The
MICRO-WEDDING PHENOMENON Pheasant Run’s outdoor ceremony space. Karlo Photography.
The Carriage House at The Farm at Eagles Ridge.
It’s not quite eloping and it’s not a full-scale production. A micro wedding falls somewhere in between. BY SUE LONG
T
he wedding-trend prognosticators credit the phenomenon to who else but the millennials, who love minimalism, cherish the environment and tend to spend their money cautiously. The age range of the millennial generation is now 20-35, which means they were grade schoolers, college students or in the process of launching careers during the Great Recession. They remain keenly aware of the havoc it caused. Many are saddled with hefty debt from college loans. According to The Knot, the average cost of a wedding peaked in 2016 at right around $35,000 and has been declining for the last four years. In turn, the average guest list has decreased from 153 (2007) to 136 (2018). In Martha Stewart’s estimation, “The millennials are looking for costeffective measures” in planning their weddings. The industry is taking notice, beginning with the centerpiece of a wedding, the bridal gown. Anthropologie’s BHLDN division includes City Hall and Beach & Destination collections that range in price from under $200 to $1,200 (or more). Venues – ranging from hotels to quaint bed & breakfast inns – are offering wedding packages with microists in mind. While the millennials have attached themselves to the micro-wedding phenomenon, one of Lancaster’s grand dames of weddings, Vivian Abel, who operates Pheasant Run Farm Bed & Breakfast with her husband, Bob, and daughter, Deanne, traces the preference for smaller weddings back to 9/11. “I’ve never read anything that substantiates that, but when we opened in 2002, there seemed to be a ‘back to
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nature’ philosophy that was affecting everything – including weddings,” she notes. “I think that gave rise to the popularity of outdoor ceremonies and barn weddings. When we opened, the only other barn venue was Rock Ford. Now, there are more barn venues in Lancaster County than I can count, and they range from small to large and primitive to elaborate.” SPEAKING OF 9/11, deployments also helped to spark an increase in small, intimate weddings that were sometimes arranged in a matter of months (or less). Another factor affecting the size of weddings is the fact that modern-day families tend to be smaller and are often far flung. Terry Kreider of Landis Valley says the farm museum became aware of the phenomenon “more than a year ago. We kept noticing it pop up on sites such as Wedding Wire.” Landis Valley reacted proactively by making two smaller sites available. She finds that micro weddings tend to be lower-key affairs that are more centered on celebrating friends, family and food rather than dancing the night away. She points to second-time-around and same-sex weddings as especially fitting that criteria. “Then again, there are young couples who just want to celebrate with their closest friends,” she says. Gina D’Ambrosio of Moonstone Manor in Elizabethtown echoes those sentiments, saying fans of micro weddings are putting their personal stamps on their big days. “They seem to limit many wedding traditions such as dancing, being announced in, having a big wedding cake, giving out favors, etc.,” she says. “They want a nice gathering of special people with good food, modest bar offerings, something sweet for dessert, and background music to celebrate their marriage. We see many age variations in this, not just second marriages or older couples one might tend to think would go for this type of affair. Many young couples don’t want a lot of ‘fuss.’”
In The Knot’s estimation, a micro wedding entails anywhere from five to 50 guests. Others offer a more precise 20 as the magic number. However, we upped the number to 100 (or less) for our survey of what Lancaster has to offer micro-minded couples. In doing online research, many micro-wedded couples encouraged others to think outside the box in planning their own weddings. In other words, all you can do is ask if you’d like to be married at your favorite restaurant, winery, brewery, distillery, art gallery, bowling alley, public garden, etc. Don’t discount your own backyard either. Another theme was also evident. Yes, you may be paring down the guest list to your nearest and dearest, but that doesn’t mean scaling back your style. In fact, you could up the ante and splurge on a gown, treat your guests to a oncein-a-lifetime dinner, pour the best wine, decorate to your heart’s content or take the entire group to the beach for a destination wedding. In Martha Stewart’s opinion, weddings have become “more personalized than ever before.”
PHEASANT RUN.
The Willow Street-area venue was a hit from the moment it opened its doors. The Abels restored the centuries-old barn and converted it into a bed & breakfast and an events venue that could comfortably accommodate 100 (or less) guests on the lower level, where the view includes Viv’s gorgeous gardens and the surrounding woodland. Their outdoor ceremony areas feature a water garden or a huge maple tree that has earned the name “the wedding tree” due to the fact that two trees grew into one. In working with couples over the years, Viv has taken notice that of late, “they seem to be marrying later, they are paying for the wedding themselves, and they’re thinking ahead to buying a home, rather than spending a lot on a wedding.” However, they still want their weddings to be personal experiences. Viv and Deanne
