions as couples try to fit in as much as possible within their budget (which, trust us, disappears fast when you’re planning a wedding!). However, micro weddings often have more flexibility to be creative and to include unique touches that speak to your love story without the limitations of a large guest count.
5. Intimate weddings allow for more meaningful connections
One of the best parts of your wedding day is celebrating with your friends and family, but anyone who’s gotten married will tell you how hard it is to even say hello to everyone present, let alone spend time with them! Even at our small wedding, we spent half our wedding reception just making the rounds to all the tables and only having time for a quick hug with loved ones who’d traveled across the country to be there with us.
However, with a micro wedding comes a smaller guest count, which means more time to spend with those celebrating alongside you. After all, while a larger guest list means more of your loved ones are able to join the festivities, it also comes with the risk of not actually spending much quality time with each of them.
We love micro weddings that opt for a restaurant wedding reception as a meaningful way to spend an extended amount of time with guests or receptions that seat the party at long family-style farm tables. Depending on your guest count, your micro wedding reception is a perfect opportunity to get creative in finding ways to prioritize quality time with everyone.
6. Micro weddings open up the possibilities for unique venues
Many couples think that the most unique wedding venues are reserved only for weddings with big budgets, but that’s actually not the case. With a bit of research and out-of-the-box thinking, micro weddings can also have their pick of jaw-dropping and affordable wedding venues. Not only do many popular wedding venues offer budget-friendly micro wedding or intimate wedding packages, but your possibilities open up to include outdoor garden weddings, public spaces such as beaches (just make sure to obtain proper permitting), or even a boutique short-term rental home, all of which may not accommodate larger groups.
Whether you’re dreaming of a rustic farm wedding, an elegant historic garden wedding, a sweeping lakeside wedding, or even exchanging vows in a historic home wedding venue, with a micro wedding you perhaps have more options in choosing where to get married, not less.
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7. Micro weddings prioritize quality over quantity
A smaller wedding means a smaller budget, but that doesn’t have to mean that your entire wedding is done on the cheap (though if it is, more power to you!). With all the costs you’re saving on catering, wedding venue rentals, and more, those funds can instead be invested in higher-quality elements that are a priority to you. Perhaps you choose a more gourmet menu for your micro wedding reception for the same cost as an average full-size wedding reception, or you opt to hire that unique band for your dance party. Or you instead take the entire wedding across the country and hold a destination micro wedding instead of a local, larger wedding. The choice is yours!
Often our clients share that their micro wedding allows them to spend a bit more on hiring a quality wedding photographer and videographer (though they also love the affordability of our 2hr and 4hr wedding photography packages!), as having their priceless memories captured beautifully is a priority to them. We always encourage newly engaged couples to invest in their wedding photography as it’s the one takeaway that lasts beyond their wedding day. You’ll never regret hiring a professional wedding photographer: but you might regret hiring someone who’s less experienced just to save a bit of money.
8. Intimate weddings mean more time for each other
Some of the sweetest moments of your wedding day will be the moments you get to steal away with your new spouse. Whether you choose to have a heartfelt first look, sneak away after the ceremony for a few quiet minutes together, or share a private first dance together after your wedding reception, these moments are all easier to coordinate in an intimate wedding timeline. (Planning an intimate wedding? Grab our perfect 4hr small wedding timeline!)
The logistics of a large wedding often mean fitting more events into an already-packed timeline, and you can be left feeling more like a stressed-out host than a joyful guest at your own wedding. Especially if you’re an introvert, these quiet moments to soak in your love and new commitment to one another are truly key to enjoying your wedding day. While micro weddings can often be as hectic as larger weddings, there is certainly more room for flexibility in your wedding day timeline or even just a slower pace to your entire wedding day.
We truly believe there’s a unique magic and beauty to small micro weddings: the focus on your love for one another, the meaningful connections made with each of your guests, and the opportunities for unique and personalized wedding day experiences. Not only do our couples who plan micro weddings feel a reduced amount of wedding-planning stress, but we also find they usually feel more relaxed and better able to really soak in the special moments of their day together.
If you’re planning a micro wedding in the Orlando and Central Florida area in 2025, we’d love to capture your special day! We offer affordable wedding photography and videography packages curated especially for the needs and priorities of intimate weddings. View our photography options or schedule a free call with us today!
