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.”

It’s taken over a decade and $1.3 billion, but Hollywood Burbank’s new terminal is finally ready for action. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the first passengers will be taking off and arriving at the brand-new structure.

Visitors note: The new terminal entrance has moved from Thornton Avenue to the intersection of Winona Avenue and Hollywood Way. There’s also a central security checkpoint and an indoor baggage claim.

The project stemmed from Burbank’s Measure B, passed in 2016.

LAist reporter Cato Hernandez got a sneak peek inside the building last week and reported on the scope and the thinking behind the decor.

William Contreras hit a tying homer in the fifth and singled home the go-ahead run an inning later as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 on Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

Four relievers combined to retire the last 15 Dodgers batters in order as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending World Series champions in this best-of-seven series, which heads to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday.

The Brewers are chasing their second pennant and first in the NL. They made their lone World Series appearance in 1982, when they were in the American League.

Los Angeles is trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series. The Dodgers last rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win a series in 2020, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in a seven-game NLCS before going on to win the World Series.

The Dodgers will need more punch from their lineup to have a chance at getting back to the Fall Classic. They mustered just three hits Monday and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position to drop to 2 for 26 in those situations this postseason.

Los Angeles couldn’t even get a boost from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career playoff appearances. Yamamoto lasted just 2 2/3 innings for his shortest postseason start.

The Dodgers took the lead on three occasions in the first five innings. Milwaukee responded each time, the last coming when Contreras tied the game with a 436-foot homer to center off Kris Bubic in the fifth.

That turned the game into a battle of the bullpens, where the Brewers again had the edge.

Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined to shut down the Dodgers after Logan Henderson’s early exit.

The score was tied 4-all when Milwaukee’s David Hamilton was hit by a pitch from Brock Stewart to lead off the sixth. Stewart attempted a pickoff throw that went off the glove of first baseman Freddie Freeman and into foul territory for an error, advancing Hamilton to second.

After Jackson Chourio grounded out, the right-handed Stewart walked the left-handed-hitting Brice Turang to face the right-handed Contreras, who had homered in his previous plate appearance.

Contreras singled to left this time to bring home Hamilton with the go-ahead run.

Turang and Jake Bauers added RBI singles in the eighth to extend Milwaukee’s lead.

Neither starter lasts long

The anticipated pitchers’ duel between Yamamoto and Henderson didn’t work out according to plan.

In three previous playoff starts following Dodgers losses, Yamamoto had gone 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA. When he faced the Brewers in last year’s NLCS, he threw the first playoff complete game since Justin Verlander did it in 2017.

This time, Yamamoto couldn’t even make it out of the third inning before leaving with the Dodgers behind 3-2.

Henderson entered Monday having not allowed more than three runs in any of his 24 career starts (including the postseason). That streak ended when he allowed four runs over four innings.

Because Henderson committed two errors — matching his previous career total — only two of the runs were earned.

Milwaukee trailed 2-1 in the third when Bauers capped a 12-pitch plate appearance by taking a 3-2 offering in the dirt to load the bases with a walk. Christian Yelich followed by lining a single up the middle that brought home two runs and knocked Yamamoto out of the game.

Los Angeles bailed out Yamamoto by scoring twice in the fifth.

After Kyle Tucker hit a leadoff double, Tommy Edman sacrificed him to third. Henderson fielded the bunt and made a wild throw to first, enabling Tucker to score and moving Edman to second.

Edman advanced to third when Mookie Betts grounded out, and scored on Freeman’s sacrifice fly.

Henderson also had made a wild throw to first on a pickoff attempt in the third inning that allowed Edman to score from third.

Up next

Robert Gasser (5-5, 3.87 ERA) is expected to start for Milwaukee in Game 3. Gasser allowed one run over five innings when the Brewers won 3-1 at San Diego to clinch their NL Division Series.

The Dodgers hadn’t announced their Game 3 starting pitcher.

Actor and disability rights advocate RJ Mitte, who brought a lifetime of experience with cerebral palsy to fictional family struggles in an essential role on “Breaking Bad,” died Monday at age 34, authorities and his representatives said.

Cameron County Justice of the Peace Cyndi Hinojosa told The Associated Press she declared Mitte dead at about 1:30 p.m. at what she believed was his home in Brownsville, Texas. She said she was unable to provide a cause, but an autopsy will be performed.

Mitte played Walter White Jr., the son of Bryan Cranston’s chemistry teacher-turned-meth dealer Walter White on nearly every episode of the five seasons of the AMC show, which recently ranked as the best of the 21st century in a New York Times poll.

Diagnosed at age 3, Mitte told the AP in 2014 that his disability and the surrounding struggles with physical therapy, family problems and exorbitant medical bills — all key subjects on the show — made him better at his job.“You develop a different mentality and you develop a different look at how the world sees you and how you see the world,” he said. “You’re able to use that. And I think it’s an asset instead of something that would hinder.”

Mitte was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi.

He landed small guest roles on sitcoms after moving to Los Angeles to act in 2006. Like his character, he was in his mid-teens when he began his work on “Breaking Bad,” starting in 2007. The show ran from 2008 to 2013.

“Mitte brought authenticity to the role and built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion,” the actor’s representatives said in a statement announcing his death. The statement said he used “his platform to challenge stereotypes and promote greater representation.”

His later credits included the ABC Family series “Switched at Birth” and the superhero satire series “Guardians of Justice.”

He was also a producer of several independent films.

As an advocate, he served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s. He was also president of his own Mitte Foundation supporting philanthropic and community initiatives around disabilities.