Okay, gal, so after all the years of dreaming and waiting, you are finally engaged… CONGRATS, BABE!!! I am seriously so excited for you. This season is so sweet and full of so much joy And now, it’s time to plan your dream micro wedding!! (This is gonna be so good, trust me!)

Now, if you’re anything like me, you dreamed of a huge wedding your entire life, only to realize once you had that ring on your finger, that you actually want something entirely different. You want a beautiful, intimate wedding with your closest people. But where the heck do you even start? Let’s chat my top 5 tips for planning your dream micro wedding!

1. Hone in on your vision

This is the dreaming part of it. You get to spend your hours on Pinterest, searching dreamy micro weddings. Looking up all the inspiration for your day. And doing getting all your ducks in a row before you dive head first into the actual planning!

• Pinterest, Pinterest Pinterest– Seriously, get on your Pinterest and type in “Micro wedding inspo.” I promise this is a GREAT starting place! You may be overwhelmed by all the results, but you will also get so many great starting points. Make a Pinterest board (or five!!), and start dreaming.
• Research Locations– Start dreaming up all the locations you might want to consider for your micro wedding. Think about the weather you want, the season you want, the general vibe you want. And make a list of the locations that may help you have all those things!
• Look at your budget– This is a big one! Micro weddings are wonderful because you get to be so intentional with your budget. But make sure you actually do have a budget.
• Make a list of priorities– I recommend making a list of the top 3 things you value on your wedding day. And using your budget above, make sure you are aligning your budget with the things you really value.

2. Choose a Location

When choosing your location for your micro wedding, there are two different things I recommend considering.

• The Vibe– I know this sounds so cliche. But seriously- when thinking about the location, you need to think about the general vibe of your day. A micro wedding on a beach in South Carolina is going to feel very different than in flower fields of Mt. Rainier. There is no wrong answer, but knowing what you’re waning will help so much.
• The Guest List– It helps to know how many people you want present at your micro wedding; this will help you decide if a destination wedding is feasible. A good rule of thumb: the more people, the less distance.

3. Decide on Vendors

There are a million different ways to do a micro wedding, and the good thing is, because there is so much flexibility, you can truly choose the vendors that you want to prioritize. Here are a list of vendors that you may want to prioritize for your micro wedidng.

• Photographer
• Airbnb
• Florals 
• Dress/tux or suit
• Hair and makeup
• Catering

These are definitely not all necessary. But they are a good, condensed list of the vendors that you may want there on your day. One thing I love about micro weddings is that you can truly invest in high end vendors at an affordable price because your wedding is so much smaller.

4. Book Your Vendors

After making a list of vendors, doing research to find the best vendors in the area you’re hosting your micro wedding, reach out and book. Reach out to vendors, find out their pricing info, and hop on all the consultation calls! When brides book me, this is one of the many things I help with. Even if I haven’t been to the area where you are getting married, I am so happy to help research vendors with you!

5. Start Planning With Vendors

This can look a lot of different ways, depending on the vendor. For example, you will likely start planning with your photographer very soon after booking. However, you may not begin planning with your florist or hair and makeup artist until a little closer to your day. I don’t know the ins and outs of every single vendor’s planning process. But I can tell you what this would begin to look like from the perspective of a wedding photographer:

1. Talking about the photos you want prioritized on your day- This is the very first thing I love to do with my brides (even before they book, to be honest). Knowing the photos that you care most about on your wedding day helps us plan every other detail!
2. Creating a timeline- I do this through a questionnaire and an in-depth planning call. Which is why it is truly so important to know what you value on your wedding day. That way we can build your dream timeline for your dream micro wedding!
3. Discussing your vision for your day in depth- Now, this doesn’t necessarily only pertain to photography. But I think the best way to give you the photos (and day!!) you want, is for me to really understand your entire vision.

If you’re like me, a micro wedding wasn’t on your radar for most of your life… and once you realized it may be the perfect fit for you on your special day- you didn’t even know where to start. I know this blog is just the bare minimum. Which is why, as a micro wedding photographer, I make it one of the biggest parts of my job to serve you and help you not only dream up, but plan your day.

If you’re wanting more details about what it might look like to work together, check out The Micro Wedding Experience. Or if you’re ready to chat and see if we are a match made in heaven for your dream micro wedding- inquire here!

In the meantime, check out more free resources on the blog.

xo,

Maggie

For more free content, check out my Instagram and Pinterest!