What Is a Micro Wedding?
A micro wedding is a full wedding held for a small guest list: on this site, 40 guests or fewer, at one venue, over three to five hours. It keeps the ceremony, a meal and toasts, but drops the logistics of a large reception. An elopement, by contrast, is the couple plus an officiant and a witness or two.
Quick Answer
How is a micro wedding different from an elopement or an intimate wedding?
An elopement is the couple, an officiant and a witness or two, built around the ceremony and portraits. A micro wedding adds a guest list of up to 40 plus a meal and toasts. An intimate wedding, on this site, is roughly 20 to 50 guests and overlaps with micro; the difference is format more than head count.
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Micro Wedding vs. Elopement vs. Intimate vs. Small Wedding
The four labels overlap and different planners draw the lines differently. These are the ranges the pages on this site use.
| Term | Guest count | What it usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| Elopement | The couple, an officiant, sometimes a witness or two | Ceremony and portraits; a meal afterwards is optional |
| Micro wedding | 40 or fewer | Ceremony, meal, toasts; one venue; three to five hours |
| Intimate wedding | 20–50; overlaps with micro | A micro-sized day described by feel rather than head count — often a dinner-table format or a weekend away |
| Small wedding | 15–75; the umbrella term | Anything under a conventional reception size, micro and intimate weddings included |
If you want a single test: an elopement is built around the ceremony and portraits, and a micro wedding is built around the ceremony and a meal. Everything else is a judgement about head count, and vendors will mostly follow whichever word you use.
What a Micro Wedding Usually Includes
- One venue — ceremony and meal in the same place, or within a short walk of each other
- A ceremony — civil or religious; the legal part is identical to any other wedding
- A meal as the reception — one long table or a private dining room rather than a ballroom
- Toasts — usually during dinner, from people who all know you
- Portraits — a short block for the couple, plus family groupings run from a list
- Three to five hours — from getting ready to the last toast; dancing is optional
What it leaves out is the production that exists to move a large crowd: a rehearsal dinner, shuttles, a cocktail hour engineered to hide a room flip, a seating chart with table numbers. The micro wedding photography page describes how the shorter day changes coverage.
Micro Weddings in Minnesota: The Practical Part
The licence. Minnesota marriage licences are issued by the county and are valid for six months (Minn. Stat. 517.08). The Minneapolis courthouse guide and the St. Paul courthouse guide cover the application, witnesses and how to book a civil ceremony — and a courthouse ceremony followed by dinner is one of the most common micro wedding formats in the Twin Cities.
The venue. Most of the micro weddings Emma photographs follow one of a few patterns: a restaurant or taproom private room, a backyard, a rented estate on Lake Minnetonka, or an outdoor ceremony spot with dinner somewhere else afterward. For places sorted by capacity, start with the Minnesota small wedding venues guide or the Minneapolis under-50-guest venue list.
The light. Twin Cities sunset runs from about 5:00 PM in December to 8:45 PM at the summer solstice, so even a short timeline needs its portrait window planned against the sun. In summer that is easy; a winter micro wedding with a 4:00 PM ceremony has to do portraits first. The sunset-by-month timeline post has the windows.
Backyards. Face guests away from the sun, not into it, and put a midday ceremony in open shade — the side of the house or under a large tree — rather than the middle of the lawn. Have one honest rain plan: a garage that can be cleared, a porch, a tent hold.
Photography. Three to five hours of coverage fits most micro weddings whole, and one photographer is the right call for nearly all of them. Wedding collections start at $3,100 (Emerald: four hours, one photographer, engagement session included), and travel is free within 40 miles of downtown Minneapolis.
Micro Wedding FAQ
How many guests is a micro wedding?
On this site, 40 or fewer. The intimate wedding page uses 20 to 50 and the small wedding page 15 to 75, so the labels overlap. Above about 40, a day starts to need the things a micro wedding exists to avoid — a seating plan, a longer timeline, a room flip, sometimes a second photographer.
Can a micro wedding still have a reception and dancing?
Yes. At most micro weddings the meal is the reception — one long table or a restaurant's private room — with toasts during dinner and dancing if you want it. What gets dropped is the production around a large reception, not the celebration itself.
How long does a micro wedding last?
Usually three to five hours from getting ready to the last toast, at one venue. That is why four hours of photography coverage handles most micro weddings whole, and why a longer day across two locations is really a small wedding rather than a micro one.
Do you need a marriage licence for a micro wedding in Minnesota?
Yes — the legal steps are the same at 12 guests as at 200. The licence is issued by the county and is valid for six months (Minn. Stat. 517.08). The Minneapolis and St. Paul courthouse guides on this site walk through the application, witnesses and ceremony booking.
Does a micro wedding need a second photographer?
Almost never. In a room of 25 to 40 people a second camera mostly doubles the presence of the photographer. The exception is a longer day split across two locations, which is when a second photographer earns a place.
What is a minimony?
A minimony is a very small ceremony — often the couple, an officiant and immediate family — held on the original wedding date, with a larger celebration planned for later. It sits between an elopement and a micro wedding.
Where do couples hold micro weddings in Minnesota?
Four patterns cover most of the micro weddings Emma photographs: a restaurant or taproom private room where dinner is the reception, a backyard, a rented estate on Lake Minnetonka, or an outdoor ceremony spot with dinner somewhere else afterward.
Planning a Micro Wedding?
Send the date, the rough guest count and where you are thinking of holding it, and I will reply with the coverage that fits a three-to-five-hour day.
Check My DateWhere the rules come from
Permit rules and licence requirements come from the offices below, not from me — check them directly before locking in a date or location.
- Hennepin County — marriage licence applications and courthouse ceremony scheduling
- Ramsey County — marriage licence applications and civil ceremony scheduling for St. Paul