What is a Micro Wedding?
Incredibly intimate, Micro Weddings are growing in number and fast becoming a wedding trend for 2020, 2021 and beyond. So just what is a micro wedding? Helen Pye, Deputy Editor of Hitched sums it up brilliantly in her feature What is a Micro Wedding and Is It Right For You?.
“A micro wedding is a wedding with less than 20 guests. Being smaller in size, it’s usually cheaper, more relaxed and shorter in length than a traditional wedding day. It differs from both an elopement and an ‘intimate’ wedding. An elopement is usually done in secret, will be attended by just the couple marrying and two witnesses, and is often a quick and simple registry office ceremony – whereas a micro wedding is a full wedding day, just on a smaller scale”.
Helen Pye, Hitched
Why we Celebrate the Micro Weddings Trend at Treseren
Our average size of wedding at Treseren is between 12 and 20 guests, so Micro Weddings are exactly what we specialise in.
Having been part of hosting so many incredibly intimate weddings, we genuinely believe small weddings are wonderful. We have witnessed first hand the real love and sincerity, as well as the fun and laughter that these special intimate celebrations bring. There is a reason this Micro Wedding trend is taking hold! It’s because it is a brilliant way to tailor make your own wedding day, which doesn’t haven’t to cost the earth, but is all about you and the most important people in your lives.
How a Very Small Wedding can be Big on Style and Atmosphere
Despite the small guest list, a Micro Wedding can be big on style and atmosphere. They are easy to personalise and you can really focus on the details that are important to you – such as incredible food and getting the menu just right, a special floral installation, or beautiful stationary.
Each wedding at Treseren is unique – because we offer exclusive use, and it’s a very secluded setting, then you can take over the space for a few days and bring your own ideas and atmosphere.
You can add personal touches; one of our brides, Tamara hand dried her own flower petals to make confetti. Another couple, Sam and Natalie who got married at Treseren in the autumn created beautiful place settings with bespoke stationary by Sam, a graphic designer. They filled the house with beautiful dried flower installations which reflected the season so well. Read on below for full details about this beautiful wedding as part for our interview in Hitched…
Our Interview with Hitched as Micro Wedding Specialists
When one of the biggest on line wedding guides, Hitched identified the 2020 trend in Micro Weddings and approached us to be part of their feature, we were incredibly honoured to take part.
The questions they asked in their interview made us think really hard about just what it is that makes the Micro Wedding so special. In the feature, they have quoted lots of our comments to bring the picture of the very small wedding to life, but we thought it could be interesting for all our couples getting married at Treseren this year and for anybody considering a Micro Wedding to read the interview in full.
Here it is!
Helen at Hitched:
What reasons have couples given you for wanting a small wedding? (Is it normally budget, wanting a more intimate experience, less stress, choosing a weekday?)
Emma at Treseren:
Reasons for choosing a small wedding are so personal, but here at Treseren where we specialise in very small, intimate weddings, we hear our couples talk about very similar things. Of course a small wedding on average costs a lot less than a large wedding, so budget can play a part. Although that doesn’t mean a compromise on quality – in fact we hear our couples telling us that they want a really fantastic menu with locally sourced produce – good champagne and a sense of treating their guests to a fabulous day. If there are not as many guests, then really great hospitality in a beautiful setting can be affordable. What’s great about doing things on a micro scale, is that your spend per head can go up, but the overall cost go down.
The main reasons our couples give for opting for a small wedding is that they want their day to be relaxed, they don’t want the stress of a big event – some because they don’t like the idea of being in the spotlight, others because they want their day to be very personal and meaningful – all about how they want their wedding to be and not about pleasing everybody else. There is something very relaxed and wonderful about small weddings – more time to chat, more time to just enjoy the spaces and time together. Having chosen to avoid the huge guest list, just the most important people to the couple are present at a Micro Wedding, and you get this incredible supportive, happy and warm atmosphere.
A small wedding is a positive choice and couples want it to be just as special, perhaps even more special than a big wedding. It doesn’t mean having to compromise on style or the type of day the couples want. We host our intimate weddings at weekends as well as weekdays – they always look beautiful and although the guest list is small, they are big on style and atmosphere.
Helen at Hitched:
Do micro weddings have all the components of a ‘traditional’ wedding (wedding breakfast, first dance, cake cutting) or do you see couples pick and choose what they want?
Emma at Treseren:
A micro wedding can be anything a couple wants it to be – we see traditional elements, and we see couples inventing their own style of how they want to get married; choosing the elements of tradition they want to keep, and throwing away any parts they don’t like. For some, traditional rituals like cutting the cake and throwing the bouquet are a must. Others don’t bother with tradition at all. We had one very relaxed family wedding last summer in the sunshine that was followed by table tennis on the lawn and a barbecue. We have a wedding planned for next year at Treseren, where the couple are going to be accompanied by a harpist in their ceremony, and then surprise their guests with a choreographed first dance accompanied by the harp on our terrace.
Part of what we offer is a Welcome Feast so couples can gather their guests arriving the night before the wedding, which brings people together and creates time to enable people to relax in to the weekend. We are passionate about good food, and we also do wonderful breakfasts, which again brings people together on the day of the wedding, with the excitement ahead and the day after reflecting on the lovely memories. Lots of our couples value this time together and their wedding becomes a whole experience rather than everything stuffed in to one day.
Helen at Hitched:
What’s the average size of weddings at Treseren?
Emma at Treseren:
Our average wedding is 12 – 20 guests.
Helen at Hitched:
How have you seen couples personalise their smaller wedding? (I love that you hosted a Poldark-themed one!)
Emma at Treseren:
Each wedding at Treseren is unique – because we offer exclusive use, and it’s a very secluded setting, then couples can take over the space for a few days and bring their own ideas and atmosphere to their special day. One of our couples, Emanuel and Cherry opted for a relaxed flowing outdoor – indoor ceremony and got married on a summer’s day under our beautiful walnut tree. Their wedding was unique and special and because they only had fourteen guests, the ceremony easily flowed in to the Wedding Room for the signing of the Registrar and legal declaratory words.
Another of our couples, Cathy and Mike got married after thirty years together and chose a Poldark themed wedding, which was so appropriate at Treseren because the house was built for a Mine Captain in the 1800s, and the main bedroom suite where our brides get married, Middleton is named after Captain Middleton – our real life Poldark! Cathy and Mike were joined by their daughters and grand children celebrating their day with them. Everybody looked stunning and a lovely, personal touch was that Cathy opted for the children to pick flowers from the gardens to decorate the ceremony space so they would feel involved in the day.
Tamara and Chris created a beautiful wedding full of atmosphere. With a guest list of twenty, this was the perfect number for a Micro Wedding bringing together Tamara’s family from Georgia and Chris’s family from the South West of England. Tamara’s dress was stunning and she created hand made favours – pretty jars of sweets closed with her own wax seal and hand dried flower petals to make her own confetti. Hatchi the family dog was also very much made part of their day. Tamara even made sure he had a flower neck piece to wear.
Sam and Natalie got married with an autumn ceremony full of style at Treseren. A really creative couple, the house was filled with stunning dried flower installations that worked so well with the season. Sam is a graphic designer, so he designed all of their table stationary – with a beautiful and spare style.
As an artisan ice-cream maker, Natalie was passionate about the style and quality of the food at the wedding feast. They worked with a brilliant local chef, Dom proprietor of Cast Cafe and included some of Natalie’s own ice-creams with the dessert. A friend had helped them to select special wines which were matched to their menu. This wedding had all the traditional elements, with families and friends coming together to celebrate, speeches, incredible food and later, dancing – but done on a micro scale. During the speeches, their friends and family members who spoke complimented them on their unique and beautiful wedding, choice of venue and approach to the day which everybody felt reflected them as a couple so well.
Helen at Hitched:
What advice do you have for couples who might be considering a micro wedding?
Emma at Treseren:
Do what feels right for you! It is your wedding after all. If you want to opt for a small wedding, it may be that you cannot invite everybody, but the great thing about choosing a small venue with limited numbers means that people you don’t invite will not feel offended – they will understand that this is what you have chosen and should be happy for you. For those that celebrate with you, they will enjoy a really special and personal day with you.
When you’re looking for a venue, imagine how you want your day to flow and to feel and whether the venue feels right. Most couples who decide on a micro wedding look for an exclusive use venue which does not include access from members of the public, or open to other guests, meaning a very intimate and special experience can be created. A large venue saying they are happy to do small weddings may not be the right thing. You do not want to feel ‘lost’ in a setting that feels too big and amplifies the small numbers, you need somewhere ‘ just right’ with plenty of space for everybody to relax, but the right proportions for the intimate atmosphere to be created.
Take time to check that the venue host really understands how you envisage your day to be, and whether they include planning and co-ordination. It’s so important for small weddings that the team behind the scenes are with you and happy to blend in to the atmosphere created by you and your guests. Every wedding is unique, and a good intimate venue will absolutely understand and embrace this. If you can’t visit to view the venue and meet the owner, make sure you have a telephone or Skype call to build the connection and understanding.
Helen at Hitched:
Would you recommend still hiring a planner/coordinator for a micro wedding?
Emma at Treseren:
Absolutely. Planning is an essential part of any wedding, no matter how simple, or small to ensure that the day is everything a couple wants it to be. It doesn’t have to be long and drawn out, in fact we include planning and co-ordination on the day as part of our service and inclusive price – we have built up relationships with brilliant, local suppliers who also specialise in small weddings, and we can quickly put a team together for our couples, based on what they would like. This way it is stress free.
Many of our couples live a long way from Cornwall and combine their wedding with a mini holiday – they want it to be a relaxed and special experience from start to finish, so at Treseren, we take care of all the details for them so they can just enjoy.
We loved thinking through all the details of Micro Weddings and what makes them so special. There is no doubt this is a Wedding Trend to celebrate! Many thanks to Helen Pye for interviewing us and to the Editor for featuring Treseren on Hitched.
If you’d like to know more about Micro Weddings at Treseren you can download our brochure here.
