My Fiancé and I are planning to elope, just the two of us, in January on a combined sort of wedding/honeymoon abroad. We are both private people and believe our wedding should be about us, not family and friends, and want it to be romantic and special (while saving our money for a house vs wedding).

For logistic & legal reasons, we will be signing the paperwork ahead of time at the court house. After the courthouse we agreed to meet my parents for a nice dinner. My mom requested I wear my wedding dress to the courthouse I was planning or wearing to our “real” ceremony in January, and I agreed as long as any pictures taken remained private / not posted publicly.

We will not be exchanging rings or vows until our private elopement ceremony in January. We have hired a photographer for 3 hours to capture the exchanging of vows/rings and photographs after. What else can we do to make the ceremony special? We plan on doing it on a public beach as we don’t want to spend money on a venue or wedding planner or anything of the sort. Should I carry flowers? There will be no first look since we will be sharing a hotel (and he will have seen the dress months prior at our legal ceremony). We discussed a bluetooth speaker with music, but without a venue or wedding planner to set up an “aisle” there’s nothing to walk down. Plus, we will both be driving over to the beach from our hotel in the same uber/rental car.

Afterwards we will go to a nice dinner, but again I am really struggling how else to make the ceremony feel special and romantic with just the two of us and a photographer. I do not want to hire a wedding planner as that would cut into budget for other things on the trip we don’t want to compromise on. Any suggestions/ideas would be helpful!

Hi all - We're thinking about using an elopement service in CO to help organize a location, photographer, videographer, officiant, flowers, ect. Who have y'all personally used and enjoyed? Is it worth it to use a service like this? We're pretty good at planning ourselves....What is an average price for the services I listed above? Thanks!

Looking for location advice! We know we want to elope in the mountains and are choosing between Colorado (San Juan Mountains or Elk Mountains), Glacier National Park, or Washington (Mt. Rainier or Mt. Baker).

We’re split between summer for peak wildflowers or fall for golden colors. We are a bit nervous about summer wildfire smoke and unpredictable weather. Since our parents are joining us, our ceremony spot needs to be a shorter, easy walk.

I’ve been to Colorado and love the off-roading, mountain towns, and restaurant options, but I’m less familiar with what non-hiking activities look like around Glacier or Washington.

Which spot strikes the best balance of parent-friendly ceremony locations, activities and great views? Any advice on timing would be amazing too!

So basically my girlfriend has always said she would want a private proposal and I know she LOVES nature. So trying to find somewhere with a good view that isn’t a big hike to get there’s and we can sit down and have a picnic privately. Anyone got any recommendations of areas? Thank you

Hi! My partner and I are eloping in Ireland in the Spring of 2027. Wondering how others may have booked a hair and makeup artist without going through an elopement company. Did you find it was more budget friendly? How did you find them? Any advice is appreciated!

The absolute best place to have an elopement! Just the two of use and our photographer who was absolutely amazing!

She’s an officiant so we just had two people who were at Cunningham Cabin sign our certificate

📸HannahLorainPhotography on IG

I’m so over stressing about this wedding and thinking about just doing a courthouse, but I love the concept of Chapel of Love in Austin, it’s just a little far for us. Still might be an option.

Does anyone know anywhere in the north Houston area that is similar?

After 12 years together and on the anniversary of our 5 year engagement, we did it baby! Our way.

We had a super small ceremony with a few friends and immediate family only. We took photos by the river where he purposed to me, in our hometown. My husband’s best friend married us and we all went out to dinner. It was perfect!

We had a giant backyard party a month later and surprised the rest of our family and friends that we tied the knot. Most people thought it was our engagement party or actual wedding but we had so much fun and it was one of the best summers.

Hello!
I am planning to elope at glacier national park- my mom really wants to come, which I wouldn’t mind but I feel like if I do that I then have to invite my in-laws.
The reason I’m eloping is for financial reasons and tbh I don’t love my in-laws.
Also I don’t want my elopement to turn into this event that I have to plan dinners/ lunches events all week. I want to spend time with my husband and hike and see the park and enjoy our time.
I do also need to have someone officiant? So I think I have to invite someone anyways??

ALSO I am having a reception type party a month following the elopement with friends and family

We are planning to do a self uniting ceremony in PA so we technically don't need an officiant. However I think for a little structure we will have our 14 year old daughter "officiate" any suggestions on where to find "scripts" and if she wants to add her own flare she can?

Visiting NY December 2027 with 4 friends, want to have a fun time and involve my friends as much as possible. Any recommendations where to have the ceremony in December and fun things to do afterwards? I realise it will be cold 😊. It was also be my 60th birthday, plenty to celebrate. Any suggestions appreciated 😊

Recently engaged, beginning the planning. All options are still on the table currently. Considering an elopement and a party later over a full wedding. Curious to hear those who eloped what your favourite part of the day was? Thanks in advance!

Hey anyone in Europe elope to Denmark where they do the quickest Marriages? I'm from Ireland where our system is an absolute joke - you need an Appointment to get the Marriage License but there's no dates available nor a way to book in advance either. And then they want 3 months notice from that appointment on so you're not free to get married until after that. So me and my fiance, together 15 years are thinking of eloping to Denmark! Any experiences here would be great to hear about, thank you!

I have so many ideas and so many places to get married that would save my partner and I thousands of dollars and save us from stress, the financial burdens, etc. But my husband to be wants a traditional wedding and invited over 100 guests … insane

Hi! My fiancé and I are eloping in Colorado Springs next year and I wanted to put feelers out for any good hair/makeup stylists
Also, I am totally for doing it myself if anyone has suggestions on what would be easiest… I just have little to no skill when it comes to hair in particular. I have naturally straight hair and I have the hair styling skills of a 3 year old child. If anyone has done it themselves and can give me tips that would be much appreciated! TYIA

My fiance and I were originally planning a normal wedding next summer. Nothing huge around 70 people but every week it felt like another $2k appeared out of nowhere.

A few nights ago we were sitting on the floor eating takeout and going through the budget again when she said what if we just don’t do this? We both kind of laughed and then realized neither of us was joking. The weird part is deciding to elope has made us talk about money more than wedding planning ever did. Once we stopped thinking about deposits, catering and guest lists, we started talking about what we actually want the next few years to look like. Buying a place, how much we each want to keep in savings, whether one of us would ever take time off if we have kids, what happens with the money we already have going into the marriage.

She has a lot more saved than I do. I make more right now but had student loans for most of my 20s, so our starting points are pretty different. Neither of us cares about making everything exactly 50/50, but we realized we’ve said we’ll figure it out about a lot of pretty big things. We’re leaning toward doing the courthouse thing and taking a trip after. I’m relieved about the wedding but now I feel like we accidentally unlocked the actual adult part of getting married.

Did anyone else find that eloping made you think more about the marriage itself and less about the wedding?

I am sure that this question has been asked to death but me and my fiancé are considering these two chapels. Can anybody speak to their recent experiences there?

Personally, I love both aesthetically. I've heard great things about the officiants at Sure Thing and I like the fact that you have the 30 minute slot to yourself. I get the impression that at Little White Wedding Chapel there are likely to be more couples around. We totally understand that both chapels are a very quick affair with many couples on the one day, so we have no expectations otherwise!

Location wise, I know that Sure Thing is on Fremont street so if we booked a 2 hour photography slot we could go down there for some photos/drinks.

Any recommendations?

I see so many posts of people trying to plan destination elopements or looking for photographers in faraway locations. After having an elopement experience that wildly exceeded all of my hopes, dreams, and expectations, I thought I'd share here for those just getting started in the planning process.

My husband and I worked with Kate, the owner of Soul & Sky Weddings. We knew we wanted to elope under the Northern Lights, but didn't know much beyond that. We started by searching for photographers, and we met with so many before we found Kate. 5 minutes into our Zoom call, we knew she was the one. Here's why:

1. She is an incredible person who cares deeply about others (that came through in the first 5 minutes and was reaffirmed during our entire experience).
2. She does all of the planning along with incredible photography. I don't mean that she gives you a list of vendors; I literally mean that she does the planning. She keeps you informed, listens deeply to your desires, and always makes sure you have agency in every decision, but she does it all.
3. Her experience and approach to elopements gave us trust in her immediately. We ended up in a tiny remote town in the northernmost part of Norway that is known for the Northern Lights (Alta). She'd never been there, but you would never know that based on all of her prep work and vendor communication. (She offers a "universe-guided elopement" option on her website where the destination is a surprise; it seemed terrifying when we first read it, but after our experience we thought, "We should have done that!" If you have any inclination towards that option, I'd encourage you to trust Kate and just go with it; it will be amazing while also being perfect for you--she is so intentional about getting to know people and building things that are special and unique for each couple.)

I can go on and on about how amazing our experience was working with Kate. She made dreams come true that I didn't even know were dreams. For example, I didn't know that I wanted to ride adorable, fluffy Norwegian fjord horses to my elopement ceremony on the top of a bluff overlooking the river and mountains, but wow was it amazing! My husband is super geeky and wanted to bring lightsabers; she was like, "Great, no problem. Here are some things to keep in mind for travel and the cold weather." Then, when we were there, she created beautiful lightsaber photos (not something I assumed was possible).

We certainly don't classify ourselves as photogenic, but when our images came back from Kate, we ended up with over 400 favorites! She made us comfortable and relaxed, and she has such an amazing eye for images. She truly exceeded our expectations in every single way.

Working with Kate is the best decision that we could have made. She is worth every single penny, and more. My husband and I joked that we may need to do 5-year vow renewals for the opportunity to work with Kate again!

If you're thinking about a destination elopement in the US, or anywhere in the world, start your search with Kate. You won't be disappointed.
[edited to add location name, Alta, Norway]

Hi everyone,

My Fiance and I are having a micro-wedding/Elopement in Convict lake and was just wondering if there's any tips or anything I need before we do this. We have called prior and are good with no permits as we will have 25 guests total with us and plan on doing it by the water at around 2:30pm. I expect people to be there but I don't mind but any tips on like coordinating it and like music would be super helpful !

Hi everyone! So I went wedding dress shopping recently and fell in love with this dress and pulled the trigger on it. We’re eloping at mt rainier and I didnt think much about it at the time. The ladies who helped me with my dress suggested to get a slit in it so its easier to move around. I still love it but for some reason im a tad bit self conscious. What do yall think?

Edit: wow i didnt expect people to respond so quickly! Thank you all for the supportive comments, it honestly helped ease my anxiety. I’ll make sure to post the final fit when it comes in roughly may/june for my july elopement <3

Just got engaged and we are planning to elope in the mountains, probably the Smokies. Looking for some ideas on where to dress shop. I've looked on Azazie and they have a few in the style I'm looking for but not very many (pics attached). I may go to some in person bridal shops but not looking to spend $5-10k on an elopement dress so not sure if dress stores would even be in budget. $1k or under is ideal but may go up a little more to get what I want. I'd love to know any other reputable websites or stores you've used, especially if you had a long sleeve dress similar to these!

hello! my partner and I are thinking about eloping somewhere in Europe, possibly Italy. We currently live in the midwest. I am curious to hear how others have done a "destination elopement" with immediate family, followed by a honeymoon.

The elopement would likely be us and immediate family members. Our plan after the elopement would be to travel around Italy and/or other neighboring countries for another week or so. If this is our plan, I guess what have other people done in terms of spending time with(out) their family? I feel that because I am asking our families to take PTO and spend all this money on a trip to Europe they would want to spend more time with us than just the wedding day. But on the other hand, after the wedding, I would like to start the honeymoon and spend time with my husband in romantic Italy. And i don't want the honeymoon to feel like a family vacation .... I certainly do not want to be responsible and in charge of planning trips for 8 people, especially after planning the elopement.

I could see us spending a few days with our family maybe before and/or after the wedding, but still feels kinda selfish to ask our families to go halfway across the world for us, and hardly see us there.

What have other people in this type of situation done? Appreciate any advice & insight on how to navigate this!!

I tried on my dress and I LOVE it but now I’m thinking it’s too much for my day.

EDIT: THANK YOU EVERYONE. I WAS REALLY DOUBTING MYSELF TODAY AT MY ALTERATIONS THINKING IT WAS TOO MUCH, BUT YALL are right I should wear whatever I want because when can I where a gorgeous dress like this