Elopement Weddings – Pros and Cons

The day of your engagement is most exciting, second only to your actual wedding day. But that excitement is often short-lived: wedding planning comes with some big decisions that demand even bigger deposits. 

And now you’re stressed out and drained by all the running around and the big decisions to be made. You’re thinking, “Why don’t we just elope? We’ll be just as married, won’t we?”

The decision to elope or not should be made lightly, which is why few end up doing it. Before you take the plunge, read about the pros and cons of elopement weddings.

Reasons Why You Should Elope

Below are five reasons why elopement weddings may work for you and your partner:

1. Cuts Your Costs

No matter how extravagant your elopement wedding is, it’s bound to be much cheaper than a regular wedding. In New Zealand, a typical wedding would cost $30,000 on average. By the end, you’ll have a significant sum of money left to put a deposit on your first home or go on an extended honeymoon (do you, boo!). 

If you’re less about the actual details of the nuptials and more about making meaningful memories with your spouse, elopement may be just right! You can use unique rustic barrels designed to serve as a guestbook to cut costs. 

2. Make Your Own Rules

Do you want to have only two witnesses at your wedding? Do you want to get married on a cliff on an island in the Pacific overlooking the ocean? Do you want to go to Vegas and be married by an Elvis impersonator then get wasted?

The next best thing about eloping is that your wedding planner and wedding binder can be tossed right out the window. Invite as few or as many people you want to the wedding. Wear what you want, and get married wherever and whenever you want. Get a wedding Oreo pie instead of a wedding cake. 

You don’t have to please anyone but yourselves if you go down this path.

3. Less Hassle

The months before a wedding can actually break a potential marriage, because of the strain of trying to accommodate both of your needs (and 300+ family and friends’ wishes!) Sometimes, you may be cash-strapped, and hence you are forced to make hard decisions that could reverberate further into your future. 

Elopement cuts out the pressure of wedding planning, pleasing everyone, and getting everything perfect. You can focus on the essential parts of your celebration – you two making a commitment to doing life together.

4. Invite Anyone

If you can’t see yourselves getting married without your closest friends or even your family, you can still invite them to your elopement wedding. You can have as many or as few people as you want at the wedding. 

If you’re going somewhere, remember that some people may not have the means to travel there. Still, those who are closest to you will probably be willing to make the trip, and if they can’t afford it, you can chip in with all the other monies you’ll have saved from the regular wedding.

5. Privacy

Much of the time, a regular wedding day goes by so fast, and you don’t even have a chance to take it in as it happens. This is sad because this is one of the most special days of your life. 

An elopement wedding cuts out the fluff so that you can enjoy every part, and make it meaningful according to your own definition. It is also perfect if you don’t like having the spotlight on yourself.

Reasons Why Eloping May Not Work For You

That said, eloping may not work for you because of the following reasons:

1. Limited Guest List

If you can’t bear the thought of not having all your close friends and family around for your big day, eloping just isn’t for you. There are upsides to having few guests, as outlined above, but is it worth what you’re giving up? You decide!

2. Disappointment

Consider that some people may be hurt or disappointed about not being allowed to attend your wedding. Depending on your relationship with them, this may strain your future interactions. You and your partner should decide whether you can live with that. 

3. Gifts

The laws of gift-giving related to elopement weddings are ambiguous. The general consensus is that you shouldn’t register for gifts if you’re planning to elope. 

However, people are still welcome to gift you as they please because it’s about the giving, not the wedding per se. Still, they will probably be less inclined to give gifts should you choose to elope. 

Conclusion

Wedding planning comes with its share of stress, and you can escape most of it by choosing to elope. Conversely, there’s a lot of things you’ll give up should you decide to elope. 

That said, there isn’t a right or wrong way of having your wedding. It just depends on what you and your partner want and consider important.