Top 10 Reasons to Elope - from someone who eloped
Guess what?! We eloped and have zero regrets! We invited our parents and siblings to our Elopement and our vision was pretty straight forward. We wanted to exchange vows cliffside in our favorite place AND have dinner at our favorite restaurant. So that's exactly what we did!
All of this being said - this is what felt right for US. I'm a huge believer that everyone should be able to get married however they want. So if you're on the fence about Eloping and want to know the reasons to elop, take a peek below and you can decide what's best for you and your significant other.
FIRST THINGS FIRST....
1. Prioritize Your Experience over everything else
This is a BIG ONE! Personally, I feel like when you're worrying less about what everyone wants you get to truly enjoy your wedding day to its fullest. Your day becomes less about wedding favors and cocktail hour and more about what matters most to you.
2. A Big Wedding just doesn’t feel like “YOU”
I get it. That's one reason why we didn't have a big wedding. We love the outdoors and wanted our day to be very private and special. We wanted to share our favorite place with our favorite people and that's that.
When you Elope you can skip the traditions (or keep them too), you have flexibility to do what you want and change things without having to worry about 100+ guests and their expectations. Sounds great right?!
3. Ultimately you will have more time together
I mean honestly, what could be better? After all, this day is about YOU and your love for each other. The things you do on your wedding day should be true to yourself! Not sure what you want to do on your Elopement day? Here are some great ideas
P.s. I also listed a few things we did when we Eloped
4. Travel to a meaningful or NEW Destination Together
In my experience this seems to be 50/50 with my couples. Either you already have a special place where you want to tie the knot OR you want to go somewhere new and make it your special place. Either way is great, and I always love hearing couples thought process behind the location the choose. And don't forget, if you need help picking a place (especially in Utah) I'm here for it! Don't hesitate to ask me :)
Check out some inspiration below:
5. Avoid Wedding Day Drama
Sorry not sorry grandma and grandpa, but this wedding isn't going to be like the ones you're use to! Whether you invite your family or not the likelihood of there being less drama is very high! And that's what we love to see!
6. Overall Less Stress
Say that again! Don't get me wrong (I'm looking at you super planners!) At first there are some stressful moments, but what wedding wouldn't include a little stress?! After all, you're coming together to make some pretty big decisions and you want to really decide on what will make you HAPPY! Once you have a good team by your side (HEY, that could be me *wink*) everything starts to come together smoothly and before you know it your big day will be here.
7. Spend Money on what matters most to you
Take if from someone who eloped (me!) We decided as a couple what are top 3 priorities were when it came to expenses and booking vendors. We knew photography would be a big one for us and food would be #2 - we set a budget and left some wiggle room just in case. We knew since we weren't spending $10-20K on a venue we would be able to include just about anything we wanted! And I'm not going to lie... it was INCREDIBLE.
8. Less “Rules” - Make your own traditions
When my husband and I Eloped we had two requirements: 1) Exchange vows in our favorite place. 2) have dinner at our favorite restaurant. That’s it. We didn’t have a first dance, heck we didn’t even have cake! Don’t worry we had pie instead…
That's the beauty of Eloping - you get to make your own rules, old traditions, new traditions, you name it!
9. Leave No Trace
Let's face it - if you're planning on having a bigger wedding with 100+ guests it will produce a lot of waste. According to Zerowaste the average US wedding produces 400 pounds of garbage YIKES!
Tips on how to Leave No Trace when Eloping:
Plan ahead and prepare
Dispose of waste properly
Leave what you find
Be considerate of others
10. AMAZING Photos
Shocking right?! Here's where I come in. I love to combine my love for the outdoors with my love for capturing other couples love stories. One of my classic "Kayla Photos" as I like to call them is when the couple looks like tiny humans in a big landscape. Like shown below from Capitol Reef National Park:
If you're looking for a special day to Elope in 2023 or 2024 check out my blog post Unique Wedding Dates for 2023 & 2024
What do you think? Are you wanting to Elope more than ever now? What reason speaks to you the most? I'd love to hear all about your dream Elopement and what priorities you have for your big day. If you're ready to start planning your Elopement get in touch with me here: