Engagement season is upon us, and even Covid can’t stop couples from planning their weddings! What it can do though, is limit who you are able to celebrate with, and for some couples that can be a huge disappointment. However, the new trend of micro weddings is something I am actually really excited about and you should be too. In this blog post I’m going to explore some reasons why micro or small weddings can actually be an amazing thing!
The Venue and Reception
To start, I reached out to Cate Foulon, owner and photographer of Stella’s View Photography. She is also the co-owner of The Willoughby Farm, an amazing new venue in Cottam that everyone definitely needs to check out. She has a unique perspective because she’s been in the industry for years as a photographer, but is now seeing couples experience their big day from beginning to end. We got a chance to “virtually” sit down with her and here’s what she had to say.
What makes a Microwedding so special?
We are absolutely loving the uprising trend of ‘Microweddings’. Why? There are so many reasons, but a few stand out specifically.
They are so much more stress free for the couple getting married. Most Microweddings that you see popping up in Windsor-Essex are essentially “pre built/packaged” weddings. That means they include photographers, florists, officiants, decorators, and other important vendors. This alone takes an immense amount of stress off of couples, as they do not need to search for vendors who are available. If you are going with a reputable venue you can be fairly certain that they have chosen their most favourite, incredible, vendors to work with to make your microwedding possible.
Microweddings really showcase your love. This isn’t about who can have the biggest, most expensive wedding. It truly becomes strictly about your love for your partner, and starting this new, amazing, chapter of your lives together. We have booked some Microweddings that are made up of couples who have been engaged for YEARS with no plans to get married because they simply can’t afford it. They saw the price of our Micros and thought “oh, we can swing that!”, and are now excitedly married to the love of their life.
What does it mean to have an “intimate gathering”?
One thing we constantly hear is “we want to have a small wedding, but our families won’t let us. We have to invite everyone.”. Microweddings are normalizing small intimate gatherings. By
most venues capping the guest count it allows you to be back in charge of your guest list. These intimate gatherings become about you, and the absolute most important people in your lives. Of course, there will be some that unfortunately don’t make the “cut”, but I promise you that they WILL be happy for you, and for starting this next adventure with the person you love. Just a reminder, that just because your venue is allowing 50 guests, that doesn’t mean you need to cap it out. If you want to invite 20 people to your wedding, DO IT! Be intentional with your guest list.
Why we love hosting Microweddings?
We love love love hosting microweddings. We honestly wish we could do it every single weekend (I mean, everyday would be epic also!). The farm is filled with so many excitement jitters from the second we all wake up, until we go to bed at night. Microweddings become all about the love. We, literally, have everything done for you by the time you get here. You just have to show up! No stress, just love. We get to witness these amazing intimate gatherings and celebrate your love with you. We get to interact with you and your guests, hear about your perfect love story that led you here, and share all of your joy. With large weddings it is hard to do this, and connect, as there is just so much to do.
Food & Catering
Next up, we have Richard Bailey, executive chef of the Butcher’s Table in Windsor. If you haven’t tried their food, it’s absolutely incredible. We were so lucky to meet Richard while doing a styled shoot so when I was writing this blog post, I reached out to ask him what having a small wedding can mean for your menu. Food is one of the most important things a couple decides on, and a smaller wedding can really increase your options.
What are the benefits of a micro/small weddings in regards to food service?
Number one thing for those booking a micro wedding is the off the bat cost savings by having a smaller wedding. Less guests to feed, means less money coming out of your pocket. That being said, by cutting back on your original or overall budget, you could craft a menu with ingredients or dishes of higher qua
As a chef and caterer, a small group is of course easier to manage. We get to have a lot more control on the quality of food, as well as dialing in on service itself.
Most importantly though, it’s MORE FUN! A smaller group is more intimate, and as stated above, playing around with menu ideas, and ingredients for a smaller group usually leads to a more unique dining experience in comparison to a menu more tailored for a larger crowd.
We are starting to book some smaller weddings next year. Some on the larger side but we usually cap our services at 160 people. We try to cater to these sizes exclusively for exactly the same reasons as above.
Décor & Rentals
Last up, is yours truly to talk to you about your tableware and décor choices. As I mentioned at the beginning, I love the small wedding trend. I feel like it gives couples more control over their wedding and really expands their options. Here at Wild Dandelion, we can accommodate large weddings of 200 people, but small weddings are where couples can really customize every detail. If you check out your Pinterest board (you all know you have one) actually look at the pictures you’ve been pinning. How many tables are at that wedding? I bet for the majority of them, they are smaller events where every detail has been carefully chosen. For most of us, we just don’t have the time or budget to replicate that for 200-300 people. By choosing to have a smaller event you can spring for those amber glasses that match your colour scheme. You can afford to put the big beautiful floral table runners, and add countless brass candle sticks on every table. We’re seeing a lot of blue and white for 2021, and our Delphinium collection,
a classic blue and white set is perfect for a 40-50 person event. The possibilities are truly endless, and can actually work within your budget when you’re planning a smaller wedding.
I know for some of you, all of these amazing pros still leave you feeling disappointed as you wanted to have the big wedding surrounded by all your friends and family, and I totally understand. Your wedding day is about what you and your significant other want. However, I hope the advice provided from some of your local Windsor Essex experts will help out a bit in your decision making and planning.
To contact Cate or Richard, you can reach out to them Facebook or their website!
The Willoughby Farm: https://www.facebook.com/thewilloughbyfarm/
Stella’s View Photography: https://www.stellasviewphotography.com/
The Butcher’s Table: https://www.thebutcherstable.ca/restaurant
Happy wedding planning everyone!
Caitlin