I participated in a panel on "The Art of the Small Wedding" at the Not-So-Big Wedding Boutique yesterday was a huge success.  It was wonderful to meet Nole (whose wedding was featured on SMP !), Jessica , Liza, and our fantastic moderator Ellen of the Washington Posts’s OnLove .

Afterward, my husband and I were discussing what we thought participants in our panel might have learned, and we came up with a few high points:

You don’t have to have everything the magazines say that you have to have.  None of us had a DJ, and most of us left our weddings in our own vehicles (although Jessica got to take pictures with a friends’ muscle car!).  All of us skipped various wedding traditions such as the garter toss for all, bouquet toss for some, and in my case even a first dance!

Prioritizing and focusing on what’s important to you were key notes of the panel.  Nole and Liza especially were helped by picking top priorities.

I think our panel was really able to assure the attendees that having a budget and a simple wedding were good and normal things, not crazy.

An environment like the Not-So-Big Wedding Boutique can be really good for teaching brides that you can have a lovely wedding without following all the checklists from The Knot or having a huge affair. If the chance ever comes around again, I’d encourage DC brides to take Montgomery County up on it.