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Photo taken at Villa Catalana Cellars
Covid-19 has changed the wedding industry and how people are thinking about getting married. Sightglass Photography shares a few ways to have smaller weddings, including a smaller guest count, but still keep the most important part of the day, the “I Do’s”! We write this while still in lockdown and unsure what the future holds for the wedding industry and rules for getting together. We suggest if you want to get married in 2020 that you consider having an elopement or a micro wedding. You can save that big reception for next year.
What does it mean to elope?
Most people think of it as “running” away secretly in order to get married but in 2020 it’s far from that. We have captured many elopements that are far from running away and getting married in secret. The term has evolved into removing secrecy while retaining the small and intimate aspect. Most of our elopements have close family and friends, where some are just the couple. With the rising costs of weddings, living, and priorities in life-changing. We are seeing a trend of more and more people scaling back and going back to basics. Most elopements tend to be 1-2 hours at most. They have a ceremony, some couple and family photos, time to mingle, and generally a toast and/or cake. From there they often leave the area to have a nice dinner at a restaurant.
So how is a micro wedding different?
A micro wedding is generally longer in time and has more people. Though it is still being scaled back from a more traditional wedding. It’s a condensed celebration of marriage that has fewer activities, smaller guest count (generally between 15 and 50), shorter duration (3-5 hours), less complex format, relaxed atmosphere, and less stress to organize. Most micro weddings we capture focus on the ceremony, mingling, photos, and food. They tend to avoid DJs, dancing (some do a first dance and parent dances), and other things that lend themselves better to larger groups. This also lets them book a venue for only a few hours over the whole day. From there a lot have some sort of after-party at a bar or something of the sort.