How a small wedding can have big upsides…

Sometimes it’s difficult to see the positives in this pandemic, but ‘the great pause’ has given us time to reevaluate and an opportunity to do things differently – we’ve waved goodbye to the office 9 to 5, we’ve embraced summer staycations and we’ve seen the rise and rise of the micro-wedding. Here at Gigi & Olive, our hearts leap whenever we see photos of these elegant elopements, gorgeous garden parties or intimate family affairs – it’s so cheering to see couples choosing to forge ahead, celebrate love and make their wedding day utterly their own. So, inspired by all the brides and grooms who’ve told us how their small celebrations were big on joy, we decided to compile the benefits of the micro-wedding. Because, in our opinion, ‘Plan B’ can be just as beautiful. 

You get to trim the guest-list.... guilt-free

While there will be some friends and family that you genuinely hate to leave out, you might also feel some relief – you have the perfect excuse to jettison your dad’s second cousin, your questionable colleague or that ‘friend’ you haven’t actually been friends with since you were ten. Also, if you’ll permit us a tiny bit of arithmetic here: if you invite 150 guests and speak to each person for two minutes, it would take five whole hours. At a micro-wedding, you can soak up every minute with your nearest and dearest and not feel the slightest bit guilty that Great Aunt Millie didn’t get enough face-time. Everyone says their wedding goes by far too quickly, so why spend any of it on small talk? 

You can wear what you want

All the expectation that comes with a big white wedding is out the window – enter the Modern Bride. Pinterest is flooded with mini-dresses and mini-veils, chic jumpsuit or beautiful tailoring - the micro-weddings and elopements have seen the trend explode, check out our board here. You can wear whatever makes you feel your best, whether that’s a bespoke bridal gown, a beautifully cut suit, or a silky slip à la Cindy Crawford. And we’ve loved seeing brides add ‘why not?’ accessories like an ‘80s veil, statement sunglasses or coloured heels – it’s been a welcome reminder that while weddings are momentous occasions, we shouldn’t forget that they’re also a the perfect time to have fun with those closest to you.

Your budget goes far further 

If you can’t have all the people, why not have all the flowers? Or a top-shelf cocktail bar or embroidered napkins that would have cost a fortune for 200 people but are perfectly reasonable for 20? Alternatively keep what you’ve saved and turn your week-long honeymoon into a six-month sabbatical? Catering for fewer people means your spend per head dramatically increases (while your overall budget goes down) and you can afford to add far more thoughtful touches. We’ve seen brides up the personalisation-factor, with less guests, you can make every single person there feel extra special. 

It may feel counterintuitive to think that all these constraints might also be freeing, you only need to look around at the astounding ways that brides, vendors and venues have maximised the micro-wedding for proof that necessity is the mother of all invention. And, while it might have become a cliché to say it, we like to remind ourselves often that love truly can’t be cancelled.