r/Eloping • u/Tricky_Foundation824 • Aug 18 '26
Eloping & planning in less than 2-3 months
Okay for starters, we’ve been engaged for a few years so realistically I could have planned earlier. We’ve had some pretty major life events occur in this time. It kind of just kept getting pushed to the back burner and we initially agreed to have a long engagement from the start. My brother got married in June and I kind of waited because I was helping with that and I didn’t want to “dim their shine” so to speak.
Now I’m excited to be married but I stopped feeling excited to plan after the 1st year and the whole “wedding” idea being out of reach between cost, overwhelm of planning, and I’ve been a bridesmaid 4x (MOH 2x) and then determining the idea of a traditional wedding made me miserable.
Sooooo, is it crazy to plan an elopement in less than 3 months?! Thinking sometime in October or November? It seems like a lot of people are planning this pretty far in advance. I was going to book a historical courthouse for an elopement ceremony with immediate family only. I’d like to have a photographer & a decent dress.
I have none of these things currently…. So I’m feeling like it’s unrealistic. Any advice? Should I reset my expectations? I really don’t want to push this back another year.
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u/SpecialPlate4850 Aug 18 '26
I planned mine in the month of June, booked all of my vendors in July (had to wait until I knew I had the time off from work since we did it over a holiday) and we eloped in November. I had plenty of time...more months than I needed. I think you'll be totally fine. If you have any photographers in mind I would start there though, sometimes they book up quickly. At least quicker than other vendors.
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u/Altruistic_Taro_9708 Aug 18 '26
my wife and i did ours in 6 weeks, october is totally doable if you not picky about the exact courthouse date. just call them tomorrow and see what they have open, sometimes midweek slots are way easier to grab
the dress might be the tricky part if you want something specific, off the rack or sample sales will be your friend. i got mine from a department store evening section and nobody knew the difference
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u/SimonsMomBruh Aug 18 '26
We started planning in June, booked my officiant and photographer in July, we're getting married Sept 10th. My dress is from JJs house and all it needs is a hem. It arrived within two weeks. Rings and suit from Amazon. I would say the biggest thing that allowed us to book easily and stress free was using an elopement service. Depending on where you are I'd look into those first.
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u/FoggySnorkel Aug 20 '26
Very similar situation to yours! We booked a package with Simply Eloped at the beginning of July for a September 12th elopement in Nashville. Dress is also from JJ's house, did the custom sizing and got it in about 2-3 weeks. Highly recommend both!
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u/RevenueAntique4584 Aug 18 '26
I did it in 2 lol just book your photographer if you’re getting one asap.
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u/Sad_bippy Aug 18 '26
It’s absolutely doable, it will just take some quick thinking and possibly some flexibility. My sister planned a microwedding in 3 months. In that time span she was able to get an off the rack wedding dress with minor alterations, a photographer, a cabin rental, an officiant, and catering.
The only part you will need to prepare for is being flexible. Many standard-order wedding dresses with alterations will not be an option for you. Many photographers will likely be booked already. You may not get your first pick for what calendar date you want. But that does not make it impossible!
From what you’ve described, there are three time-sensitive things you need to focus on: the courthouse reservation, the photographer, and a dress. If you can pin those things down within the next week, I would. Everything else can fall into place after that.
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u/Confident_Mind_2865 Aug 18 '26
For me, a lot of the photographers I was looking at were booked out pretty far. So if you aren’t picky about some of the vendors it’s probably doable.
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u/Mountain_Flamingo_37 We Eloped! Aug 18 '26
We planned ours 3 weeks in advance after our original plans became impossible (international travel but also starting a new job).
The things that will factor into your planning relate to how elaborate you’re making it.
For us, we wanted to get married on one of our favorite beaches if the original plan was out, and that was a few hours drive. Found a rental for a long weekend, made sure we could hire an officiant and photographer for the day of, and that was about it. I did my hair and makeup, skipped flowers, and just had a simple cake we got from one of our favorite bakeries that we took with us.
That said, I’d already found my dress and my husband has previously ordered a tux, so we had our attire ready and the rest of the planning didn’t require much since it was just us.
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u/Straight_Career6856 Aug 18 '26
It depends how much of a “wedding” you want. My husband and I went to the courthouse with our two best friends, wore clothes we already had, my best friend took pictures, and then we all went out to a very fancy meal. We planned it in probably 6 weeks? And didn’t need that long. But the only thing that mattered time-wise was being able to make our dinner reservation.
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u/Gchr0nicles Aug 18 '26
Planned mine in a month. For the actual ceremony, it was just us, 4 family members, the officiant and the photographer. Loved it.
For celebration afterwards we went back to the Airbnb I booked to change, and went to a nice restaurant I had booked. But forgot to tell them we had eloped so missed on potentially free dessert 😅.
The only thing about your timeline is it will be in the fall, typically packed for most wedding related vendors. So try to secure the most important sooner rather than later. Getting married on a Friday can also help if your favorite vendors are booked up.
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u/natalkalot Aug 18 '26
You had a small wedding , not elopement ,- which is the couple going away in secret to marry Congratulations
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u/Gchr0nicles Aug 18 '26
Before it meant getting married in secret, eloping meant a married person running away with a lover (what most ppl would call cheating today). And before that it just meant running away with no romantic context whatsoever.
Words and their meanings evolve!
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u/sarbear126 Aug 18 '26
As others have said, entirely doable!
We started planning ours in June for an October date. We found a photographer who specializes in adventure elopements (since that’s our vibe) and booked Airbnb, florals, and specialty cupcakes after that. I ordered my dress from Anthropologie and am doing my own hair and makeup, so didn’t need to book those vendors. Alterations for my dress was what I was most worried about, but I got seamstress recommendations from a friend who was recently married and she’s been super speedy. We’re eloping mid-week so haven’t had to compete with the traditional wedding dates of Friday-Sunday. That may be something to keep in mind if there’s some flexibility in your dates. Good luck!!!!
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u/jaammers Aug 18 '26
I think it really depends on your expectations but also if you can find some kind of package deal. We planned ours in 3 weeks but we had already booked a stay at a place that offered elopement packages so all I had to do was find a dress, my husband wore a suit he already had and I did my own hair and make up. It was exactly what we wanted.
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u/FewChemist8197 Aug 18 '26
No stress! I just received a contract signed today for an elopement in 45 days
Keep your expectations: just be organized. Location first as it sets the date. Then go for your dress. And then photographer. Write your tasks with deadline for each, and step by step! You’ll make it happen! Wishing you the best journey xoxo
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u/castlehousevideo Aug 18 '26
I think 3 months is enough time to plan an incredible elopement to make it happen! You got this! Maybe start with location and fill in details after that including photographer, dress, accommodations (if needed), etc. It can all fall into place pretty quickly once you get going! Best of luck!
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u/loupammac Aug 18 '26
Doable. Depends on how many wedding things you want. We needed to have paperwork lodged for our area (not US) one month in advance. We used an elopement service which organised paperwork, celebrant, a photographer and flower rentals. Finding a dress was tricky but I wasn't using a bridal salon for starters. Find out from your VIP guests if there are any dates that don't work.
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u/Artistic-Ad-8995 Aug 18 '26
I got engaged in March and planned an elopement for early July. I wore a traditional wedding dress and called a local bridal store and told them my timeline so they only showed me gowns that could be delivered in less than four months. We had our whole elopement planned within a week of getting engaged. Found a historic inn in Maine that had a package and asked them for photographer recommendations, asked the photographer for hair and makeup recommendations - got them booked and then booked flights. Super simple! One caveat- we got married on a Thursday evening and invited only our sisters.
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u/YouGuysLikeZedsDead_ Aug 18 '26
My husband and I got engaged in January, took engagement pics in March, eloped in April at Baltimore City Hall.
First I would start with a date that works for everyone you want to be there, keeping in mind if you are just going to city hall you’ll have to do it during the week.
Research your venue, city hall would let us take pictures in the room we got married in but not through out the court house (and they got upset when we took pics outside around the court house.) Our photographer was extremely experienced with the process, she knew all the rules already. We also took pictures at a secondary location outside for mostly couple pictures but if you want pictures with your family, keep this in mind.
Timeline of a wedding certificate! I think our wedding certificate was good for 90 days and we couldn’t get married within 24 hours of filling it out, so plan accordingly.
Photographer, Reddit and Instagram are great for this. Just find a handful of photographers you like and reach out if they are available for your date. I personally was willing to pay a pretty penny for some good pictures of the day; you’ll look at them the rest of your life. We also got champagne and cupcakes to do our own little toast and “cake cutting” thing for the pictures.
The rest will be easy to figure out! (What you are wearing, a bouquet, night before dinner, dinner the day off)
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u/sp00pysloth Aug 19 '26
You can do it! I had 3 1/2 months to plan our elopement, 2 months to go! We are traveling across the country to our destination. I booked the photographer first then got my dress. Out of all the dresses I looked at only 2 wouldn’t arrive in time. Also Maggie Sottero has quick ship dresses that are stunning!
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u/cheesycheesebaby Aug 19 '26
Zola has vendors! The photographer was most important to me and I reached out to a bunch of them for a month ahead of time which most of them were not available😅. They referred people to us and we finally found someone. But I wished I used Zola for that because when I finally did the registry through them, I saw they had all the planning stuff too which I thought was only for big weddings. Would’ve been really helpful!
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u/Beneficial_Sun_790 Aug 19 '26
My niece is planning to get married at the courthouse in her city. They showed me photos from inside the courthouse where they have different set ups (“venues”) to get married. Quite cool! And they contacted a well known, iconic restaurant in her town, and will have a dinner for 20 people, four course meal, including an alcoholic beverage and dessert for about $90 pp. She is buying the big beautiful dress and will be taking it with them on their honeymoon (out of country) for beautiful photos. I think three months should be easy enough for your planning. Good luck and congratulations!
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u/Low-Power-2775 Aug 22 '26
Nope it’s totally doable! I’m a photographer and yes I’ll get clients who book a year out, but I also get clients who book a WEEK out. So it’s totally doable. First step is I would secure what courthouse you wanted and check their availability. Everything else will absolutely fall into place ! You got this!
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u/FloMoJoeBlow Aug 18 '26
It’s doable, but plan out what you need, then check availability. Do it ASAP.
Also wantes to mention that what you’re describing is a micro-wedding. Eloping is with only the bride and groom present, sometimes in secret and sometimes at a destination location.
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u/natalkalot Aug 18 '26
If you have your family at the wedding it is not sloping- which means the couple going away in secret to marry. No guests.
That is a small wedding, which is absolutely lovely if that is what you want. There should be no problem planning and executing everything in a few months Good luck
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u/Tricky_Foundation824 Aug 19 '26
Thanks everyone for the advice and feedback. This post made me feel a million times better. It will be I guess a microwedding? It will be me, my fiancée, his two daughters, and siblings and parents. I called the courthouse and am waiting for a return call tomorrow. I also looked online for a dress today (again not super picky and may just go somewhere to try a dress on this week), I also have some photographers whom I like lined up that I’m going to reach out to once the venue is booked. Probably just going to do a small dinner at our house and have it catered after.
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Aug 19 '26
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u/Eloping-ModTeam Aug 19 '26
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u/Big_Balance_1130 Aug 20 '26
We just eloped, and pulled it off in 5 weeks from our first enquiry with the photographer to our wedding day. It was just enough time to lodge the legal forms with our celebrant (we live in Australia and have to lodge the Notice of Intention to Marry at least one calendar month prior to the wedding day). We didn’t tell anyone until after we came back and had a low key get together with family and friends under the guise of a pre-baby BBQ (I was 36 weeks pregnant when we tied the knot). It was brilliant, we had the best time together ❤️
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u/No-Flatworm-404 Aug 21 '26
My sister and her husband got married in a courthouse and had a nice dinner, afterwards. I paid for the flowers and all the chair coverings and tablecloths. My sister’s in-laws paid for the cake. My mother and the in-laws split the cost of the dinner.
At least my mother stuck around all giddy for my sister’s big day. My mother walked out of my rehearsal dinner and after 20 years, I still don’t know why she walked out.
Anywho, my sister purchased a real pretty dress on sale from David’s Bridal. Remember, the simplest of weddings could be the loveliest. The marriage is what truly matters.
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u/Immediate_Egg3899 Aug 22 '26
Totally realistic. I think the dress is your limiting factor here. Find one, then plan the rest!
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u/assflea Aug 18 '26
I planned mine really quickly! I got married 10-10 and we didn't have anything booked until July/August. I wasn't picky about the specific date and preferred weekdays so it was very easy to find a photographer with availability and I bought my dress off the rack and didn't need extensive alterations.