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Planning a Small Wedding in the Hunter Valley

Margan Restaurant Winery

Margan Restaurant Winery

A small wedding is ideal for couples that prefer to celebrate their formal union with just a few special people. Brides who are not professional event planners (i.e. most of us!) often find that organising a small wedding is fun and much less stressful than the complicated logistics involved in an event for 300. Here are a few tips for planning a small wedding in the Hunter Valley to help you pull together the core elements of a fabulously intimate and highly personalised event.

You still need to set a budget

No matter the size of your wedding, setting a budget is still the key to having a successful event, without a financial hangover. Deciding to have a small wedding doesn’t mean missing out, either. In comparative terms, a small wedding budget can stretch farther than a budget for a big wedding, because you have so many more options. For instance, when you need a reception venue for hundreds of guests, the venue cost typically gulps half your budget in one hit!

Location, location, location

Planning for an intimate event opens up so many choices, as you’re not limited to venues which can handle big parties. Another advantage is that you might not need to book quite so far ahead. An expensive venue that you have been sighing over, but can’t afford, might also be a possibility if you’re not paying for quite so many people.

Do you have a favourite beachside café for example? Why not look into the cost of hiring the whole place? If a beach wedding suits your style, there may be little better than an intimate sunset ceremony followed by a boho evening at a small venue just metres away. Or, imagine a small marquee overlooking rolling hills of grape vines, or a classy waterside restaurant.

The Hunter Valley is a gorgeous setting in which to get married, and options in our directory range from beachside venues or lush garden settings to vineyards and restaurants.

Personal touches

Planning a small wedding may mean you have more opportunity (and time!) to get involved in creating personal design touches with flowers, place settings and even the entertainment. It’s likely that with fewer people, you’ll have more to spend, and you can do more with less. For example, entertainment might be able to be whittled down to one or two musicians, or simply something like a roving cartoonist or magician. If you need fewer place settings, you might be able to really go all out on bomboniere.

And it’s not just about stretching your budget further either. Having a smaller, more intimate wedding can be a lovely experience. There’s something wonderful about being surrounded by just the people who love you best as you take your vows!

Catering

You might think it’s possible to do the catering yourself for a small wedding. But unless you have friends or family who are caterers, it’s typically less stressful to leave the preparation and service of food in the hands of dedicated professionals.

If you choose a venue that doesn’t provide catering packages, check out some of the catering options in our directory. Just because your wedding is small doesn’t mean it shouldn’t still be planned and executed with a little help.

Easy planning

To make your small wedding in the Hunter Valley extra special, we’re here to help. Our directory brings together everything you’ll need in order to create a very special intimate wedding, from caterers, to venues specialising in small weddings, to florists and dress designers. May we be the first to toast the happy couple?

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