BRIDES: 5 REASONS TO ELOPEMENT
alright, so my goal in this elopement series is to help you figure out if you wanna elope. and once you’ve made your decision, a lot of other decisions will be easier to make. If you do want to elope, check out this blog to pick a location to elope.
in the past few years, I’ve noticed more and more people opting out of traditions and doing their own thing when it comes to weddings. I planned my own wedding for June 2018 and elopements were exploding with popularity then. When I thought about an elopement I pictured more of a courthouse and that’s it type of elopement. wow, I was so wrong.
yes. you can just go to a courthouse and be done with it and be as married as the next person. but some couples want to do more for an elopement or intimate wedding but not as much for a big grand wedding. when I say intimate wedding, I don’t mean 100 people. I mean INTIMATE. like 20 people maximum. immediate families, you two, an officiant, and whatever vendors you want to incorporate on your day.
this may sound intriguing or maybe you’re not really sure. I’m here to give you a few reasons why an elopement or intimate wedding might be for you and hopefully this resource helps you decide what type of wedding you want.
1. the focus is on you two and the traditions you want to incorporate.
if you’re leaning towards not having a traditional wedding, not sticking to the traditional venue then reception, etc. then maybe you should consider an elopement or intimate wedding. you get to have a “ceremony” that isn’t really what most people are used to. you could head to the beach with your photographer and officiant and that’s it. you could hike up the alps in Switzerland to a lowkey, private mountain top to say your vows and become husband and wife. the traditions aren’t necessary if you don’t want to and doing it where and how you want your day to be is up to you.
the traditions of invitations, cake, a first dance, a church wedding, the ring bearer/flower girl…all these traditions are completely up to you and if you feel like scrapping all of these traditions, you may be wanting to consider an elopement.
don’t feel pressured to have a wedding that doesn’t appeal to you or feel like it represents you two.
2. you can prioritize your budget on what is most important to you
Listen. I know first hand how daunting it can be to figure out your budget when there’s so. much. to. consider. by planning an intimate wedding or elopement, you can figure out how much you want to spend and spend it on what you actually want. Throughout my planning process, I had to buy little things here and there that eventually just added up so fast. An elopement gives you the freedom to put more of your budget into your destination, flowers, hair and makeup, dress and suit, videographer, photographer.
Sometimes a budget restricts you and you have to make smallish sacrifices where money is concerned so that you still have fantastic vendors but vendors who fit in your budget. I had to really dig for affordable *fill in the blank for whatever vendor is important to you* so that I could make sure everything was covered. with an elopement, you can splurge on the dress you want, the HMU artist who will make you feel pampered and fabulous, on a florist who makes your floral dreams come true. Whatever is important to you, you can decide just how much you want to put towards that vendor without the restrictions of the other things you have to think about.
You’re splurging strategically. because let’s be real, you’ll still have to follow your budget but this way it’s on what you want.
now, I’m not saying that if you don’t elope, you can’t have your dream wedding. but so much more goes into a big wedding that your budget just gets so divided between double the amount of items to spend on compared to a budget for a destination, dress/suit, florals, and the photographer/videographer.
here’s a fun cliffside elopement to see what was prioritized in the planning process. the dress. the florals. the cake.
3. a dream destination can be more realistic with an elopement or intimate wedding
When eloping or having an intimate wedding, you get to choose a place that is important to you two. Sometimes you’re limited to the city or state you live in because of the people you’ll be inviting. If you want to elope on the Amalfi coast in Italy, do. it. Want to elope on the cliffs in San Diego? DO. IT. Ever dreamed of heading to Greece and saying your vows on a greek island, then DO. IT.
the point is–if you’re eloping, your dream destination can be realistic.
4. an elopement is a lot more intimate than a big wedding
I’ve photographed both–a big wedding and an elopement. When you have a more intimate vibe (elopement or under 50 guests) the feel is drastically different than a big wedding. there’s so much hoopla and craziness that’s a part of the big wedding and you don’t get too much of that for an elopement. if you prefer the more intimate vibe, I highly recommend considering an elopement. If you’re not into the intimate vibe, then run with the big wedding.
You can still celebrate with family and friends afterwards if you want. Some couples will do their own thing and then announce and celebrate your marriage afterwards.
5. stress. you’re avoiding 85% of the stress of a big wedding
I hate stress. Stress does weird things to everyone’s mental and physical health. Trust me when I say that planning a big wedding was so stressful (we invited 300 people. mexican probs) and I know that planning an elopement would be 10 times less stressful. you don’t have to make plans to accommodate so many people, you two make the decisions without any other input, you decide when, where, how and it all is just up to you two. there is a lot more that goes into a big wedding (obviously!) than an elopement.
my plan is not to scare you when planning a big wedding. trust me. we had a big wedding with so many family and friends present and those memories are so precious to me. BUT if you’re not a “big wedding” person, then maybe you should consider an elopement or a super lowkey intimate wedding. There are so many reasons to elopement instead of a big wedding but it all ultimately comes down to what you and your fiance want to do. I hope this blog helps you decide if you should consider an elopement.
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