What is a Tiny Wedding?
Tiny Wedding, Small Wedding, Micro Wedding - What the ...!? Why small weddings are just a great idea
| Dirk Weber | Wedding KnowHow
Not just since Corona have you heard the term "Tiny Wedding" or "Micro Wedding" again and again. Like much else in the wild world of weddings, this is a term and trend that was mainly imported from the USA and Australia - and not a bad one, you have to say.
Does it make sense? Yes. It does.
And if you want to know more now, you should read on here.
A small wedding in the spa gardens of Königstein - with a wedding on the balcony of Villa Borgnis, a champagne reception and wedding photos in the park and a garden party in your own home. Simple, relaxed and corona-safe.
A look in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary for the adjective “tiny” reveals nothing that we do not already know:
So tiny weddings are actually nothing more than small weddings. Particularly small. Cuddly small. And as always, "small" is also a question of perspective - even at weddings.
tiny
\ ˈtī-nē \
tinier; tiniest
(adjective)
very small or diminutive, very small
Synonyms
- atomic,
- bitsy,
- bitty,
- infinitesimal,
- itty-bitty
- (or itsy-bitsy),
- little bitty,
- microminiature,
- microscopic
- (also microscopical),
- miniature,
- minuscule,
- minute,
- teensy,
- teensy-weensy,
- teeny,
- teeny-weeny,
- wee,
- weeny
- (also weensy)
“tiny,” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tiny. Accessed 2/6/2021.
Tiny Wedding in Ireland - a couple from Cologne and a small intimate wedding in Connemara
20 guests and a wedding ceremony with Celtic rituals in a lonely valley in the mountains in the west of Ireland
Sabrina and Tobi had made a conscious decision to have a small wedding only with family and closest friends. The celebrations took place exclusively in a former hunting lodge, with regional food and a lively party in the in-house pub.
But how small is actually small?
In Ireland, where weddings with less than 200 guests are rather rare, the 60-80 guests, which are often common in Germany, would probably be regarded as "tiny". But that's not what we mean here. Because under tiny weddings one usually understands weddings with 20-30 or even fewer guests. And yes, technically an elopement is also a tiny wedding. You just don't have to run away to celebrate a small wedding. It is enough just to keep the guest list short
Your wedding
as Tiny Wedding
Getting married and celebrating with closest friends and relatives
So the idea is not new. But at least since the regulations around Corona have made larger celebrations more and more difficult, more and more bridal couples are thinking about whether a celebration in a smaller circle would not also be an alternative.
What was often born out of necessity in 2020/21 is, on balance, a wonderful idea that actually has some advantages - even without a pandemic.
But what exactly speaks in favor of getting married on a small scale and only with your closest friends and relatives?
Five good reasons
for a small wedding
As with elopement, Tiny Wedding is about concentrating on the essentials - you. You only invite those people who you really want to have with you - people who are particularly close to your heart. So you can let out all emotions at the wedding and don't need to pretend or hide. Because you only have your favorite people with you at your celebration - those who you trust and with whom you want to share your feelings. That relaxes a lot, is more personal and often more honest than in a large group.
For you this not only means more togetherness, but also more time. At large weddings, many couples repeatedly find that they hardly get around to exchanging a few words with each guest. On the other hand, you will have a lot more time for your friends and family at a small wedding party and you will actually be able to talk to them. So your guests are much closer to you and will experience your wedding much more intensely with you.
Fewer wedding guests also means that you have significantly more freedom with your budget. What you save in food and drinks, you can invest elsewhere with fewer guests - in quality, a little luxury, the extravagant special idea - or you can invest in your piggy bank and fulfill a dream in a completely different place. Of course, you also have more budget left over for the photographer. And I'm not just saying that it's worth it out of self-interest.
But you decide what is really important to you and what you want to focus on at your celebration. Surely you have your own ideas and wishes for which a little extra flexibility would not be harmful.
A small wedding also offers you that little extra flexibility when choosing a location. It starts with the fact that a civil wedding with many guests is often not possible. Not many registry offices have wedding rooms that offer enough space for larger societies. And in Germany it is even more rare to have a civil wedding ceremony outside of the official premises. You can save yourself this worry with a tiny wedding.
But a smaller wedding party is not only advantageous in the registry office, there are also many more doors open to you when it comes to choosing a location for a few guests:
How about a wedding outdoors in nature? Or somewhere that means something special to your relationship? A castle or a castle? The small café in your neighborhood or the trendy bar at the other end of town? Or do you want to go straight to a starred restaurant or on the roof of a Frankfurt skyscraper?
Of course, this also applies if you want to celebrate your wedding not at home but at your favorite travel destination - whether in your favorite city, on a beach, on a lonely island or on a mountain peak.
Many of these ideas are out of the question with a large company or are simply easier to implement with fewer guests.
As simple as it sounds, fewer people make life easier - even on the wedding day. Whatever the issue, pretty much everything can be solved more easily in a small group than with many people. Be it looking for a parking space at the wedding ceremony, the space in the wedding hall itself, the logistics for sparkling wine and snacks or organizing the taxi to the hotel after hours together with too much wine and cocktails.
The weather also loses its horror with fewer guests. If, for example, the free wedding on the meadow threatens to fall into the water because of a sudden rain shower, it is much easier to guide a small wedding party under a protective tree or simply hold an umbrella for each guest.
Whatever you can imagine, almost everything can be solved in a more relaxed manner with a Tiny Weddings.
Of all the arguments in favor of small weddings, a global pandemic is probably the least attractive. But since 2020 there have been framework conditions that make planning large weddings difficult.
How many people are allowed in the registry office? Will wedding locations or restaurants be open? If not, how many guests can be accommodated in the garden or in private rooms?
Something other than a tiny wedding is often not possible under the respective restrictions. And even if they do, it is difficult to assess whether the rules will not have changed again in a few months. With a shorter guest list, it is much easier to react to such changes in the planning. A Tiny Wedding therefore also offers more planning security due to the corona.
Not least because of this, among the bridal couples who are thinking about a tiny wedding today, there are also those who are actually planning a large wedding celebration, but have already had to postpone due to Corona. They are currently faced with the question of what to do if the situation has not gotten better by the new date. Move again? Or maybe you would rather have a small party?
A tiny corona wedding:
With only 8 guests, Juliane and Marcel said yes in the registry office of Schloss Philippsruhe in Hanau. The celebration took place spontaneously with a few surprise guests in the park behind the castle. Then the two of them went straight on their honeymoon - "socially distanced" on a sailing trip in the Mediterranean.
And yet such a small wedding is not for everyone.
There is a lot that speaks for a small wedding celebration. But it doesn't have to be right for everyone. A small wedding is probably not for you if you:
- want to celebrate with a large family and / or a large group of friends,
- a pompous fairytale wedding is one of your dreams,
- your dream location offers an incredible amount of space that also needs to be filled,
- it is important to you to be at the center of a large crowd
- and you don't want to miss out on a huge party with a really full dance floor.
- In short, when a small wedding just doesn't fit your ideas
You decide. And even if a small wedding is currently hip and extremely practical - if you want something different, then don't let yourself talk into it.
Tiny weddings and wedding photography?
Dreamteam!
In short, wedding photography is also worthwhile for small weddings. Less acting people usually means that a little less happens. But what happens is no less worth seeing and recording: There are the same emotions, the same moments that one would like to remember later.
Of course, you decide for yourself whether you want a wedding photographer with you. But small weddings in particular often offer particularly intense moments and unique motifs for your wedding photos. So it can be worthwhile to have your day professionally recorded - of course with the necessary respect for the intimacy of a tiny wedging.
Wherever and however you should plan a small wedding for yourself - if you want to have a wedding photographer with you, just let me know!
Tiny Weddings in the Brautrausch Journal
Here you will find small weddings - tiny weddings, micro weddings and corona weddings - weddings where the couple decided to celebrate their wedding in a smaller and more personal setting.
Elopement on the Suspension Bridge - a Mountain Wedding in Austria
Elopement in New York
Tiny Wedding at Schlosshotel Kronberg
Same-Sex wedding at Schlosshotel Kronberg
An Aran Island Elopement
A little tip at the end:
Listen to your heart!
Your wedding should be yours and should be such that you feel comfortable and can enjoy your celebration. Do not be confused by the many opinions and possibilities of design. What matters is that you have fun. And the thing about love, of course. That you don't forget the thing about love.
Should you be planning your wedding - no matter if big or small - get in touch and tell me about your ideas!
For example, if you are looking for a wedding photographer in Frankfurt or in the Taunus - but of course everywhere else you can go. It's your wedding and you make the rules. I would be happy to be there!