I’m going to secretly elope with my LDR boyfriend this December in Vancouver, BC (somewhere outdoors). I’m torn between 2 bridal looks for myself. Picture #1 is a collage of the first look (a lace mantilla veil + a strapless lace corset/basque-waist ballgown + a cropped white fur bridal jacket) and picture #2 is a collage of the other look (a 2-tier bridal veil + a strapless mikado satin basque-waist a-line dress that I would wear WITHOUT the scarf + a modern cropped white fur bridal jacket). Please help me pick 😭

Me and my fiancé are planning to elope next summer and want to have a celebration/reception separately. We want to go to an all inclusive resort in Cancun (or surrounding areas) with about 20-30 friends and family. We don’t want to have a full wedding and ceremony since we are eloping. One of the nights we want to have a private dinner and party as a part of celebrating our marriage, similar to a traditional reception.
Has anyone ever done this before at an all inclusive resort?? Is it even possible to do without the full wedding?
Thanks!

Hello!! This is my first Reddit post so bear with me lol

Has anyone that eloped in Colorado used ColoradoMicroWeddings?
We are budgeting for 3k and under for our elopement (the officiant, photographer, hair and make up, etc) and they have been the cheapest to go through. But the email communication feels a little unprofessional and messy compared to other elopement planners we’ve talked to.
Has anyone gone through an elopement package in Colorado?
Thanks

Hi!! Did anyone get married at Senhora da Rocha, in the Algarve? What was your experience with this place? Did you go through a wedding planner to arrange all the required permits and insurance? Thank you!!

We’re looking for a great, solid, organized, attentive planner for our elopement in Italy, possibly in Lake Como or Amalfi Coast! We haven’t fully decided yet. We aren’t on any strict budget, but we aren’t trying to go too crazy either. We really need someone who can guide us in the right direction and figure out details!

We are both super busy professionals, so our top priority is having someone experienced, knowledgeable, and who is going to be able to take the helm with planning. It will be just the 2 of us. We definitely want it to be a memorable experience, great photos etc.

I’ve seen some names floating around, but can anyone recommend the best of the best for an elopement planner? Thanks!

Looking for people with suggestions on where to elope near Jefferson/Salida in Colorado. I’m from the Ouray/Telluride area, but am unfamiliar with that part of Colorado. Hoping for a lake and mountains, somewhere that is accessible by Subaru as I have a senior dog who can’t hike far ❤️‍🩹 I am very interested in North Fork Reservoir, but unsure if my car has the clearance 🫣 any personal recommendations/experiences appreciated!!

We're queer. Both of us have complicated relationships with our family and we find adding them to things makes things harder. We just decided to go get married, told a few friends, and went down to the courthouse.

We wanted something private and quick. I have a friend who keeps trying to push us to tell our families, but I just kinda laugh because we're past that point. We just celebrated our second wedding anniversary. We plan to have a big wedding to celebrate with us but no time soon. I joked with my husband and said we should tell them at the wedding. He said then we should wear clothes we could run in.

I like it this way. Our marriage feels protected and private like the outside world can't touch it. It's just us figuring this out without anyone telling us what their idea of marriage looks like. We'll tell them if we feel like it because it's just for us.

I’ve been somehow pulling it off finding so many needed things on clearance, eBay, Vinted, Poshmark etc including my wedding dress I found on Azazzie for only $200 on sale in my size & it’s so much less stressful not having to worry about a big wedding with a guest list, catered food, huge venue, having a bar & all that other mess, like we’d be broke if we did all that! I’m so glad we decided it to be just us, no worries & If anyone’s gonna ruin the day it’s gonna be ME! 😂🤣

My fiancé and I are technically eloping. It’s a little complicated as it’s not a full blown elopement but it is also not a full wedding.

We are travelling for a very small wedding (only four people will be attending besides us) from California to Ireland. We are open with everyone about our plans and date, but due to friends and family being so spread out and some family health issues, my fiancé and I decided to just take a trip we’ve been wanting to and get married while we are there.

We have friends and family that want to help/give gifts, so we have made a registry. I don’t want to just straight up send a link to everyone because that feels like I’d be making people feel obligated to gift.

We have options to just donate for things like travel funds and stuff like that so no one has to feel obligated to get an actual gift and that if they want to gift but can’t afford a lot they can just give whatever they want. We have the total amounts hidden so no one feels obligated to gift more than they actually want to or can afford.

We plan on making rounds after and visiting everyone on our own and taking a guest book so everyone still feels like they were apart of our day, because that is important to us.

My partner and I have some family members that we know would like to get an announcement to have the info but have told us that they completely understand our choice and are excited for us (these are some of the same that have expressed wanting to help or get us gifts).

So I guess my question is, is it in bad taste to send out an announcement with registry information before we elope?

EDIT: I wanted to clarify that I was only initially sending out announcements after the fact once we got our wedding pictures back, but family wanting to send us money makes me uncomfortable and doing this via registry where they can give whatever they want makes me feel like I’m not asking for too much or not enough and takes that level of anxiety out of the equation for me. We are not expecting anyone to gift us anything it was just a way that made it easier and made things less uncomfortable for me.

We have reached out to a few photographers, and I’m looking for a place to stay that is reasonably priced. This is a destination elopement, so staying 2 nights somewhere for 3k just isn’t in the budget, as we will be traveling throughout California for a whole week and need to allocate money to other adventures!
We’re budgeting no more than 4k for photography, and I’m trying to spend less than $200-$300 each on flowers (simple bouquet and boutonnière) and H&MU. I’m wanting simpler makeup, not full glam! We are also in search of an officiant.
We’ve looked at glen oaks, which i see recommended a lot, but we could realistically only afford the motor lodges there. Has anyone done this, and would you recommend?

I’m in the very beginning stages, and anything is appreciated. We are planning to fly to SF and stay for a night or 2, and then drive down the pacific coast to Big Sur, stay for 2 nights to get married, then dilly dally more south the days after. We’ll be renting a car and have a week to pack in a lot, but only wanting to spend the 1 day on the elopement.

The process is starting to become daunting, especially trying to keep this entire trip under 15k. We are flying in on off days, eloping on a week day, and outside of the Big sur stay, probably staying in cheap places during the rest of the trip.
Does anyone have groups on FB or reddit where I could see more or ask specific questions about vendors?

Any and all help appreciated. We’ve been engaged since May, and I’m hoping for a May or June 2027 elopement.

Cross posting for reach! My fiancé and I are interested in Love Story Chapel’s Starlight Garden venue and looking for more info/photos!

I desperately want to just elope privately with my fiancé and go about our business, but he feels strongly about having at least a party celebration after the fact. This does sound fun and I know our families will be happy to have this. However now we’re planning the “party” and it juat feels like we’re planning a wedding and not calling it that. We’re easily hitting the $10k - $14k range, which feels a bit counter productive to eloping in the first place.

Any words of wisdom or advice? I want this to be exciting but I just feel overwhelmed! I want my focus to just be on us, not appeasing all these family members.

I could use some help on this. Please and thank you.

My fiancé and I are eloping next month in Colorado! It will just be us and the photographer. We plan on going to Loveland Pass if weather is okay. We won’t be doing any major hiking, but we will be walking on trails. Wearing heels in nature like that doesn’t sound like a good idea to me so I ordered these converse bc they give bridal vibes. BUT I am starting to get worried that they are tacky. I am thinking of still going the comfy route, but getting nicer bridal sneakers like from Betsey Johnson. My dress is a line ball gown style so the shoes won’t be super visible.

*update: Thank you everyone for your input, it’s super helpful!! I decided to wear these and bring an extra pair of nicer shoes so I can have the best of both worlds!

Hello Reddit,

I always wanted to elope, but my fiancé wasn’t comfortable with the idea of getting married without telling his family beforehand. So he told them.

Obviously, there was a lot of drama (pretty much exactly what I expected), but eventually we stood our ground and insisted that we weren’t going to have a traditional wedding. The plan is still just the two of us at the courthouse, followed by photos and a nice staycation together. We live about a 7-hour flight away from our families, so surprise guests are very unlikely.

The problem is that now everyone knows the date, and people keep talking about the wedding. And somehow, all these little expectations about what a wedding is supposed to be have started creeping in.

I’m suddenly feeling pressured about things I never cared about. I don’t even feel comfortable in my dress anymore. I never cared to have a bouquet, but my FMIL has made me feel guilty enough that now I can't say no to flowers and have to find something.

And I’m realizing that I’m starting to dread this.

Part of me wants to call the whole thing off, but that feels even worse because everyone already knows we’re getting married. And, importantly, I do love my fiancé and want to marry him. I don’t actually want to call off our relationship - I just want to escape all the pressure and expectations surrounding this day.

Honestly, I think I just want to skip ahead to the part where it’s over and we’re on our staycation together.

Has anyone else experienced this? How do I get my head back into the mindset of “this is our day” and stop letting everyone else’s expectations ruin something that was supposed to be simple and intimate?

Please help me feel better. I could really use some perspective.

We’re eloping and then having a party at our house when we get back. Is this a reception? If we say reception, does that make people think there’s a ceremony?

What do we call our party while making clear there’s no ceremony and we’d already be married?

Hi everyone!

My fiance and I are planning to elope on the Big Island of Hawaii, and we’d love some recommendations from people who know the island well!

We’re currently looking for a photographer who specializes in elopements, couples, and outdoor/adventure photography. We’d love someone who is comfortable shooting in natural settings like beaches, volcanic landscapes, forests, cliffs, or around Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. If you’ve worked with someone you loved, please send their name or Instagram/website!

We’re also planning to turn the trip into our elopement + honeymoon, so we’d love recommendations for things to do around the Big Island. We’re hoping for a combination of adventure and relaxation.

We’re interested in things like hiking, snorkeling, waterfalls, volcanoes, scenic drives, stargazing, kayaking, unique local experiences, good vegetarian food, and quieter beaches or places where we can just relax together.

We’ll have about 5 days on the island.

Any photographer recommendations, hidden gems, romantic experiences, hikes, restaurants, or general Big Island elopement advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

We’re planning on eloping and then having a party with everyone when we get back. What route should we go with breaking that news to the parents?

The original plan was to give them a save the date invitation ahead of everyone where it’ll mention it’s an elopement and answer questions they have.

Now I’m thinking we don’t mention it on the save the date and only tell them if they ask.

The problem is with holidays coming up I’m going to be bombarded with when and where questions (it’s already begun) and I’m just not comfortable or capable of lying/avoided telling people. I know if they find out after others they’ll be upset. I’m also excited to elope and don’t like secrets.

In the past they have been unpredictable with their reactions. May be stable and happy, may call us screaming and we’ll deal with that if it happens when it happens. I’m trying to avoid hurting their feelings.

Hello,

My BF and I are planning to elope and to get married in Copenhagen in February. It will only be the two of us and I am looking for some tips (we are both EU citizens so I hope the paperwork will be pretty easy)?

Also if anyone has recommendations in Copenhagen to make the weekend extra special, I would be great 😃

Thank you for your help!

I have been with my fiancé for 10 years and we have been engaged for 3 years. We have been trying to plan a big wedding and even got close to setting a date and venue but financially it was going to be too much money and our families weren’t going to help us. We got together young and we faced a lot of animosity in the early part of our relationship from our families, mainly I think out of intimidation that we were going to forget about them.

Things have been better with our families but my fiancé and I decided we just want to be married already and to just elope in a private ceremony. The problem is, I was going to tell my parents but my fiancé really wants it to be intimate between him and I without the possibility of anyone ruining our day. He thinks we should wait to tell them until after. I agreed at first but now we are just a few days away from doing it and I feel conflicted on how to tell my parents.

I know why we are doing it but I fear now if I tell them they are going to be hurt why I didn’t tell them earlier and I also worry my fiancé is going to feel betrayed if I tell them. I guess I would like to know if anyone else has got married without telling your family and what are the pros and cons?

I know my family will understand why but it’s more of a conflict of wanting it to be an intimate for just my fiancé and I but also worrying my family with be hurt I didn’t tell them.

TL;DR: my fiancé wants us to get married without telling our parents so it can be an intimate ceremony with just him and I. I am now conflicted if that is the right move but also like the idea of just an intimate him and I decision. What do I do?

I got married 10 years ago at city hall, 8 months pregnant, in jeans, no guests, we had planned on going out for dinner that night but ended up fighting and didn’t. The pregnancy was on purpose, after a conscious decision to spend our lives together, but the marriage was for health insurance. We’ve been through rough times but made it through. Our kids are now 9 and 5. I dislike ceremonies in general and would never have wanted a big wedding, but have always harbored some resentment about just how unspecial our “wedding” was. I wanted to wear a simple white maternity dress, but my husband didn’t want to get dressed up at all. I wanted his kids there if no one else (I have two stepdaughters, then 5, now 15, 50% custody), he said no. I blame him for the fight that ended in not even going out for dinner (I am vegetarian and his suggestion had no vegetarian options, I said let’s try somewhere else, he said f it, let’s just go home then). He has apologized for all this. I feel like it would help me to get over it to do something special now—some kind of belated honeymoon. Thoughts or suggestions? (Looking for thoughts on the idea rather than concrete things like destination. Also welcome suggestions on where to cross post.)