46 INTIMATE WEDDINGS We’ve just started planning our wedding and already feel overwhelmed. How can we create our dream day? Some people dream of a grand, fairytale wedding while others dream of a smaller, intimate affair, with the latter gaining more popularity moving into 2025. In our Instagram-driven world, it’s easy to get carried away during the planning process. Regardless of the size of your guest list, a wedding planner can be instrumental in keeping you on track, ensuring your vision aligns with your budget and holding you accountable to plan the day you both want. Planning a wedding typically takes around 400 hours, ideally starting 18 to 12 months out, as suppliers tend to book up quickly. I sit with my couples and create a comprehensive list of everything they might want at their wedding; we then categorise each item as either essential or desirable. I source the essentials first and revisit the desirable later. My advice is to prioritise securing your venue, registrar/celebrant, photographer, videographer and florist. Once these are confirmed, you can move on to the design elements, always keeping your budget in mind. It’s important not to get too attached to a particular trend when looking at the ‘vision’ for your day. For example, bows and pastels are in for 2024. When considering a trend, I recommend evaluating whether you genuinely love it or if you’re drawn to it simply because it’s all over your Instagram and Pinterest feeds. Ask yourself how you’ll feel when you look back on your wedding day in 10 years, and if you still love it, go for it, but ideally, be original and authentically you! Even though a smaller guest list may not reduce the complexity of planning, it can lead to savings on catering and décor costs; fewer guests mean fewer tables, centrepieces and place settings. So, while the scale of the event may be more intimate, from a planning perspective, the logistics, administration and attention to detail remain just as crucial. Sarah Louise from Sarah Louise Wedding Planner www.sarahlouiseweddingplanner.co.uk CAKE EXPECTATIONS What advice can you share for creating a small wedding cake? Planning a small wedding can be a beautiful event. I had a small wedding myself, with only 40 guests, including myself and my husband. It gave us the opportunity to make things even more personal and special. From our wedding favours through to our cake, every part reflected who we were as a couple. Consider when you would like the cake to be served to decide if you need to cater for all of your guests or not. Is it for dessert? Or is it just something that will be added to the buffet? When contacting a supplier, give them as much information as possible, such as the wedding date, venue, guest numbers and, if possible, photos of the styles of cake that you like. There are some lovely trends this year that are flowy and textured. Oversized bows and ruffles are featured a lot, but you can’t go wrong with a classically elegant, crisp white cake too. If you have a tight budget, don’t be afraid to say so. This will help avoid any wasted time for both parties. Try to find a cake maker as soon as you have your date secured. I myself have some bookings up to three years in advance. Katy from Cakes by Katy www.cakesbykaty.com www.laineylovell.com www.laineylovell.com www.jackhughesphotography.com
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