Planning a wedding can be full of different stresses. Right from the beginning the bride and groom are pulled in many different directions. Where to have the wedding, who to invite and, even more stressing, who not to invite can be the most difficult decision of all. Decisions can be difficult and feelings can be hurt. On top of all of this is the cost: how much will we need to spend to have the wedding that we want? Where do we cut back? Where can we cut back? More and more of today’s couples are paying for their own wedding. The cost of a wedding is just something a great deal of bride’s parents can no longer afford to pay for. Even if they want to! The cost of housing alone puts an added strain on paying for a wedding. Many couples today even buy their house before they get married with the goal of having a wedding ceremony later that may never happen.
There are, of course, many ways to deal with these potential problems. Some will be easy and some may step on some toes. Thousand of couples get married every weekend across the country and enjoy the experience of a wonderful wedding day. One thing for sure, there will be a lot of decisions to make.
One way some couples deal with all of this is to, actually, not deal with any of it. They elope! Eloping answers or avoids having to answer many of the questions mentioned above. There are, however, other questions that will need to be answered.
What are some of the pros and cons of eloping? The main drawback is that you may hurt the feelings of your close family members if they are not invited. There is something to be said for all the planning, the ceremony, getting dressed up, and being the center of attention on your special day–you may appreciate the memories when you are older.
Once you decide that you want to elope, your choices of where to elope are almost endless. I googled ‘elope’ and got 802,000 hits. Everything from locations, hotels, photographers to Officiants were listed. This leads to more decisions. You may want to start with deciding what kind of surroundings you want to get married in: beach, mountains, tropical settings, what fits you best? If you travel out of the country you may want to have a simple ceremony before you go so you won’t have to worry about getting a copy of the marriage license from another country. Some countries make this easy and some not so much. Also, some countries don’t let you get legally married in their country so it may be a necessity. The basic things you need to take care of are; marriage license, travel plans, lodging, location of ceremony, officiant and a witness or two. Every state and every country will have different requirements regarding the marriage license. Making a few inquiries on the state or country websites regarding marriage would be a good idea.
Without going into detail, there are a couple of other options available to couples who are getting married. One would be the micro wedding. This can happen by traveling to a destination where you can invite up to 15 of your family and friends to meet you at a designated location for an intimate ceremony. The next option would be a destination wedding. This could be a location arranged ahead of time to host your wedding; a cruise ship would be another great option. In this case you can invite more people and they not only attend your wedding, but enjoy a nice vacation as well. (In both of these cases your guests pay their own way.)
Eloping is not for every couple, but it can be a great option for others. The vast majority of couples getting married have a full wedding. However, thousands of couples elope every year. It can be a great way to avoid some of the pressures and financial obligations associated with it. Which ever way you go, make sure you think it through because this is your special day and you will want to make sure it’s done right.
