Elopement, microwedding, minimony: what is the actual difference?
Written & photographed by Quirky Love Photography co-founder & contributor Liz Cooper
Let’s talk about microweddings! It’s been a long year but if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the couples we’ve photographed, it’s that humans have an incredible gift for resilience and being creative during times of limitation.
Microweddings could be the way people choose to get married this year, and maybe for a little while longer this decade, just until things calm down a bit and people feel safe. Or it’ll be like the roaring 1920s and all the weddings are going to turn into 90’s style raves complete with glow sticks and love bombs.
Who knows?
It’s pretty simple really - a microwedding is a tiny wedding.
Nope, not an elopement, though. Elopements are typically done in secret (although modern elopements are not always kept a secret) and generally in attendance are the couple, an officiant, a witness, and in recent years, a photographer, too. I actually photographed a wedding such as this, so tiny that I was one of the witnesses (you can see some images below).
A microwedding is a regular wedding with very few guests, perhaps just immediate family and very few friends, so just a bit bigger than an elopement. Micro Weddings are still a bit of a party.
Micro weddings are different again from something I’ve just learned of called a minimony (lol, get it, like matrimony, but mini…) a word which I think has been created during the pandemic. The minimony precedes the big party that you have later when things are safe and the global pandemic is under control.
It’s… complicated.
So - there’s a chance you might have a small wedding this year. But that’s cool, it’ll still be AMAZING. Here are our recommendations for how to make the most of your micro wedding!
Microwedding, but make it awesome:
Book communal accommodations: Bring the party home with you! Book a clutch of cottages or a series of campsites with your guests - hell, even a big ol’ house with lots of bedrooms. Book a space that suits your needs and the needs of your guests, but the point is, make the whole experience celebratory via intimacy - you can eat amazing meals together, play board games, reminisce, and then prepare for the ceremony. A cozy way to mark a special occasion with close companions.
Put your money where your mouth is: Focus on the food, baby! Let’s face it, if you have 100 or 150 guests, feeding them is pricey, and people often sacrifice quality for quantity when it comes to wedding food. If the pandemic says you can only have a few guests then make it count. Hire a private chef to create a bespoke menu, book catering from that fancy restaurant you’ve always wanted to try, and absolutely do a dessert table. With doughnuts. And sprinkles.
Bottoms up! Same goes for the booze and the non-alcoholic drinks, give it your all and make it an evening to remember. We suggest hiring a bartending service to serve you and your guests the cocktails of their dreams.
Remember, it’s your day…: Literally. While you might be disappointed about not having the guestlist you had envisioned, take the opportunity to relax and enjoy the experience. Most wedding days are a chaotic whirlwind of good tidings. A smaller wedding is a chance to really slow down. Spend time in the morning by yourself or with your partner. Go for a walk. Read a few pages from a book. Leisurely get ready for the day. Have extended chats with your circle of guests. It’s your ceremony, so try to fit in some of your regular daily rituals to make it even better.
Storytime: Speeches are hotly contested. The good ones are memorable and keep everyone talking about them for days. The bad ones are cringe-worthy blips that we all wish we could forget. Since you’ll be working with a smaller group of folks, in lieu of speeches, why not ask each guest to bring their favourite story about the couple (or one member of the pair) to share after the ceremony. This will not only serve to entertain everyone but will also give the guests a chance to get to know each other a bit better.
Make your guests feel special: You’ve had to make some sacrifices by having a smaller wedding. You’ve had to whittle the list down to only those who are especially important to you. That’s a big deal. We think you should tell them! Either in a note given with their wedding favour or added to their thank you card, take the time to tell each guest why their presence at your wedding was so important to you.
That’s it, folks - those are our tips for making the most of your tiny wedding. We’re sure there are more ways to make your day special with just a handful of people, but we’re also sure we’ve given you a good start.
And you know what else? We’d be more than pleased to be there for your tiny wedding, no matter what it looks like. 💙
