Weddings are not so cookie-cutter anymore. Couples are realizing that their day isn’t about everyone else and their expectations. Weddings are about only two people – the ones getting married. If you’re feeling a traditional wedding is not completely right for you, it’s okay to think outside the box and explore why eloping might be a better alternative. What’s most important is to plan your day around what makes you truly happy.
Let’s start with this as the number one reason to elope- so many choices! Planning a traditional wedding involves a lot of choices from whom to invite, venue location, size of wedding, to choices such as plated dinners (add in allergies or dietary restrictions), open bar or dry bar. Then there are the questions of kids or no kids, pets (aunt Mary has severe allergies and cousin Paul has a service animal), party favors, flowers, center pieces, etc. Need I go on? And then, of course, there are the unsolicited opinions from everyone else on everything.
Another reason to elope can be for financial reasons. No big venue, transportation costs or spending money on people you haven’t seen in 10 years (or how about, who’s that person?). Start your forever by not being forever in debt, apply the savings of a traditional wedding to student loan debts or maybe even a down payment for a house.
Speaking of saving money, according to The Knot, in state of Maine the average wedding cost was $29,000 in 2021. OUCH. This doesn’t include the honeymoon. This leads me into a third reason to elope. Think of this brilliant idea – get married on your honeymoon?? You can! Think about it…stunning sunsets, beauty of the beach before you, salt air that sooths the soul and sand between your toes.
And with this, a fourth reason to elope. You want to do something different. Share your first dance as the sun sets or as the reflection of the moon ripples off the ocean waves. Let the sound of the waves crashing be the music that moves you, cut a cake together on a picnic blanket and pop champagne. It’s your opportunity to explore the path most do not pick by creating your own traditions. Maybe you prefer pizza over Filet mignon, ice-cream over cake, flip-flops over heels or saying your I dos on the Ferris wheel. Why not? It’s your day – seas it.
And this leads to a fifth reason to elope – you want amazing photos from your wedding day. Going back to honeymoon, wedding, doing something different – think of all the not scripted, organic pictures and of course capturing the pure fun and bliss of building sandcastles together, parasailing, sunset cruises, playing arcades or even bocce on the beach. You would have some of the best stories to tell and captured memories to cherish.
Lastly, a big wedding is a production, and it’s difficult to make time for each other when there are so many others demanding your attention. Think about it- when you attend a wedding the bride and groom spend the night saying hellos, barely manage to eat, and are pulled from one side of the room to the other for one reason or another. At the end of the night, they’re married, but was the night all about them or everything around them?
Overall, don’t be overwhelmed with what your family or friends think is right or wrong. The truth is, there is no right or wrong way to get celebrate your marriage. Also, remember that no elopement is the same, and there is no correct way for planning your elopement because, at the end of the day, it is your elopement. Reject what you don’t like and focus on what’s important when it comes to your wedding day! This should be an epic adventure! So make it one.
Check out the Alouette’s Seaside Elopement Package to see how easy and beautiful we can make it for you!
