The Brief

Spring is here and so is wedding season — but what many people consider to be the ideal wedding may be changing.

Marriages have been on the decline, with the average marrying age rising to about 30 for men and 28 for women in the United States. With shifting values on marriage, a looming recession, and the ongoing recovery from the pandemic, a three-tiered cake and hundred-name guest list no longer reflect what many couples want and value.

Enter the micro wedding.

A bride and groom hike up a mountain trail in New Hampshire as part of their micro-wedding ceremony

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Emma Thurgood

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Courtesy Emma Thurgood

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What is a micro-wedding?

A micro wedding, or elopement ceremony, usually has between 25 to 50 guests, typically just close friends and family, and does not follow the standard wedding format. They can be as small as just the couple and the officiant or as individualized as a hike up a local mountain or time spent baking cookies after exchanging vows.

“In the industry, we sort of talk about weddings in a box, or wedding factories,” said Emma Thurgood, an elopement specialist who also plans micro-weddings. “I call them manufactured weddings, where you go to a venue, and the venue helps you plan the same wedding that they do for all their other couples. Elopements and micro weddings are outside of that kind of experience.”

Thurgood said that is what can be so special about a micro wedding: Couples can create a day that represents their relationship and interests.

Thurgood said that what really matters when planning a micro wedding is that the “experience for the day feels like it’s a true reflection of the couple.”

A bride and groom get married on a cliff overlooking the ocean in California

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Courtesy Jaime Trabert

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Unusual locations

Micro-weddings also tend to take place at unconventional locations. This is due in part to conventional wedding venues requiring guest minimums that do not accommodate for the smaller scale of a micro-wedding.

But this obstacle can also be an advantage when trying to create a unique and memorable experience.

“It's kind of turned a con of not being able to find micro wedding venues into a pro, because we're really looking outside the box and saying, ‘Hey, let's get married at a bowling alley or a bookstore’,” said Jaime Trabert, co-owner and founder of Our Little Wedding, a California-based micro-wedding planning agency.

Other venues include the couple’s backyard, a favorite restaurant, or a national park.

Although micro weddings and elopement ceremonies can be cheaper than their more traditional counterparts, the main draw is to have a tailor-made experience that prioritizes the couple.

“They like the idea that they don't have to spend as much on an elopement, but then also the money they do spend, they can allocate it to things that they care more about than just feeding and entertaining a hundred people,” said Thurgood.

A new perspective on marriage

According to Shane McMurray, CEO and founder of wedding research company the Wedding Report, the number of marriages in the U.S. has been declining since 1984.

McMurray said that micro weddings have been around for a while — though they’ve just recently become more popular, in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic requiring large gatherings to be scaled back.

“I think that it goes back to what is the true purpose and sole intent of the event for those that wanted to be married,” said Sarah Beachkofsky-Moore, Executive Director for the Center for Low Country Hospitality Education at the University South Carolina, Buford. “Especially during the pandemic, you couldn't have a group of more than 10 together. So it truly made you narrow down who did you want to have where, and when, and for what purpose.”

Beachkofsky-Moore also said that the pandemic gave people the opportunity to reflect on their relationships and ideas of marriage.

More and more couples are choosing to live together prior to marriage, and younger generations may be viewing a walk down the aisle as an unnecessary affirmation of their commitment to one another — especially one that has such a steep price tag.

A small wedding ceremony in a national park in California

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Viera Photographics/Viera Photographics

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Courtesy Jaime Trabert

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According to a survey conducted by the Thriving Center of Psychology, 73% of Gen Z and Millennials say that weddings are too expensive. The average wedding costs about $35,000, according to The Knot’s 2023 Real Wedding Study.

And, as McMurray said, the easiest way to cut down on wedding costs is to cut out wedding guests.

Still, this new trend towards smaller ceremonies and weddings that forgo the traditional aesthetic and routine may have more to do with shifting perspectives on marriage and its value in today’s society.

Perspectives around marriage, especially amongst younger Millennials and Gen Z, have been shifting away from traditional ideals for a number of years now. According to that same survey by the Thriving Center of Psychology, 84% believe that marriage is not necessary for a fulfilling relationship.

“I think people are starting to feel that this kind of traditional American wedding is really performative and micro weddings are allowing people to kind of have a day that's more authentic to them,” said Trabert. “Freeing them up from any rules and expectations.”

Inside the micro-wedding industry

Despite a growing popularity in micro weddings, the percent of weddings that fall within the 25 to 50 guest range is roughly 15%, said McMurray. And for less than 25 guests, it's about 2%. According to McMurray, many weddings are still typically anywhere from 50 to 100 guests.

Although the number of micro-weddings is still in the minority, there is a budding industry dedicated to helping couples create these intimate ceremonies.

A couple kissing at the end of their micro-wedding ceremony

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Courtesy Jaime Trabert

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Trabert and her husband started out as wedding photographers with their own company Viera Photographics. They had been doing wedding photography for more than 15 years when the pandemic hit. Since most weddings during that time moved to micro weddings, Trabert and her husband decided to start their own wedding planning company focused on these more intimate ceremonies.

“It also had been an idea that we had had for a really long time, just kind of noticing a trend of couples on these big weddings, not really enjoying themselves and not really being able to be in the moment and enjoy their day,” said Trabert.

Our Little Wedding offers all-inclusive as well as partially inclusive wedding packages.

According to McMurray, photography and videography are one wedding expense that has gone up in the last few years.

This is also true of micro weddings, which is why so many professionals in this niche sector of the industry tend to be photographers. A challenge that comes up when trying to find resources for clients, said Thurgood, an elopement specialist, micro-wedding planner, and photographer based in New England.

A couple kissing after saying their vows in a small sitting room of an inn.

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Emma L Thurgood

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Courtesy Emma Thurgood

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Because micro-weddings go against the established standards of the industry, most wedding vendors and venues do not accommodate for elopements and micro weddings. Thurgood said that most venues, make-up artists, and caterers have a minimum headcount that often doesn’t suit the micro-wedding scale.

“It's a slow tide turn, but it is starting to happen where there are more resources to help couples plan weddings like that,” Thurgood said. “That's the biggest struggle I think couples face logistically.”

One-stop shopping

That's also why businesses in the industry like Thurgood's and Trabert's are often all-encompassing.

Thurgood officiates and legalizes her couples’ marriages herself, and Our Little Wedding offers officiants, make-up artists and floral arrangements.

“And that is in essence just to keep the wedding planning as simple and streamlined as possible for our clients,” said Angelina Apilado, lead wedding planner at Our Little Wedding, who said that wedding planning can be overwhelming.

However, micro weddings also offer some flexibility that traditional ceremonies don’t — namely the diversity of possible venues.

McMurray mentioned that the biggest disrupter to the wedding industry has been the shift from traditional ballrooms and banquet halls to more interesting locations: Think tops of mountains, middle of the woods, barns, rooftops, and sometimes schools.

Trabert noted that beyond venue space, micro weddings allow couples to get married sooner. And there could be a major benefit for the wedding industry as a whole, if venues start accommodating micro weddings on weekdays.

“We're working with these bigger venues to create packages that fit for micro weddings. And we do them on a Wednesday instead of a Saturday. So it helps not only the couples, but it helps the venues and their businesses as well,” said Trabert.

Possibly the biggest hurdle the industry faces is the traditional ideals of many outside the micro-wedding space.

Helping people plan these smaller ceremonies also means helping them navigate “the interpersonal drama that might arise,” as Thurgood put it — primarily from family and friends that want the pomp and circumstance.

Apilado said that the American wedding culture puts a lot of expectations on couples getting married.

“I think the biggest thing is emphasizing to these couples is that they don't have to feel like they have to do X, Y, and Z to have this perfect wedding,” said Apilado. “It is what they want and their partner want at the end of the day.”

As Los Angeles homeowners grapple with the expense of rebuilding after last year’s devastating fires, an L.A. City Councilmember is putting forward an idea that could lower some costs.

Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, has introduced a motion to explore waiving part of the city’s portion of the local sales tax for fire victims who purchase rebuilding materials in the city.

The 1% of the local 9.75% sales tax that goes into the city’s general fund would be given back to consumers under the proposal. The waiver could apply to lumber, appliances and other rebuilding goods purchased within the city.

The motion, introduced Friday by Park and seconded by Councilmember John Lee, says: “The City should do everything within its power to alleviate the financial burden for these residents and businesses in order to facilitate their return and stabilize the Pacific Palisades community.”

Would it make much of a difference? 

Economists told LAist the proposal could help many homeowners mitigate the high cost of rebuilding, but likely wouldn’t tip the scales for under-insured, under-resourced property owners.

“It wouldn't hurt if it's very well designed and easy to use,” said Alexander Meeks, a director at the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. “But I'm not sure if it's really going to tackle the scale of the financial challenge that survivors are facing.”

Meeks noted that the tax waiver wouldn’t lower up-front costs such as environmental testing, architectural design and permitting. And it may not help homeowners sourcing raw materials from outside the city.

Zhiyun Li, a UCLA Anderson School of Management economist, said the waiver could help some homeowners justify the additional cost of rebuilding more fire-safe structures.

“Homeowners must typically pay out of pocket to upgrade to IBHS+ standards, which are more stringent,” Li said. “The tax waiver could encourage upgrading to IBHS+ standards or investing more in mitigation, thereby reducing future risk and improving the likelihood of maintaining insurance coverage.”

What’s next for the proposal? 

The proposed tax relief would not be available to properties that have been sold since the fires started in January 2025.

The motion has been sent to the City Council’s budget and fire recovery committees. If approved by the full council, it would require the city administrative officer, the Office of Finance and the city attorney to report back to the council within 60 days on options for crafting a tax relief plan.

The motion calls for the report to consider factors such as how to minimize the burden of administering the tax relief, what documentation homeowners would have to submit and what it would cost the city to oversee the program.

Senate and House Republican leadership have resurrected a stalled plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security after a record 47-day funding lapse.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a joint statement on Wednesday that the House will take up a measure passed by the Senate last week to fund most of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of September.

Republicans would then attempt to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years using a party-line budget reconciliation bill that would not require support from Democrats.

"In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited," Thune and Johnson wrote.

The agreement comes nearly a week after House Republicans dismissed an identical plan, refusing to take up the Senate-passed measure and instead passing a 60-day short term funding bill for all of DHS that had little chance of overcoming Democratic opposition in the Senate.

Johnson called the agreement a "joke" and President Donald Trump declined to publicly endorse the deal. Trump had previously resisted any package that did not include his push to overhaul federal elections known as the Save America Act.

"I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it," Trump told reporters last week.

Democrats welcomed the agreement as in line with their pledge not to give ICE any more money without reforms after immigration enforcement agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. But the deal does not include any of the policy demands Democrats are pressing for, such as a ban on masks for immigration enforcement officers and requiring warrants issued by a judge, not just the agency, to enter homes.

"For days, Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a statement Wednesday. "Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered."

Trump seemed to bless the revived plan earlier Wednesday, writing on social media that he wants a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement on his desk by June 1.

"We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won't be able to stop us," Trump wrote.

Despite the shutdown, ICE has been minimally impacted because Republican lawmakers approved $75 billion for ICE through another party-line budget reconciliation bill last year.

Congress is on a two-week recess, but the Senate and House could move to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP as early as Thursday using a procedure known as unanimous consent that allows the chambers to circumvent formal voting as long as no member objects.

Even during a recess when most members are not in Washington, this could be unpredictable, especially in the House, where many hard-line conservatives oppose a deal that does not fully fund DHS.

"Let's make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, wrote on X. "If that's the vote, I'm a NO."

If a member does object, that could require waiting for another vote when all members are back from recess.

Claudia Grisales contributed reporting.
Copyright 2026 NPR

California clocked its second-worst snowpack on record Wednesday, a potentially troubling signal ahead for fire season.

It’s an alarming end to a winter that saw abnormally dry conditions briefly wiped from California’s drought map in January, for the first time in a quarter-century.

Though precipitation to date has been near average, much of it fell as rain rather than snow. Then March’s record-breaking heat melted most of the snow that remains. The state’s major reservoirs are nevertheless brimming above historic averages and are flirting with capacity, and a smattering of snow, rain and thunderstorms are dousing last month’s heat wave.

But experts now warn that California’s case of the missing snowpack could herald an early fire season in the mountains.

On Wednesday, state engineers conducting the symbolic April 1 snowpack measurement at Phillips Station south of Lake Tahoe found no measurable snow in patches of white dotting the grassy field.

“I want to welcome you call to probably one of the quickest snow surveys we’ve had — maybe one where people could actually use an umbrella,” joked Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. “We’re getting a lot of questions about are we heading into a hydrologic drought? The answer is, I don’t know.”

State data reports that California’s snowpack is closing out the season at an alarming 18% of average statewide, and an even more abysmal 6% of average in the northern mountains that feed California’s major reservoirs.

Only the extreme drought year of 2015 beat this year’s snowpack for the worst on record, measuring in at just 5% of average on April 1st, when the snow historically is at its deepest.

“I think everyone's anticipating that it will be a long, busy fire season,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network.

“Without a snowpack, and with an early spring, it just means that there’s much more time for something like that to happen.”

‘It’s pretty bizarre up here’ 

In the city of South Lake Tahoe, which survived the massive Caldor Fire in the fall of 2021 without losing any structures, fire chief Jim Drennan said his department is already ramping up prevention efforts.

“It's pretty bizarre up here right now. It really seems like June conditions more than March,” Drennan said. “People are already turning the sprinklers on for their lawns.”

Without more precipitation, an early spring may complicate prescribed burning efforts. But Drennan said fire agencies in the Tahoe basin can start mechanically clearing fuels from forest areas earlier than usual.

“That means we can get more work done,” he said.

It also means homeowners need to start hardening their homes now, said Martin Goldberg, battalion chief and fuels management officer for the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, which protects unincorporated communities in the Lake Tahoe Basin’s south shore.

Goldberg urges residents to scour their yards for burnable materials, create defensible space and reach out to local fire departments with questions. The risks are widespread — from firewood, wooden fences, gas cans, plants, pine needles — even lawn furniture stacked against a house.

“In years past, I wouldn't even think of raking and clearing until May,” Goldberg said. “But my yard's completely cleared of snowpack, and it has been for a couple weeks now.”

‘A haystack fire’

Battalion chief David Acuña, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said fire season is shaped by more than just one year’s snowpack.

Climate change has been remaking California’s fire seasons into fire years. And California’s recent average to abundant water years have fueled what Acuña called “bumper crops of vegetation and brush.”

“Most of California is like a haystack. And if you’ve ever seen a haystack fire, they burn very intensely because there's layers of fuel,” Acuña said.

Like Quinn-Davidson, Acuña wasn’t ready to make specific predictions about fires to come.

But John Abatzoglou, a professor of climatology at UC Merced, said the temperatures and snowpack conditions this year offer a glimpse of California in the latter decades of this century, as fossil fuel use continues to drive global temperatures higher.

How this year’s fires will play out will depend on when, where and how wind, heat, fuel and ignitions combine. But it foreshadows the consequences of a warmer California for water and fire under climate change.

“This,” Abatzoglou said, “is yet another stress test for the future in the state.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.