In short
A micro wedding in the US is usually about 30 guests or fewer, with a full ceremony and reception rather than an elopement. At that size the floor is normally set by the venue's food-and-beverage minimum rather than by your headcount: most US venues contract a minimum spend on food and drink, and a party of 30 often pays it in full regardless of how little it eats. American catering is also quoted before the extras, with a service charge commonly around 20-25% of the food and beverage total and, in most states, sales tax on top.
- Wedding shape
- Micro wedding
- Price
- Free, no card
- Set-up questions
- 3 pre-filled
- Market
- the United States
- Reviewed
- August 2026
What changes at this size
The F&B minimum sets your floor, not the per-head price
US venues quote per person but contract a minimum spend on food and drink. Thirty guests rarely reach it, and the shortfall is not refunded. You either add to the order or pay the difference as a fee. So the number to compare between two venues is the minimum, not the per-head rate. Ask for the minimum on every date you would consider. The same room usually carries a lower one on a Friday, a Sunday, midweek or out of season.
A service charge of about 20-25% lands on the whole F&B total
A quote written as $110++ per person means service charge and tax are still to come. On a $6,000 food and bar bill, a service charge at 22% is another $1,320, and in most states sales tax goes on top of that. Whether there is a sales tax at all depends on the state: Oregon, Delaware and Montana have none, Alaska has no statewide one, and New Hampshire charges a meals tax instead. Some states also tax the service charge itself — New York taxes a mandatory charge unless it is shown separately on the bill, identified as a gratuity, and paid over in full to the staff. A service charge is not automatically a tip either. Ask where it goes, and ask for the all-in total on the banquet event order before you sign.
Cost per guest goes up, even as the total comes down
The Knot's 2026 study put the average US wedding at about $34,200 across roughly 117 guests, or about $292 a head. Published 2026 estimates for a 20-30 guest micro wedding run around $8,000 to $25,000, which is far more per person. Photography, the officiant, hair and makeup, attire and a planner barely move with headcount. Catering is the one major line that shrinks, and the minimum limits how far it can.
Thirty guests is a normal booking for restaurants, not for ballrooms
Hotel and estate ballrooms are built around minimums a small party cannot reach. Restaurant private dining rooms run on the same F&B-minimum model at a scale that fits, often a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, sometimes with a separate room fee that does not count toward the minimum. A full restaurant buyout works the same way on a quiet night. This is the part of the US market where 30 guests is the intended booking rather than an awkward one.
A micro wedding is not a small version of a big wedding — it's a different set of decisions.
Answer six quick questions and get a checklist and budget built for a guest list you can actually name.
How Wedyesday plans a micro wedding
- 01
Answer six questions
Guest count starts at 25 and food, photography and the venue are already weighted as your priorities — move any of it before you finish.
- 02
Get a budget weighted for a small guest list
Your total is split across categories with your priorities boosted, and benchmarked against the real range for your region so you can see where you sit.
- 03
Track the list that has to stay short
Inside your workspace the guest list holds households, meal choices and plus-ones, and one RSVP link collects replies against the right person.
- 04
Seat one room without sticky notes
The seating planner draws on that same guest list, so a decline stops occupying a seat.
Your wizard is already set up for this
Start from this page and we'll skip the questions this already answers:
- A single ceremony and reception, rather than a multi-day arc
- Food, photography and the venue as your starting priorities
- Guest count starting at 25 — move it wherever your list actually lands
Nothing is locked — every pre-filled answer is editable, and there's a one-tap option to answer all seven questions yourself instead.
Questions couples ask
How much does a micro wedding cost in the US?
Published 2026 estimates put a 20-30 guest US micro wedding at roughly $8,000 to $25,000, with the same source putting most couples between $13,000 and $18,000. Those figures are quoted before tax and service charge, as most US catering is. For comparison, The Knot's 2026 study put the average US wedding at about $34,200 across roughly 117 guests. Wedyesday's planner is free and you can see your plan without an account. Answer the questions and it builds a dated checklist and a budget split across categories, shown against our published cost-guide ranges for New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, or a US national fallback. Saving keeps that wedding, its dated checklist and its budget categories in a workspace you can come back to.
Do we still pay the venue's food and beverage minimum with only 30 guests?
Usually yes. The minimum is a floor on what you spend on food and drink, not a target. If 30 guests reach only $4,000 of a $6,000 minimum, you add to the order or pay the shortfall. Site fees, sales tax and the service charge normally do not count toward it, so read what the contract says qualifies. Minimums are set per date, so ask for the Friday, Sunday, midweek and off-season numbers before you commit to a Saturday.
Do we need a marriage license for a wedding this small?
Guest count changes nothing about the paperwork, and there is no national rule — marriage is state law. The issuing office is a county clerk, recorder or probate court in most states, a town or city clerk in New England, and a state office or state-appointed agent elsewhere. Waiting periods, how long a license stays valid, whether witnesses are required and who returns the signed document all differ by state and sometimes by county, so take every number from your own issuing office rather than from any national guide. The exceptions are worth knowing about: Alabama has issued no marriage license since 29 August 2019, and instead you complete and notarize an Alabama Marriage Certificate that a probate court records, while Colorado lets the two of you solemnize your own marriage without an officiant or witnesses. Rules also change — Connecticut requires 48 hours between applying and the ceremony from 1 October 2026 — which is another reason to confirm with the office that will issue yours.
Thirty people, one long table, nothing watered down.
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