Wedding Planner | Magazine

Style School | Determining the Right Wedding Size

June 3

Are you wanting a more intimate, personal affair or a grand celebration with all of your family and friends, plus some? With the terms microwedding and elopement coming to the forefront of the wedding scene in the past year, it can get confusing on just who and how many people are included within each size – and what even are the benefits of having one wedding size over the other? In hopes to clear up any uncertain guidelines when it comes to the size of your wedding, the experts at On Cloud9 Events are here with all the details on determining the right wedding size for you and your spouse in the fifth lesson of our style school! Scroll to determine the right size for your big day with the help of On Cloud9 Events and to read how they can help you with just that – cheers!

Photo // Allison Ruth Photography

What are the guest counts for these wedding sizes: elopement, micro, intimate, small, and large?

Elopement: 10-12 guests

Micro: up to 30 guests

Intimate: up to 50 guests

Small: up to 125 guests

Large: over 150 guests

What are the benefits of each of the wedding sizes?

Elopement: An elopement virtually removes the stress of planning a wedding. Since the guests that are invited are just a handful of your closest family and friends, a simple invite will do. The most important part, aside from marrying your soulmate, is only that the few closest people to you both are there with you!

Micro: A micro wedding, although a small group, is likely double or triple the size of an elopement. This allows for tons of quality time to be spent with each guest! The budget for a micro wedding is likely micro in comparison to that of a large wedding.

Intimate: An intimate wedding in comparison to a micro wedding has additional guests, with a guest count most likely not to exceed 50 guests. I am sure both bride and groom would know everyone in attendance – yay for no awkward introductions!

Small: A smaller wedding is more of what would be considered a “traditional” wedding. It certainly has the feel of a large wedding but many times without the extensive cost. In Texas, a small wedding could be upwards of 125 people. Quality time with guest is less likely, although making time to speak to everyone can still be done!

Large: Larger weddings are the Texas way! As a planner and coordinator, we do the larger scale weddings more often than the others. Normally, the limit is based on what the venue can comfortably accommodate – this means your guest count is likely to include ALL your friends and family for the celebration!

How do you work with couples that have scaled up or scaled down their wedding size?

When scaling up, we try to figure out how to maintain their budget without compromising their vision. In our opinion, it is critical to strive for the bride to see her vision come to life with no disappointment of her most important aspects being cut. When scaling down, especially when it is last minute, we help the couples brainstorm ways to enhance and/or personalize each guest’s experience (i.e. place cards, personalized notes, etc.). Depending on the chosen venue, we also take into consideration the space being filled, ensuring it will not feel empty. This could mean the same number of tables are in the space but with fewer guests per table to ensure the venue is perfectly filled.

A special thank you to Lisa Kettler-Belletto from On Cloud9 Events for sharing their insight on determining the size for your wedding! Visit On Cloud9 Events’ Brides of Houston vendor profile to see all the incredible services they offer for your celebration. Cheers!

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