My very HOPP-y micro-wedding

My very HOPP-y micro-wedding

Could bijou be best for you?

It was summer 2020 and we were going back and forth – should we postpone our wedding for the second time or plan something smaller and get married now? Neither my fiancé nor I had ever been to a micro-wedding so we had no idea what to expect. Weren’t they a bit tragic, a bit sombre, a bit... Gretna Green? Surely it wouldn’t be a real wedding without the welcome party and the after party and the bridesmaids and the band. 

But we were tired of having our hopes dashed and we really did want to get married, so we decided to put aside our big-wedding snobbery and plan a pint-sized celebration. As soon as we started, we realised how small-minded we had been about small weddings – this was a godsend in disguise! Our budget was magically expanding to include individual cheese boards and calligraphed menus and a fantastical flower arch. There was no headache-inducing spreadsheet detailing 200 people’s demented dietary requirements. And I didn’t even have to buy stamps, I just rang our family and godparents and said, 

“We’re getting married, do you want to come?” 

“Yes, please.” Done. 

And of course I was wrong about the day itself. There was nothing dour about it – it was filled with family, flowers, food, (a few) friends and, most importantly of all, a beautiful husband at the end of the aisle. It felt like someone had found the pressure valve, let out all the nerves and worry and expectation and left pure distilled joy.

I’m certainly not the only Covid bride to be seduced by the small wedding. My friend Frederica (whose understated London wedding in November was elegance itself) told me, “I loved having a much more intimate wedding and would recommend it to anyone and everyone! I knew that even if it rained, or things didn’t go to plan, it completely didn’t matter because the day was all about us. We could all be authentically ourselves without any concern for appearances. Eventually, when the world opens up again, we are really looking forward to a wild party, but I am so grateful for that special day with just our families.” 

Hopefully, one day soon, we will go to big parties again, but I sincerely hope that these petite but perfectly formed weddings are here to stay, too. 

The beautiful arch that Tattie Rose created outside the church. Though it was a small wedding,  her breathtaking flowers added such a sense of occasion in both the marquee and the church. She is both terrifyingly talented and absolute heaven to work with - I think that’s quite rare. (Photo by Millie Pilkington Photography)  I loved the wild and ethereal look of the flowers in the church. (Photo by Millie Pilkington Photography)    This LPM Bohemia marquee was the perfect size for 30 guests - it felt so intimate and it was amazing to be able to see everyone’s faces during the speeches. (Photo by Millie Pilkington Photography)  Tattie’s magic inside the marquee . (Photo by Millie Pilkington Photography)  Just married. (Photo by Millie Pilkington Photography) E mbellishing the Ordinary created these beautiful menus that doubled as place settings with each person’s name on the top. Somehow, the menus just happened to match the flowers. We didn’t coordinate this at all, but it looked like it was perfectly planned! (Photo by Millie Pilkington Photography) 

We asked the lovely Kate who owns the local pub in the village to make our cake and it exceeded our wildest dreams. I mean, how amazing is it? (Photo by Millie Pilkington Photography) At the end of the night, we changed to go away and I put on this incredible white suite by The Deck London . Can you tell I felt like a Bond girl? Can you tell Ian had had too much champagne to tie his tie properly? Time for bed! (Photo by Millie Pilkington Photography)