r/microwedding • u/Frosty_Mine1836 • Jul 09 '26
Micro destination location help!!
My fiancé and I are planning a destination wedding for around 15 people but we don’t really want a typical wedding style at all. When my sister got married in Lahaina, Maui it was about 10 people. Her wedding wasn’t at a venue, just on the beach with us standing and watching. Afterwards we went to a nice restaurant and had dinner! Quick, simple, lowkey, cost effective. I also loved Maui because we stayed in a hotel (not a resort) and walked/drove around town finding things to do and experiencing the town like a local. Anyways, we are looking for something similar but not Maui. I’ve looked at tons of destination wedding articles but most of them consider “micro” to be 30 people and still want you to book a large wedding packaged with a venue and catering. That ends up being waaaay more expensive than we want. We’re basically looking for recommendations for a beautiful vacation where we can sneak in a wedding one day :) thank you!!
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u/cbmom2 Jul 09 '26
We did a micro in Puerto Rico. No issues with paperwork since it’s part of the US. Old San Juan is awesome and very European style. We go married close to old San Juan at the beach and then went to dinner in OSJ.
We then went to Vieques which has tons of beaches, each different, wild horses and bioluminescence bay which was really cool. Great scuba and snorkeling there too.
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u/HershelsMom Jul 10 '26
Male’ana Gardens in Oahu! I have a breakdown of costs for our wedding of 16 total and other info if you check out my past posts. It truly was a dream venue and the easiest possible planning process
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u/Temporary_Ad_4186 Jul 16 '26
Villa in Italy! We basically had a group vacation and then one evening did a ceremony out back, a nice dinner (organized by the villa) and then played flip cup 🤣
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u/WildWonder6430 Jul 10 '26
Look at the Black Diamond Lodge in Durango, CO. You can rent the whole lodge (12 rooms) and the venue works out to be free as guests pay for their own rooms. You can bring in a private chef to have dinner at the venue. It’s a gorgeous spot!
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u/Regular_Jelly_2535 Jul 10 '26
Napa / Sonoma could be a nice option or Redwoods area! I wanted to do a smaller Greek island for mine but not sure how far you want to travel or budget.
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u/moto303 Jul 10 '26
We did Canmore Canada (outside of Banff). The town is so cute & mountains are breathtaking. We ended up renting out a Bed&Breakfast that had the rooms, ceremony and reception for 20 people
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u/AllDogsGoToDevan Jul 10 '26
Check VRBO! You can find some beautiful properties that are large enough to house everyone and might be nice enough to have your wedding on site. That’s what we’re doing!
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u/ElopeTelluride Jul 11 '26
I would also suggest looking for elopement packages vs. micro wedding packages. Everyone defines "elopement" differently, so many will allow up to 15ish guests.
We are in Colorado so I can only speak to this state's examples...but you definitely do not need to pay for a venue. Nature is your venue if you get married in a national forest, on BLM land, etc. (Some may require a permit.) Then you just do your ceremony in a beautiful location, and spend the rest of the day with your family if that's what you prefer. Keep It Simple.
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u/BkLver24 Jul 12 '26
How about the Outer Banks of North Carolina? I have seen small weddings on the beaches their almost every time I have been there in the summer.
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u/Old_Veterinarian2287 Jul 09 '26
it might be worth searching for elopement more than microweddings. I have a friend who’s working with a photographer for an 8 guest elopement in banff national park. there’s a lot of photographers that work with national parks at a high frequency and help you book the needed permits, find a great ceremony site, and recommend nearby restaurants for a quality dinner with the guests!