What is an Elopement Wedding?

An elopement wedding is a fancy term for a traditional wedding that is intimate, exciting, and typically held in an exotic location. It functions like a combination of a small wedding and a honeymoon rolled into one.

You may have heard the term “elopement” before but don’t quite understand what it means. Are you hopping in a plane with your significant other and flying to Vegas? Are you running off in the middle of the night without telling anyone just to get married?

These outdated views on elopement may linger in our collective conscious, but the idea behind what an elopement actually is has shifted dramatically. As more and more couples are opting out of having traditional large expensive wedding ceremonies, the perks of elopement weddings are beginning to become more mainstream and accepted.

Elopement style weddings offer a larger degree of fun and freedom than the traditional model, putting more control of the ceremony in the hands of the couple rather than in the trappings of tradition. When you elope, there’s a greater emphasis on romance, simplicity, and intimacy. While many of the same kinds of practices are still observed, and the size of an elopement can vary wildly, as a general rule of thumb they are far simpler, smaller, and centralized around the couple and their love for each other rather than appeasing family and throwing a grand celebration.

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​The Benefits of an Elopement Wedding

An elopement wedding is a fun twist on the tradition marriage ceremonies we are used to attending. All of the best parts of a traditional wedding are still there of course if you want them, but instead of having to cater to a hundred different people and spending a fortune on arbitrary things like decorations, you have far more freedom and leeway to do what you want.

There are multiple benefits to having a small wedding in an exotic location. You can incorporate an after-ceremony party at a hotel, have a romantic night on the town, save money on catering, and not have to worry about flying out to your honeymoon destination the same day as your ceremony, since you’re already there.

When you get eloped, you have the ultimate freedom to do what you want. Part of the reason you can pull this off is because you have less people to attend to. It’s far easier to have a wedding ceremony for 15 people in a park as opposed to 80. Want to have your ceremony in a botanical garden but couldn’t fathom stuffing your entire extended family into such a place for several hours? No worries, you’re only bringing a dozen of your closest friends and family and the ceremony itself is short and deliciously sweet, because you planned it that way!

Elopements can be tailed to suit the needs of each individual couple to a very small degree. It’s easier to plan for a couple dozen people compared to a hundred, which means everything is easier to handle and plan for. You can better account for dietary restrictions, transportation issues, disabilities, and other potential snafus, because the amount of people who you have to accommodate is significantly less. Not only does this save you a ton of hassle, it’s also cheaper too.

That’s another massive benefit of elopement weddings compared to traditional ones. They are so much more affordable, by several orders of magnitude. One of the largest costs of a traditional wedding is in the renting out of a hall or other location for the party, and then the catering for so many people adds up fast. Add in decorations and a DJ and you’re already in the whole over $10,000, and that’s before you even think about the important stuff like your dress.

You don’t have to think about any of this when you get eloped. Everything is easier and cheaper because you’re not required to cater to as many heads. Plus, you’re not likely to waste money decorating or anything like that. Many popular elopement venues are already beautiful in their own right, which makes your job as newlyweds a lot easier. Rather than trying to decorate a wedding hall, you can save that money and enjoy the beauty of nature or the quaint and charming aesthetics of a New Orleans alley.

This is one of the main reasons why elopements are becoming so popular. Couples are getting turned off by the fact that the average traditional wedding now costs upwards to $30,000. Some way to start off a marriage, 30K in the hole, huh? In today’s economy, that’s just not practical. Many of us are already swimming in credit card and student loan debt, we have expensive car and healthcare payments to make, who has the money to lay down thousands of dollars for balloons and cake?

Beyond this, elopements are just simply romantic. They place a lot more focus on the couple, giving them more time to be together on their special day, a greater deal of intimacy and closeness, and provide a great deal of excitement. Plan a horse-drawn carriage ride through the streets, throw your bouquet from a gorgeous hotel balcony, have a picnic in an historic park or dine out at a luxurious restaurant without family interrupting. While these kinds of events may buck the trend of what we have come to expect from an ordinary wedding, it can’t be argued that there’s definitely some appeal here. 

Is an Elopement Wedding the Right Choice For You?

Only you can decide for yourself if an elopement style wedding is the right choice for you, but as you can see, there are numerous benefits and very little in the way of drawbacks. If you are thinking about getting eloped and need more information or want to know more about my elopement packages, you can get in touch here.

You will see that this is more than a new trend, it's becoming the go-to choice for couples everywhere who want a more romantic ceremony that's in their control and won't cost a fortune.  For any further questions about eloping, reach us HERE!  We would love to assist