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Having a large sized wedding is considered a staple culture in Indonesia. A wedding size of 600 to 800 guests is considered normal and if more guests came than planned, it is regarded as a success. However, according to our recent wedding trend forecast, millennials are more drawn into a small sized wedding that is more intimate than the usual Indonesian styled wedding culture. An article from The Knot revealed that the reason of that was because the cost per guest for weddings have significantly increased. It proves that younger generations are becoming more financially aware that a smaller sized wedding could be more beneficial for their future.

In addition to being more financially smart, having an intimate wedding also means having less stress during wedding preparations due to the reduced frills that a small sized wedding entails, and being able to enjoy the company of the guests more. However, even with these arguments, having a modern intimate wedding still has challenges, both for the client and for the vendors.

1. Beware of additional guests

The main point of an intimate wedding is having a small number of guests, around 50 to 300 guests. This is a difficult concept to grasp for those who are used to Indonesian massive styled weddings. If your client wants a small number of guests, it is best to limit the number guests invited to the wedding by implementing the reservation method. Wedding reservation might be an abnormal thing for Indonesians. Commonly, the bride and groom would send the invitations, and the recipient doesn't need to confirm if they're coming or if they're bringing a plus one. As a result, more people might show up than intended, the food might not enough, and the venue might not be able to accommodate it. The bride or groom who wished for an intimate wedding might not feel comfortable. By requiring the invitees to make a reservation, you can prevent the risks of having excessive guests. Typically, reservation system also states how many plus ones a guest can bring, which can prevent one guest from bringing too many people with them.

2. Conflict between client and his/her parents

A conflict within the client's family regarding the wedding can affect vendors too. You'll be torn with whose side to take, and decisions will take longer because both sides have different views. An intimate wedding is indeed becoming a trend, but the majority of Indonesian parents might not be accustomed to this trend yet. The idea of a large wedding is still part of their culture, and for their children to have an intimate wedding is against that culture. Moreover, the idea of having limited number of invitees will likely disappoint them. As a vendor, it is a difficult situation because you cannot just take over the conflict. However, you can show a few modern intimate wedding projects that you have done or articles from our blog to the client's parents. When they see how festive it looked, they might slowly be able to accept the idea of an intimate wedding for their children.

3. Entertainments

As stated before, intimate weddings are very different from the usual Indonesian weddings. In Indonesian weddings, the guests come and directly lines up to greet the newlyweds and their parents on the stage. After that, the guests dine from a buffet, then leave. Their time is spent mainly on these two activities, in addition to mingling with other guests while eating their dinner. The same cannot be said for intimate weddings, where it makes more sense to serve a sit-down dinner instead of a buffet (buffets usually have a minimum pax that exceed the size of an intimate wedding). A number of entertainment must be made so that guests wouldn't just be sitting for dinner for the night. During dinner time, it's a good idea to let a few honored guests or special persons to make a speech for the newlyweds, or contribute a song. After dinner, music and dancing is a great idea to make the night more festive. There are also plenty of games that the newlyweds can do with each other, or with the guests as well.

4. Venue and decoration selections

If your clients choose to have an intimate wedding, there's a big chance that they also choose to go small on the decoration in order to save cost. However, decoration vendors usually have a minimum package no matter how big the venue size is, so your client might have to end up paying the same price of decoration for a normal wedding. If they aren't comfortable with this, you can refer them to venues that have a well-decorated interior, such as Plataran Indonesia, and a bunch of fresh flowers are only what you need to add. Since intimate weddings usually have a seated feast, you'll need to focus on the table setting as well. Don't forget that taking pictures in a wedding means a great deal nowadays, so providing an attractive backdrop to take pictures is essential. An alternative to this is to hire a photobooth vendor, such as LOL Photobooth, which provides wide options of themed photobooth.