5 Ideas For An Intimate Wedding Ceremony

If you’re hunting for some helpful ideas for an intimate wedding ceremony, then you’ve come to the right place… 

Yes, we know that’s a corny way to start. 

But anyway, putting on intimate, cozy weddings is kind of what we’re all about. 

It’s quite literally what we do all day, every day. 

So we’ve got a thing or two to say on the subject. 

And we hope this little list will be helpful to you in planning your own wedding, wherever and whenever that may be.

First, Do You Prefer Indoor or Outdoor?

We’ve covered this question before, and it makes a huge difference, especially here in Florida, where we are. 

From your decor, to your guest list, to even the time of year you want to get married, the decision of whether to host your wedding ceremony inside or outside can potentially change a lot of other things. 

So, while all of the ideas for an intimate wedding ceremony we’re about to list off can work either indoors or outdoors, you’ll probably want to keep one or the other in mind as you proceed forward. 

Even if they work both ways, certain things do work better either inside or outside. 

1. Get Away From The Big City

Now, we’re not saying that you have to get all the way away. 

You don’t need to retreat into the wilderness to an off-the-grid log cabin like Ted Kaczynski or anything like that. 

But you should be far enough from the downtown or any major road that you can’t hear emergency sirens or people honking their horns during your ceremony. 

Random outside noises like that tend to reduce the feeling of intimacy and coziness that you’re most likely going for. 

Don’t worry, though, because you can be near a city without technically being all up in it. 

That’s the situation we’re in, being located just outside of Orlando, far enough away to have peace and quiet but still close enough to be convenient. 

In most big cities, if you can find a venue that’s within about a 1 hour drive from the center of downtown, you’ll be golden.

2. Go Somewhere With Some Trees Around

If you can reserve a venue where at least a few trees are separating you and your wedding ceremony from the rest of the world outside, you’ll be able to get a lot cozier than in the city. 

We know we’re probably coming off as city-haters at this point, but that’s not the case at all. 

We love our big city of Orlando, but we’re not going to pretend that you’ll get the same cozy vibes downtown that you’ll get on the outskirts or in the suburbs. 

Downtown is where you go to have fun and spend money, but the outskirts and farther out are where you go if you want a quiet, intimate setting for something like a wedding. 

Importantly, though, even if you’re closer to downtown than we are, you’ll still feel like you’ve got more peace and privacy if your venue has some trees around it that at least prevent you from being able to see the highway from the altar.

3. If Indoors, Follow The Same Rules

Whichever ideas for an intimate wedding ceremony you adopt or come up with on your own, remember to follow this core principle: 

There should be at least two physical barriers between the altar and the public. 

In other words, the place outside where people drive or walk around in public should be separated from your wedding altar by at least two things, like a wall, garden, or fence. 

If you only have a single wall separating your wedding space from a noisy road outside, then you’re still going to feel crowded, even though you’re in a private setting that isn’t open to the public. 

But if that wall is itself distanced from the road by a large lawn, tree grove, or farm, then it will be a lot easier for you to feel like you’re actually away from it all. 

4. Dim The Lights

If you’re using electric lights, swap out the regular bright neon bulbs for warmer Edison bulbs or others that you can dim. 

These are less harsh on the eyes and give off a calming golden glow rather than an intense white light. 

Additionally, you can make use of shades, paper lanterns, and other coverings to create a filter between your electric lights and everyone’s eyes. 

And if you want to go pre-modern, which we always like, you should consider candles as an option. 

They provide a lot of the same benefits as warm electric bulbs, but may be cheaper or easier to set up, depending on what types of candles you buy and what kind of venue you’re getting married at. 

Just remember that it’s generally best to avoid scented candles, and natural beeswax is the best.

5. Utilize Greenery

This is especially helpful if you’re indoors. 

Instead of hosting your wedding inside a regular ‘ol concrete cube, coat the inside walls of that cube with different native plants, such as ferns, ficuses, and whatever others you can afford. 

Doing this creates a sense of depth in the space and makes it feel both larger and more alive than it might have felt otherwise. 

And on top of all that, greenery is well known to have positive and calming psychological effects on humans, especially those who normally live and work indoors without much regular contact with the natural world. 

Keep Riding The Same Train Of Thought

By now, you have likely already started coming up with even more creative ideas for an intimate wedding ceremony that you can toy around and experiment with. 

We definitely encourage that. 

But as you brainstorm, keep the fundamentals in focus so you can effectively narrow your ideas down and distinguish the really good ones from the less good ones. 

Remember that almost all the best ideas will involve either making it feel like you and all your guests are farther from a major street or playing with lighting, sounds, smells, and other ambient sensory elements. 

So, feel free to hide a speaker behind a fern to play rainforest sounds or place a greenery arch right next to the doorway for people to walk through as they enter. 

Whatever you come up with, as long as it adheres to the core fundamentals, it’s bound to make your ceremony space feel warmer and cozier.