Modern weddings are a personalized experience. Sure, there will always be the couples who want to host a grand-affair wedding: a black-tie event at a palatial venue filled with hundreds of guests—a fair portion of whom the happy couple might not even know personally, as a favor to parents. But for others, the same idea can be cringe-inducing, whether due to budget constraints, alternative lifestyle preferences, or a tendency to shy from being the center of attention, even on The Big Day.
Enter: The microwedding, an increasingly popular trend for couples who want to enjoy a more intimate experience with the ones who matter most, and without the frills of a large-scale occasion.
“At its simplest, a microwedding is small, thoughtful wedding; fewer guests, fewer decisions to make, and a simpler experience all around,” says Erica Beckman, a wedding photographer and one of three business partners at The Wedding Foundry, a microwedding service organized by a supergroup of Hudson Valley-based wedding specialists. In addition to Beckman—who also runs Clean Plate Pictures and co-founded Hudson Valley Elope—the two other partners are Billiam van Roestenberg of Liberty View Farm in New Paltz and Juan Romero of Lekker Catering (and former chef/owner of Duo Bistro).
“I think a lot of it has to do with how things went during the pandemic. A lot of people couldn’t spend time with loved ones and it made them realize how much that time really counts,” Beckman says. “When you have this big wedding and there are 200 people, or more, and half of them are acquaintances you haven’t even seen in 10 years—what it comes down to for those couples is the thought that life is too short to share their wedding day with all of these people that they don’t even know.”
Something More Peaceful
This mindset has led to an increasing number of microweddings around the region, typically defined by a guest list of between 50 to 70. Although these nuptials are taking place at a smaller scale, they’re still offering a distinctly beautiful occasion where elegance meets simplicity.
And this balance is a chief goal of The Wedding Foundry’s events, which take place on van Roestenberg’s scenic and sustainable Liberty View Farm in Highland and offer packages—a one-stop shopping of sorts—that cover all of the necessities: venue, catering, photography, florals, an officiant, and more, but without it being a cookie-cutter experience; each event is still designed to fit couples’ personalities.
“I’ve been hosting big weddings on the farm for years, this is our 18th season, and they’re huge, weekend events with a lot of moving parts that can see upward of hundreds of guests,” van Roestenberg says. “Instead, these microwedding couples are looking for something more intimate during which they can have a deeper connection with the friends and family they want to invite. In some cases, they come from high-net worth families and have seen siblings have the big extravagant weddings—and then decided that the same route just wasn’t for them. They don’t want an over-the-top wedding, just something more peaceful. And we are here to walk them through it.”
The all-inclusive service offers base packages starting between $15,000-$20,000, but add-ons are available for upgrades like bar and food. “When it comes to catering, Juan is a culinary genius,” he explains. “One couple had family members from Greece who said our Greek offerings were exactly like the food they loved back home. For how cost-effective these weddings are, our services are top quality.”
The concept of microweddings is not to be confused with elopements, which have also seen enough of a post-pandemic uptick that destination wedding resorts around the country have started offering elopement packages. When Beckman saw elopement photography requested with increasing frequency, it prompted her to co-found Hudson Valley Elopements with an officiant partner, Michele Zipp. But Beckman says that even the mindset around elopements has changed; no longer are they minimalistic, rushed happenings. Instead, they’re intentional events where couples want only their nearest and dearest but while still creating an unforgettable day. “These elopements are usually planned four to five months out, but some will even book a year out,” she explains. “And we’re doing about 25 to 40 each year.”
Small to the Max
While a venue like Liberty View Farms has the acreage to offer large-scale weddings, a host like Colony Woodstock, a music venue in the heart of the village, has less crowd capacity and can only offer small events. Although she doesn’t quite consider each event to be a microwedding, private events coordinator Laura Anson says she’s seen the same shift in mindset shying away from classic wedding whites and extended guest lists, to more casually elegant affairs and smaller gatherings.
“We are definitely seeing more intimate weddings, where couples are not inviting their extended family or parents’ friends—instead, they’re much keener to keep the numbers small and the event itself pretty low-key,” Anson says. “Every wedding here is so different, no commonality between them except that people are a little more focused on smaller guest lists, which is good because our max is 120. But we are definitely seeing a trend toward the event being more intimate overall with more thought going into keeping it personal. Most don’t even hire a wedding planner. These are couples who don’t want that boxy, square conference room feeling with bright white decor and traditional ceremonies or receptions.”
Anson says that some of the couples she works with want such a no-fuss experience that they forgo common accoutrements like floral arrangements, whereas others have even opted to skip their wedding cakes, instead choosing dessert tables. “It’s as though they want to keep it beautiful, but make it feel more like a familial party rather than like the traditional buttoned-up weddings of 20-plus years ago,” she says. “And it’s not necessarily a budget thing, because many can be small but just as high-end.” Instead, these intimate events prove that small weddings can be formal and beautiful without being stuffy.
“It feels more convivial, like a beautifully lit private party,” Anson says. “It’s lovely for us to watch, too. Everything feels more intimate and a little more special.”
This article appears in January 2025.
