Should You Embed or Reference Data in MongoDB Schema Design?

I am designing a data model for an e-commerce platform in MongoDB. When structuring one-to-many relationships (like user addresses or order items), how do I decide whether to embed subdocuments or reference separate collections?

Decision Matrix

Choosing between embedding and referencing depends on query patterns and document size limitations:

• Embed when: You have "contains" relationships, bounded one-to-few subdocuments, and the data is frequently retrieved together.
• Reference when: You have one-to-many or many-to-many relationships, unbounded growth, or when subdocuments are updated independently and frequently.

Example: Embedded Schema Representation

{
    "_id": ObjectId("60d5ec49f1a2c3456789abcd"),
    "name": "John Doe",
    "addresses": [
        {
            "street": "123 Main St",
            "city": "New York",
            "zip": "10001"
        }
    ]
}