The 'microwedding' trend is here to save your sanity and your bank balance.

The bespoke designer gown, the mountaintop setting, the three-tier custom cake…

Yep, your dream wedding sounds pretty incredible – and also pretty unaffordable. Certainly when you have to invite your third cousin’s girlfriend, your mum’s childhood bestie and your entire indoor mixed netball team.

But what if there was a way you have the wedding day you always dreamed of and not go broke to do so?

Well, you can. It’s called a microwedding and it’s the best nuptial-related trend of 2017. (We’re calling it.)

Listen: Speaking of weddings. Did you hear there’s going to be another royal one? Not everyone is happy about it though…

A microwedding allows you to have your – extravagant, gold-leaf decorated – wedding cake, and eat it too. There’s just one catch, and you may have guessed it already because it’s in the name. Mircoweddings are well, micro.

As in slightly bigger than an elopement, but just involving close friends and family – maybe 15 guests tops.

Dorothy Polka from popular wedding website Polka Dot Bride says microweddings are an emerging trend for couples because they offer flexibility.

“It’s a step-up from an elopement, but a step down from your traditional wedding,” she explains.

“It’s grown in the last couple of years as couples become comfortable in really customising their own wedding days.

“There’s so much societal pressure and a thought that you have to do things a certain way. But couples are finally starting to understand that they can do things whatever way they want and there are no rules.”

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Ms Polka says companies have started cropping up that offer packages and will plan your small wedding for you.

You could easily do the whole thing on a budget of $5000 – $10,000, or less.

However, Ms Polka says microweddings don’t necessarily cost less than the average Australian wedding – which has blown out to at least $48,625. Your microwedding could cost slightly less, or even slightly more than you’d planned to spend on 100 guests, but it’s how you spend that money that gives you more freedom.

“It’s less about the money and more about the customisation. The benefit of doing a microwedding is that you can spend more (on each guest) than if you’d invited 100 guests.”

“So if you wanted to serve your favourite champagne or you wanted every guest to have the perfect piece of handpicked crockery or you wanted to go to your favourite restaurant for dinner. It’s a lot easier to do that with 15 guests than it is with 100.

“They will have it beautifully styled, they’ll have an amazing gown, an amazing cake and an amazing bouquet – and then an amazing photographer of course. So they still get to have those beautiful elements of a larger wedding.”

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Less people means certain locations off-limits to large crowds suddenly become a possibility. Mountaintop only accessible by helicopter? If there’s only six of you – that’s doable.

Ms Polka says she’s really enjoyed the small weddings she’s attended, which are as a result more intimate.

“I love it because you get to talk to every guest, you often get really nice food and the stress is off. It’s a much more intimate connection with everyone.”

However, a microwedding won’t be for everyone. If your relationships with family members or friends may be seriously affected by a missing invite, then it might be worth expanding your guest list.

“I think if you’ve got a really wonderful extended family and they’re going to be incredibly hurt by a microwedding… that has to be taken into account,” she says.

“You’ve got to make those same decisions as a larger wedding: guest list hassles and budget and all that kind of stuff. It’s just a little bit more flexible and a bit easier when it’s a smaller wedding.”

So how do you know if a microwedding is right for you?

“Each to their own. Make your wedding work for you and do what you want.”