5 Good Reason To Elope

Mar 19, 2019ELOPEMENTS, WEDDING PLANNING

Are you considering eloping? I’m a sucker for elopements and intimate weddings, as they’re my favourite to photograph. Thankfully for me, more and more couples are choosing to elope, and I can totally see why! Imagine marrying your best friend in an intimate ceremony and spending the day together doing whatever makes you happy. Dreamy, right? Rules are meant to be broken and love is more important than social convention.

According to Wikipedia, an elopement is “often used to refer to a marriage conducted in sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one’s place of residence together with one’s beloved with the intention of getting married.”

Although that’s the basic idea, what it means to elope is different in today’s world. An elopement doesn’t have to be kept secret or be hurried. Nowadays, choosing to elope is the choice to not have a big wedding, and instead get married with only a few present (or even just the couple and the celebrant.)

As with weddings, the key is to do whatever makes you happy. You could have a couple of friends to act as witnesses or you could just ask the photographer and videographer to do that. It could be in the mountains, by the beach or at your local Town Hall. You can also plan it a year in advance or do it as a spur of the moment thing – how you elope is totally up to you!

Currently, there’s a big trend of quite adventurous elopement ideas like eloping on a mountain top or flying off to Iceland, but you could equally elope by going down to your local Registrar and then going for a beer down at your favourite pub afterwards. (I love photographing them all). For example, we have the gorgeous Seven Sisters Cliffs near Brighton that make a gorgeous backdrop – they’re one of my favourite elopement ideas.

So anyway, here are 5 good reasons why it’s a good idea to elope:

1 – Elopements save guestlist troubles

I think the guest list can be one of the most difficult things to finalise for most couples who are having a wedding. It’s amazing how quickly it goes from “only a few guests” to 150 people! If you’re inviting one cousin for example, you feel like you have to invite them all and once you add all your friends’ partners and plus ones the list will grow exponentially.

The issue isn’t just that the cost will increase with the guest list, but also that the more people there are at your wedding, the less time you’ll have to spend with the ones you’re really close to. If you choose to elope, you don’t have to deal with guestlist dramas!

2 – Elopements can cut costs, and free up money for the bits you’re really looking forward to.

Not only does choosing to elope potentially cut costs, but it also means you can choose to spend your money on the things that actually matter to you. Is it the outfits, the photographer, the location? Maybe you want to be able to go backpacking for 4 weeks instead of spending a lot of money on one day – it’s totally up to you, and having a smaller, more intimate ceremony can allow you to do that.

Once you don’t need to pay for everyone’s meal/drinks, and once you’re not constrained by finding a venue that you like and that will accommodate all your guests, you’ll be free to make different choices. That’s why there are so many wonderful elopement ideas out there, as they’re much more focused on you two as a couple.

3 – Elopements can help keep you in the moment

Fun fact – we got married at our local Town Hall a year before having the wedding party. It meant a lot to me (and I like to think to Stephen as well) to do things separately. I wanted to be able to really take in that moment when we got married, and the commitment we were making to one another. I also wanted to celebrate our love and party until dawn with friends and family, obviously, but they felt like two very different moments and I wanted it that way! It also meant that on our wedding, we were able to ask a friend to officiate which meant the world to us.

All this to say that sometimes less is more and by taking away all the trimmings you’re able to focus on what really matters: marrying the person you love.

Plus, remember that eloping doesn’t mean you can’t have a party later!

4 – Elopements can reduce wedding planning stress

Some couples enjoy planning their wedding, I truly believe that. However, often they’re in the minority. Sure, once it’s all over and you’ve had an amazing time on your wedding day, none of that matters anymore, but the truth is most couples get really stressed while planning their wedding.

If you think you might get overwhelmed by all the decisions you’ll have to make and all the practical things you’ll need to organise, and you can’t afford or don’t want to hire a wedding planner or coordinator, why not consider eloping? It might also save you a lot of family drama! (Trust me on this last one).

5 – Elopements can help reduce wedding anxiety

It’s ok to feel anxious in big social groups, and it’s also ok if you don’t enjoy being the centre of attention. In the same way, there’s no reason why these should be any different on your wedding. Maybe you’re not organised enough, or like me, you put too much pressure on yourself which can cause breaks downs, insomnia, anxiety and so many other things.

Not everyone feels like a big wedding with lots of people and a tight schedule is their dream day, and that’s ok. Choosing to elope means you can have only the people you feel comfortable around and it’s much easier to go with the flow.

I can’t tell you how important it is to enjoy every moment of that day and be present to fully take it all in, so make it happen – you deserve it! Make sure you choose the wedding or elopement that’s right for you.

Here’s more info on Eloping & How To Plan Your Elopement if you’re wondering where to go next.

manon x

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