Nina & Tom’s Autumn Micro Wedding at Brickhouse Vineyard

We’ve got a gorgeous double-whammy feature for you where we’ll be hearing from both Nina and Tom, today’s couple, and Joanna the owner of Brickhouse Vineyard where they held their beautiful micro wedding.

N & T were originally planning a large late-spring wedding in 2020 and then you-know-what happened. After rethinking and reshaping their plans, they finally got married on a wonderful autumn day at Brickhouse, followed by a relaxed and intimate celebration with their closest family and friends.

Keep scrolling to view their small but perfectly formed wedding, and keep your pens at the ready for some brilliant hints and tips from intimate wedding pro, Joanna. Enjoy!

Nina + Tom say…

We had originally booked a larger wedding at a different venue for roughly 80 guests so we put everything on hold and had to re-evaluate what was important and whether we would want to alter our day.

We decided to completely start again as we wanted that new wedding planning excitement back. We considered eloping at one stage and then settled on an intimate wedding with only 12 other guests and Brickhouse Vineyard seemed the perfect venue for us.

Before lockdown we had previously looked at it but at the time their maximum capacity was 50 so we decided against it. When we knew we were going to have a really intimate wedding, Brickhouse was the first place that sprung to mind.

We are so happy that we were able to have our wedding day. The dream changed a little along the way but we got to celebrate our love with our families and having our beautiful photographs and wedding video has enabled us to be able to share it with our friends and other family members who couldn’t be there in person.

We also spoke with Joanna, the owner of Brickhouse Vineyard who is a bit of a pro when it comes to hosting intimate wedding celebrations. We’ll let her explain why small weddings are just as special (if not more so), than full blown large-scale ones…

What are the benefits of opting for a micro wedding?

We love hosting gorgeously romantic, hugely personal (and often emotional!) micro weddings. The benefits we see include: a relatively lower overall cost for couples; these weddings carry a more intense feeling of love and commitment than you might get with a larger weddings, and couples often feel more confident in making the whole thing more personal and reflective of their relationship through styling, their vows and even their food and drink choices. What’s more, small weddings are nimble and can be arranged at relatively short notice, meaning planning is fun and exciting from start to finish.

In addition to this, the discipline of limited numbers (be it 30, 15 or who knows what will it be in the coming months) means that couples are most certainly be surrounded by the complete love and support of their very nearest and dearest and can enjoy every minute of their day with everyone feeling fully involved on an emotional and practical level. Compare and contrast with larger weddings when some couples feel pressure to invite every distant cousin and post-wedding can feel that there was not enough time to really engage with all their guests as they would have liked. 

What is so special about micro weddings and why they are so popular?

Micro weddings are all about the couple. That’s where the magic emanates from. The intensity of feelings is amplified by a smaller wedding with every person present being emotionally invested in the day. Money cannot buy this. Every couple’s micro wedding we have hosted has this special heartfelt vibe.

A smaller wedding ceremony and celebration means more freedom for couples to create the day they really want. It reduces the risks associated with “breaking the rules” around wedding traditions and far more couples feel confident to do things their way e.g. perhaps the mother of the bride is called on to speak after dinner, perhaps the bride is not “given away” by her father but escorted down the aisle by her dog, maybe the wedding meal is street food style reflecting experiences from the couples’ gap year as students, and so the list goes on.

Small, perfectly formed and totally individual is how we’d sum up the magic of a micro wedding. 

Why is Brickhouse Vineyard such a special setting for a micro wedding?

When we found Brickhouse Vineyard, we knew we’d stumbled across a very special place. We fell in love with it immediately and knew that this location was just perfect for our vision of a tranquil small wedding venue in a very special setting. Since buying the property we’ve totally renovated the thatched Round House to its former glory. It now benefits from a natural bridal aisle through the wildflower meadow and panoramic views across the vineyard and the rolling hills beyond, bringing our dream to life for our couples and their wedding parties to enjoy.

The Round House is a beautiful building that needs very little in terms of décor. Equally it provides a beautiful blank canvas for those couples who wish to make the space their own through flowers, styling and props. Excitingly, this winter we are renovating the barn behind the Round House to provide a dedicated indoor dining space.

How many guests can you host?

We host elopements and intimate weddings for 2- 60 people. This can be on a ceremony only basis, celebration only or a combined ceremony and celebration booking – of course this depends on government restrictions too.

What are the financial benefits of micro weddings?

The relatively lower cost of a micro wedding compared with larger weddings is a draw to some couples. Couples can spend more per person on food and drink if they wish to. Micro weddings also open up options that would not be available to larger groups. For example, for a group of 15 local chefs can prepare a totally bespoke 7 course tasting menu with a custom-made wine flight. This is a good example of something that would be out of reach financially and practically for a much larger group. Better quality and more bespoke food, wine and toast drinks can be included and yet styling items such as flowers and props are not always cut back.

Do you have any top tips for couples planning a micro wedding?

Whatever size wedding couples are planning we’d always suggest starting with their guest list. The people they choose to surround themselves with on their wedding day, particularly when it’s a small wedding, will have a huge impact on their overall experience. Surround yourselves with love and support!

Once the guest list is drafted, we suggest thinking about the feel of the day, in other words, what vibe do you want? Collecting ideas and images together can help couples become aligned in their thinking (don’t assume you are necessarily thinking the same thing from the get go!) and it will also help when it comes to choosing wedding suppliers and communicating the details of your ideas to them.

Have an idea of what you want to spend ideally, even if you don’t have a set budget. Even with a smaller wedding costs can soon mount up unless couples keep an eye on this. Few of us have the luxury to work without financial constraint and having a budget in mind helps couples decide what their priorities are and where they direct their spend.

Ideally, couples would do all of this before they search for a wedding venue and book a date. The time of year becomes less important with smaller weddings as they are less weather reliant. The vibe couples want to create on their wedding day will help ensure they choose the right venue for them and the time of year for their wedding. However, we help lots of couples who have been inspired by Brickhouse Vineyard as a venue and work back from there. There’s no right or wrong!

Every wedding venue should be able to recommend great wedding suppliers. It’s far better to choose from a tried and tested list of recommended suppliers that know the venue than relying on Google to do this job. This can de-risk wedding day plans and makes the whole experience far more relaxed and enjoyable. Which, after all, is what it’s all about!

Venue Brickhouse Vineyard

Photography Tara Statton Photography

Flowers Emma Hewlett Floral Design

Dress Days of Grace Vintage

Bridesmaid Dresses ASOS

Groom’s Attire Moss Bros

Hair Star Cuts Salon

Caterer Shepherd Shack Catering

Wedding Cake Edible Essence

Table Decor Keeping it Vintage