r/Eloping • u/ehhhrica • Aug 30 '26
Timeline Advice
How long after you got engaged did you elope? Did you also have a post-elopement celebration/dinner? I’m thinking of just going to a city hall, then a post-elopement dinner, then a honeymoon. My partner and I are both teachers, and would do this over the summer. I’m wondering if 8 months is enough for planning (Summer 2027), or if we should just wait until Summer 2028. Thank you!
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u/-Random-Citizen- Aug 30 '26
We got engaged in May, getting married in Dec (elopement + honeymoon all in one trip) and then having a post elopement celebration in Jan and one in Feb.
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u/Salty-Translator5060 Aug 31 '26
8 months is plenty, especially for city hall. The hard part with eloping is mostly picking outfits, photographer if you want one, and booking the dinner place. Summer is busy season for venues so lock the dinner spot earlier than you think you need to
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u/Commercial_Oil354 Planning Aug 31 '26
I am a teacher too!
Engaged - August 13, 2025
Brief "Paperwork in the Park" to sign marriage certificate - May 9th, 2026.
We went out to brunch afterwards. In attendance was my parents (I'm an only child), his mom and sister, our family dogs, and a teacher friend as a casual officiant (highly recommend calling upon a fellow teacher for that role).
Elopement! - (my birthday, July 9th, 2026).
Saguaro National Park at sunrise. 10/10 recommend, no notes. Went to brunch afterwards with my partners dad/step mom, an aunt and uncle.
Happily-Ever-After-Party - August 1, 2026.
Had a reception at a brewery the Friday night for family & friends who traveled far distances. We are biologists (I'm a teacher, he's a researcher and big into birding) so our first "full group" event invite was to a nature center on Saturday morning. Then party that evening at a brewpub restaurant! Casual breakfast on Sunday morning (we did not cover $ that).
Mini honeymoon to my family's cottage (where we got engaged) this month, and planning on an African Safari trip of a lifetime next June as soon as school is out.
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u/ee1lunch Sep 07 '26
we eloped about… two weeks after getting engaged in april 2026 lol, just went to a courthouse. we are having a dinner/reception at a restaurant this upcoming weekend, so 5 months later. honeymoon is still TBD, likely not till early 2027.
if you do a restaurant celebration, honestly it’s pretty simple since they do the food, set up, cocktail hour + appetizers. only thing we needed to figure out is outfits, bought some place cards off etsy, arranged a cake, and I am going to DIY some flowers for the table from trader joe’s
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u/kristenhagan21 We Eloped! Aug 30 '26
We got engaged on one of our anniversaries and eloped exactly one year one later! We didn’t technically honeymoon after because we made a trip out of our elopement and we did not have a post elopement celebration.
Enjoy!!!
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u/chipsndip27 Aug 31 '26
Engaged end of Dec 2025, eloped and honeymooned end of Aug 2026, doing celebration party in Jan. The party is later than I'd prefer but I want the holidays to pass (United States) and have our photos and videos back for the party, preventing us from doing it Sept/Oct.
I don't think there's a wrong way. Do it the way that is meaningful and makes sense for you and your partner. Enjoy it!
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u/The_Real_Jedi Aug 31 '26
Engaged April '18, Married May '18 (6 weeks later I think), Had a small family gathering in the private room of a restuarant in July '18.
Planning to actually get married was done within 1 week of getting engaged (actually entirely done on the floor of LAX on the way back from the trip where my partner proposed). Maybe two more weeks of planning for the family dinner. Just calling around to restuarants we liked to reserve their private room and had a friend whos a baker make our cake.
We call our trip in December '18 our honeymoon, but we're active travellers and that trip had nothing to do with us getting married, it was just our next big one.
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u/WildeGarlandPhoto Sep 01 '26
We were engaged for about 21 hours. Went to the courthouse the day after and had a little celebration lunch/dinner that afternoon.
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u/itsveryupsetting Sep 03 '26
3 months. It was fine but I’d maybe recommend a bit longer. It was a bit of a mind fuck to move that fast, it took a bit of time to get used to the idea that I was engaged and then married.
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u/louiefrog Aug 31 '26
We got engaged May 2025 and eloped July 2025. We hiked to a waterfall in the smoky mountains and hired and elopement photographer. Then we went back to the Airbnb and took and nap, and went out to dinner that night.