How to Have a Micro Wedding in Chicago | Planning Your Tiny Wedding Day

Planning Your Chicago Micro Wedding

If you want to keep your Chicago wedding plans intimate and small, we recommend planning a micro wedding! The definition of a micro wedding is certainly different for everyone, but we define it as a small celebration with 75 guests or fewer, where the main focus of the event is the couple and their commitment to one another.

We help couples plan micro weddings that are unique to their relationship, honoring what’s most important to them as a couple.

Remember, your wedding planning experience should be fun and stress-free! Working with a micro wedding coordinator (like us!) will help your wedding go off without a hitch! 

Let’s jump in and cover some tips for planning your perfect micro wedding in Chicago.

Decide on Your Micro Wedding Guest List

Before deciding on a venue, you’ll want to start the planning process by coming up with your guest list to ensure the space you choose is the appropriate size. Maybe it’s just the two of you and your immediate families, or maybe you’ve decided to include some close friends and coworkers, too. The average micro wedding in Chicago is about 50 guests, but we’ve worked with couples with guest lists of upwards of 75 or none at all!

Having trouble coming up with your guest list? Read our post on creating a guest list where we interview wedding etiquette professional, Christina Peterson, of Registry Finder, who shares how to confidently put together a list that complements your budget!

Decide on Your Micro Wedding Budget

Once you’ve confirmed your guest list, you’ll want to sit down with your partner and determine your micro wedding budget. This will depend heavily on your style and the vision the two of you have for the day. We’ve had couples throw a cookout in their backyard with a taco truck, couples who dine at a 5-star restaurant downtown, and everything in between. 

While a Michelin-star restaurant is going to cost more than, say, a backyard BBQ at an Airbnb, neither is considered “better” than the other!

Yes, traditional styles tend to be more on the expensive side, but if you’re willing to get creative and cut back on your guest list, you can also cut costs. Fewer guests mean fewer table settings, fewer mouths to feed, and less time spent on the nitty gritty details.

For a traditional sit-down meal, we recommend budgeting around $200++ per guest. For something casual like a private restaurant or an afternoon brunch, less!

One of the many perks of booking one of our micro wedding packages is the preferred Chicago venue list we share with our couples, most of which extensive list of Chicago venues we share with our clients that specialize in and offer our couples EXCLUSIVE micro wedding packages! This list makes it easy for our couples to book tours and choose a venue that fits their style and budget. 

If you need a wedding planning checklist, we have our own Micro Wedding Planning Checklist that we work through throughout the planning process. 

Hire Your Chicago Micro Wedding Vendors

Just because you’re planning a micro wedding doesn’t mean you have to give up on the details that make it feel special. We recommend hiring a small group of vendors that are dedicated to small, intimate Chicago micro weddings so that the process doesn’t feel overwhelming or over-the-top.

We know how important it is for our couples to keep their love and commitment to one another at the forefront of their planning experience.

We offer expertly curated all-inclusive micro wedding packages that include a coordinator, photographer, officiant, two personal floral designs, and a small celebration cake. These packages are limited but customizable — by simplifying the process and minimizing options, you avoid decision fatigue and overwhelm. This means you truly get to enjoy your Chicago elopement without fretting over the nitty gritty.

We also offer custom add-ons like more hands-on planning assistance leading up to the wedding day, additional coverage with the day-of coordinator and photographer, a larger cake to feed all of your guests, and additional floral designs like table centerpieces.

Get Your Chicago Marriage License

When applying for a marriage license in Chicago, you’ll have two options: You can begin the license process online or do everything from start to finish in person at the County Clerk’s office. Either way, you’ll have to go down in person together at some point, so we recommend just going down in person together as a couple. (Make a day out of it! Plan a nice lunch date, walk around the park, and toast with a glass of bubbly!)

Marriage licenses in Chicago are only valid for 60 days, so once you’ve decided on your date, plan this step accordingly!

Send out Save the Dates and Invitations

Once you’ve secured your venue and the date, you have the option of sending out save-the-dates before sending out Invitations. This is not a necessary step in the planning process, but oftentimes when couples are planning small, intimate affairs, they want to be sure they're loved ones can attend. This means giving them plenty of notice!

Use code WEDPLLAURENLOUISE at Minted.com for 35% off save the dates, plus 25% off any wedding-related purchase!

Worried about when to check off the boxes above? Don’t worry! We make sure all of our couples know when to do what throughout the planning process so that they can feel at ease and without stress!

Whether you are looking for the best venues for under 75 guests, need support with small wedding vendors, or want to work with someone who understands (and loves) your unique approaches to your wedding to make it perfect for YOU BOTH. We are here to help. Connect with us today to start planning your perfect Chicago tiny wedding.

The Tiny Wedding Collective offers all-inclusive elopement and intimate wedding planning services for Chicago, Washington DC, Northern Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland. A Tiny Wedding is for couples who want to celebrate their commitment in a thoughtful, stylish way but don’t want the stress and fanfare of a big, expensive wedding. Not all couples fit inside the same traditional box and it’s time that we make space for inclusivity, diversity, and creativity. To find out more about what it’s like to work with us, please fill out our contact form here.