“In holy matrimony.” The phrase is such wonderful music to your ears, now that pretty soon, you’ll be walking down the aisle too. With a tight budget though, you can only hope for so much. So you begin planning. But a wedding planning timeline can never be done without first determining what kind of wedding you will have.

A “small” wedding.

What is a small wedding?

A lot of people construe up different meanings for it. Some may consider a wedding “small” with regards to the entourage (although I have a pretty good idea that a lot would tend to disagree). Some may even have no guests, just the family … which may well be your entourage as well. (We did that to our wedding – relatives only – and I’m proud to say that we are now nearing our 11th year of marital bliss.)

Most people though say a small wedding according to the number of guests. For some, about 200 guests would be considered “small” (now THAT I would beg to differ). Others think, 100 guests are enough. But some have the concept that 50 or just a little over that would be perfect. Whatever your thinking of “small” is, one thing is definite – it would be a wedding like no other.

So for now, let’s concentrate on having a small guest list.
Here are some tips we’ve gathered long ago (when small weddings weren’t the norm yet):

• Instead of renting a “quaint, calm reception area filled with a serenity and solemnity only you can imagine” (read: expensive!), why not settle for a wedding supper at a restaurant? Some restos can even set up the place for you and can even make a special menu just for you. That would definitely be cheaper than having your reception at a vast expanse of land where you have to shout just to be heard.

• If you are thinking of making that big garden your reception site, why not make it your ceremony venue as well? You can ask the one who will officiate your wedding (priest, reverend, rabbi or judge) to just trot over there. Less cost, same objective.

• A friend of mine did this to her wedding cake. She just got a small one since she only had a small wedding. Unfortunately, she is in that part of the world where people sometimes show up uninvited. In her case, the uninvited(s) showed up during dessert. (Thank God!) A quick whisper to the chef provided something short of a miracle – the cake just seemed to multiply. Everyone got a piece of cake and they had some leftovers too that they brought with them to their honeymoon. The solution: She asked the chef to have someone buy a large sheet cake at the nearest bake shop. No one noticed the difference!

• Instead of hiring a band or a DJ, you can hire a string quartet (much cheaper). Or, like an aunt did at her wedding, she got the church choir (of which she was a member of). Hmm, and they gave it all they’ve got, free of charge too.

• Consider choosing a Friday for your wedding date. There are a host of reasons for this, but there are two that I can think of at this moment. One, most people work from Mondays to Fridays. If you tell them that your wedding day falls on a weekday, they would most likely decline, especially friends and acquaintances you aren’t really close to. Therefore, it would “lessen” the people showing up at the reception. The second one is less sinister than the first. Most reception places choose to price their food lower on that day. Choose a buffet rather than a sit-down dinner as the latter is more expensive.

Now is the age where anything goes. With a little creativity (and a little help from some friends and family), you can make your wedding small and memorable with a lot of fun bonding moments along the way.