I DO: Eloping
We share why eloping is an I DO in our series: I Do/ I Don’t, where we split the pros and cons between the hottest wedding trends.
Even in the 21st Century, little girls dream of their storybook weddings. While we’re constantly driven by the need for cash, retirement funds, nest eggs, housing, cars, children, and so on…it’s amazing that a modern day couple can find the funds for a memorable affair.
In today’s I Do/I Don’t wedding series, I’m all for eloping!
Let’s take a look at exhibit A. This infographic courtesy of visual.ly breaks down the average cost of a wedding here in the United States. While it’s still an average, even after tweaking prices it’s difficult to get below the $15,000 mark for a perfect wedding—especially when the national average is over $27,000!
There are endless ways a couple could spend $27,000 other than throwing a memorable wedding reception. Perhaps after eloping, a couple could invest $2,000 into a casual reception for their friends and family, reap the benefits of receiving gifts from loved ones but save on the traditional wedding formalities. The couple could then use their savings toward an amazing honeymoon or a down payment on a home.
Finances aside, there are a number of other arguments for eloping versus a traditional wedding ceremony. It’s often difficult to buckle down a reasonable guest list for a traditional wedding. You have to invite family members; close friends, bosses, work associates—and all of these people are going to bring a guest. It’s overwhelming!
By the time you consider first cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles for both sides, you’re basically at over 50 guests. If you forget to invite anyone, or purposely leave people out—you’re risking your relationship with that family member or friend in the future.
Eloping can be done on your own schedule. Whenever you both decide to head down to the courthouse with a couple of witnesses in tow, you can get married. There is no diligent planning and relatively no expense involved!
Most people forget that a marriage is a sacred union between two individuals. So many women get caught up in impressing friends and family that you loose sight of the purpose of the event: to enter into a sacred union with the one you love. In my opinion, no detail, big or small, can compare to how much I love my husband—regardless of the thousands of dollars we both spent proving it to everyone we know.
While you may not have dusty albums full of wedding photos and bills rolling in for months after your honeymoon, you’ll have the peace of mind and the money in the bank that you got married for the reasons that you both saw fit.
Eloping can also give you an opportunity to marry remotely, which is a big draw of the practice in today’s society. While I got married in an average banquet hall, I have a mess of friends that got married on mountaintops, gorgeous Caribbean destinations and exotic country sides. Las Vegas? Still extremely popular—and still eloping.
Consider whether you want the stress and panic of planning a gorgeous, traditional wedding, or whether you’d rather live on the edge and have a story behind your adventure.
The great thing about eloping? If you decide down the line that you’d prefer the ceremony, you can always do it then. You can’t turn around on a traditional wedding after you’ve sent out the invitations, though, without being the talk of the town.
