New Jersey Beach Micro Wedding by Sarah Canning Photography

Most of the time you can find me traveling throughout the East Coast capturing the most beautiful weddings. From large and elegant weddings to small and intimate weddings, I’ve seen it all. My heart goes where love is, and in this case, it took me to New Jersey for Robyn and Tom’s New Jersey beach micro wedding. With nothing but a small group of their closest friends and family, the smell of the ocean, and two love birds waiting to get married, we had the most amazing wedding day. These two lovers really are proof that you don’t need to have a large wedding day to celebrate your love.

What is a Micro Wedding?

So some of you may be thinking, “what is a micro wedding?” which to that I say is a very good question. While everyone may have their own definition of what a micro wedding is, here is mine. A micro wedding often consists of a smaller more intimate celebration with no more than 50 guests. Oftentimes when you choose to have a micro wedding you invite your closest friends and family, since it is such an intimate setting. Having a micro wedding still means that you can follow regular wedding traditions just on a much smaller scale. Or this can mean that you can step completely out of the box and make your wedding day yours. Which honestly, is kind of the whole point!

Benefits of Having a Micro Wedding

There are many benefits that come along with having a micro wedding. While I could go on and on about this topic, I will list just a few that you may want to take into consideration.

1.) More Intimacy

One of the main reasons you may choose to have a micro wedding is solely based on how much intimacy you’re looking to have. Having a larger scaled wedding can lead to sometimes feeling a little bit lost. Some couples even admit that they barely got to see their partner on one of the most special days of their lives! Crazy, right? Having a much smaller guest list allows for you and your partner to have a bit more time to yourselves and focus on each other. Rather than worrying about everything that your guests are doing, you are able to focus on celebrating one another.

2.) Low Wedding Costs

While of course, this depends on what you choose to splurge on your wedding day, oftentimes a micro wedding allows you to have lower wedding costs. Items like party favors, meals, seating & tables, etc. can add up increasing the cost of your wedding. With a much smaller guest list, you instead can save $$ in certain areas and instead put that money elsewhere. Splurge on the caterer, the florals or even just save it up for your honeymoon!

3.) Wedding Planning Can Be Easier

Again, this can vary from person to person. However, planning a micro wedding has often led couples to feel a lot calmer in the wedding planning process. This is because since it is such a small guest list, you don’t have as many moving parts. You don’t have to send as many wedding invitations, set up seating arrangements, and overall don’t have to worry about spending as much money. If you are someone who is looking to take some weight off your shoulders when it comes to wedding planning, a micro wedding might be the direction to go.

4.) More Venue Options & Unique Experiences

When you choose to have a micro wedding, you end up opening the doors to a wider variety of wedding venue options. As we know, wedding venues typically have a max guest capacity for larger weddings. Depending on the number of guests, your options for wedding venues can tend to get slimmer and slimmer. However, when you choose to have a micro wedding it seems like the options are endless! Event spaces/venues give you a little bit more wiggle room with a lower guest count and you can even create more unique experiences. Things that you wouldn’t normally be able to do at your wedding are now possible now that you don’t have as many guests to coordinate with.

Overall, there are many benefits to having a micro wedding. Especially due to the worldwide pandemic, a lot of couples resorted to testing the waters of micro weddings and ended up loving it! Micro weddings have grown in popularity and to be honest, I don’t see them going anytime soon.

New Jersey Micro Beach Wedding

When it came time for Robyn and Tom’s micro beach wedding, I couldn’t have been more excited. This wedding took place in the middle of 2020 when a lot was going on in the wedding world. So many couples were struggling with what to do for their wedding, so in this case, Robyn and Tom found the perfect solution. Robyn and Tom had a family rented beach house located at Brigantine Beach located in New Jersey. Just 1,000 steps outside the front door would be where their ceremony would be held and I was ready for it all!

Getting Ready & First Look

Robyn and Tom both got ready at their family rented beach house at Brigantine Beach. We spent the first portion of the day getting everybody ready, enjoying our time with everyone, and taking it easy. Another benefit of a micro wedding, you don’t really have to feel as rushed. Robyn’s dress looked absolutely phenomenal on her while her bridesmaids looked stunning wearing their blush-toned dresses. To stick to that theme, Tom stepped outside of the normal black tux and stuck to a blush tone tux.

From there it was time to take Robyn to meet up with Tom on the beach for their first look. I absolutely love first looks and love that they have grown in popularity over the years. To read more about what a first look is and some benefits of having a first look, just click here!

New Jersey Micro Beach Wedding Ceremony // Brigantine Beach

After a sweet first look, the remaining wedding party came to join us on the beach for some portraits before the ceremony. I just love how everyone at the wedding party coordinated so perfectly. With their gorgeous blush and neutral tones, it was fitting for their beach wedding to keep this more light & airy.

Shortly after, it was time for us to head towards the center of the beach for the ceremony. There we were met with a beautiful pergola and the wedding guests awaiting this beautiful moment. It was such a beautiful moment surrounded by all of their loved ones for this micro wedding. After a warm embrace and of course a good ol’ smooch, these two were officially married – woohoo!! Everyone headed back to the beach house to enjoy some food and drinks before I packed up my bags and ran home to edit some sneaks.

It was a beautiful day with Robyn and Tom and their micro beach wedding was a major success. I feel honored to have captured such beauty and I’m wishing them nothing but a lifetime of happiness! Cheers to R+T!

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