Ed Sheeran has reportedly tied the knot with his girlfriend Cherry Seaborn in an intimate Suffolk wedding – and it sounds like the perfect do for anyone who shudders at the thought of a big bash.
A source has claimed the school pals married in “secret” away from the world’s media, with a low-key ceremony of 40 guests, made up of their home friends, close family and the priest.
While the pair are yet to confirm their nuptials, the rumoured event has reminded us why we love a low-key wedding.
1. It keeps the cost down.
Whether you’ve jetted off just the two of you or restricted the guest list to 40 people, you’re likely to save a penny or two. Which is just as well, considering the average cost of a UK wedding in 2018 was £32,273, according to wedding site Hitched.
2. It limits the family drama.
Keeping things small limits the chance of your racist uncle saying something unforgivable to your work colleague, or your divorced parents scowling at one another from either end of a giant top table. Without hundreds of guests (or any) to coordinate, you can throw that stressful seating plan in the bin. It’s every man and woman for themselves.
3. It keeps wedding plans in perspective.
You can never please everyone, so attempting to plan a wedding that does is bound to feel stressful. Low-key weddings give you the chance to focus on what you really want, and give you an excuse to tell your overexcited mother-in-law to back off.
4. It leaves you money (and energy) for your honeymoon.
Without umpteen wedding favours eating up your budget, you’ll have more money to put towards your dream holiday (and more time and energy to plan it).
5. It gets rid of awkward plus ones.
With a big bash, you risk spending precious time on your big day chatting to your cousin’s girlfriend, who you’ve never met before but felt you had to invite. By openly saying “this is a small wedding” you can hopefully avoid some of the awkwardness around who does and doesn’t get a plus one.
6. You get to spend the day with the one person who really matters.
Cheesy but true: a wedding is about you and your partner – why do you need the world and his wife there?