Top 7 Reasons To Elope

Top 7 Reasons To Elope

There are so many reasons that many couples are choosing to elope or have an intimate wedding over the large traditional weddings. Elopements do not mean that couples run off to get married secretly, don’t include their families, or head out for a Vegas wedding (but hey, there’s nothing wrong with any of those!!). An elopement simply means planning a well- thought out ceremony in a really special place, either privately or with an intimate group of loved ones. Here are the top reasons that many couples are choosing to have an elopement.

1. Location. You have sooo so much freedom in the location. There are endless options that you can choose when you aren’t limited by a guest list and what venues are available are different dates! You can choose to hike in to somewhere high up in the mountains, a remote beach, the middle of Joshua Tree National Park, a quick stroll to an amazing waterfall, Ireland cliffs-so many beautiful options. You can much more easily do a destination elopement and turn it into a honeymoon to save on travel too!
2. More focus on you two. So so many times on weddings, the couple barely even see each other!! Between the strict timelines, wedding schedules, speeches, saying hi to all the guests…oftentimes they don’t even get to eat their meal, unless they’re really intentional about it. Yikes!! This is your wedding day, and such a special time celebrating your love. Together. By having an elopement or intimate wedding, you get to have all the time to focus on each other, and experience the day together.
3. Less planning=less stress. Man, wedding planning can be so so stressful, and a lot of couples take a whole year to plan and stress over it.  I knew that before planning our own wedding, but it was even more than I thought. There are so many bits and pieces and decisions to make-guest list, venues, flatware rentals, linens, favors, place settings, flow, programs, keeping track of RSVPs, gathering all the vendors, etc etc. You can eliminate so much fo the stress of planning when you keep it simple!
4. Budget friendly. A quick Google search told me that the average wedding costs $33K. Wow. Considering many couples are still green in their careers when they get married, maybe have some student loans, maybe saving for a down payment on a home, maybe thinking about babies (or fur babies!) In the next few years….$33K is a ton to dish out. Especially for about a 10 hour day. And then it’s over. Your money will go so so much further with an elopement. Spend the money on things you feel good about spending money on.
5. No public speaking. Your vows get to be so private and so sweet when you have an intimate ceremony. Just you two, or the two of you with a few close close family and friends, and no distractions about messing up your vows and speeches with a lot of eyes on you.
6. Much more eco-friendly. The Green Bride states that “average wedding produces 400 lbs of garbage and 63 tons of CO2”. Whatttt. I was shocked reading that. Think about how many big traditional weddings there are, and how quickly that trash builds up!  This isn’t really talked about, because its the ugly side of weddings, but they produce a tonnnn of unnecessary waste.
7. It feels exactly like YOU. There are so many pieces of traditional weddings that couples feel obligated to include, because of tradition, family pressure, culture, etc-but they don’t feel like them.  You’re pressured to spend money on them, but have no attachment to the meaning of it and just feels weird to include. With a small elopement, you get to cut all those pressures out, and focus on what feels right for the two of you!