Anyone just say F it and elope????

I was super close to saying f it and eloping, but once I started putting deposits on everything I changed my mind. Somedays I still want to do it, but then something happens and I get super excited again lol

I'm kinda there, the costs are so overwhelming.

Yes it is and we just went over a budget and he didn't seem to excited. He wants the celebration but I don't think he realized how much it would it would be

I did not get past dress shopping before coming to that conclusion. I figured if I could not handle the attention and stress of a bridal salon, then a big wedding was not for me! We are running off to St Lucia alone and coming home to a big party that is doubling as my going away party since I moving states right after. I am thrilled that FH is good with this plan.

ETA - If you throw a party when you get back you aren't saving yourself a ton of stress or money depending on the size of the party. I still have to deal with caterers, bartenders, and venue. But I won't be doing all the pre-wedding stuff, getting flowers, or dealing with a bunch of opinions on what I should/should not do for my wedding. I am ok with that.

Yes! After realizing all of the stress of wedding planning, I wasn't having any fun and it was just giving me so much anxiety. We said fuck it and we're driving up state to have a very small ceremony, and we're taking everyone out to dinner after. The only thing we'll be paying for is the dinner and a photographer. I'm really happy with the decision we made.

Honestly, I have considered it. The only reason I am not is because of my mother. My mother had a stroke eight years ago and I am her caregiver. She is so excited and overjoyed for me and I really want her to be a part of the experience. She is in a wheelchair and needs assistance with everything, so eloping just wouldn't feel right for me.

I did. My dad was paying and his strings were just too much to deal with. I was only planning a big wedding to shut him up. I really didn't give a shit about a big wedding. We eloped and don't regret it. We may have a vow renewal years down the road once we're done having kids.

I was this close last week but my FSIL already bought plane tickets for her and her family so I didn't want her to be out money. I was so ready to forfeit the venue deposit. I'm now planning the wedding the way I want to because at the end of the day FH and I are paying for 99% of this wedding. It gets overwhelming at times trying to please everyone. If you have not put down any deposits, I'd say do it!

I'm on the edge and praying I don't get pushed off because I'm afraid I'll regret not having the wedding but at the same time I am so over all this drama. It's not even the planning that's got me stressed out necessarily, it's the people and that's terrible. Aside from the fear of regret holding me back, I'd want a reception still so eloping really won't save us any more money. 96 Days and counting! Lol

The reception is the biggest part of my planning, so if we were going to elope and have a reception later it would probably end up costing us more - because now there would be extra travel expenses if we did a trip somewhere to elope. It would save us max $1000 on the ceremony cost (and that's probably an overestimating by maybe double), so financially it would not make any sense. For our outdoor ceremony the only cost is venue (150), chair rental (200) and officiant. Almost all of our floral costs would be needed for a reception (table centerpieces, bouts/corsages, etc.). I guess we could theoretically not do bouquets for a reception, but if I had them when I eloped then the cost would be a wash.

Plus now I only need hair/makeup/flowers/etc. once, whereas I'd want to do them for both the ceremony and reception if we eloped then partied later.

I honestly have no clue how people save money eloping if they still have a reception later.

I feel like that all the time but I'm still super excited for the wedding. I guess think about what you really want before deciding. The marriage is what's most important, the wedding is a celebration of it.

Our guest list is at 70 right now, mainly my family and friends. I don't want that many. We've been really discussing doing small, like under 20. I know a few of my family would be disappointed if they weren't invited so I'm torn.

I've been looking at more inclusive venues, which cuts down a lot of stress.

He and I are going to sit down this week and really hash out what we want. I can't be stressed out wedding planning.

My cousin got married at the court house earlier in Feb of this yr and shes having a reception in Nov. Even though we weren't at the ceremony Im just as excited about celebrating and meeting her husband. Might have to go ahead and do this and move on if my fh doesn't want to wait. we can do a bbq at the park as long as we do it before Indian Summer so we can enjoy the beautiful weather. I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling like this.

We were VERY close but we did ditch our big wedding plan for an intimate wedding. We booked everything for May 19, 2017 but we said "F this sh*t, let's do this our way!" We changed our date to December 23, 2016, got a new venue, cut our guest list from 150 to 35, dropped string quartet, jazz band, DJ, photo booth, live cigar roller and cigar bar... We're so happy we decided to keep our wedding intimate :-)

Yes! Especially after realizing how much my family wanted to be involved and how my mom felt like she had to tell me final decisions were wrong. I'm the first of my friends and my cousins on my moms side so everyone wanted to jump right in. Then people who I wanted help from didn't seem to be interested. I think if I was 10 years older it would be totally worth it but I'm so looking forward to celebrating with all my friends and having everyone that I love there.

Yep. And it was the best decision we could have made. Absolutely no regrets.

We talked about it today because we both wanted a very small DW but FILs don't travel beyond an hour. My family is extremely small and I don't handle stress well.

I would just love to elope. This wedding thing has sent me into a complete stress mode . Unfortunately all of our guests have already booked rooms and FH wants this day to be my dream wedding.

We are both adults and I don't grasp spending thousands for a dress or venue for one day. Makes NO sense to me.

Also I have a daughter starting college this fall but I find it i want her education more than I want a wedding. If that makes any sense.

I never realized how much a wedding could cause stress on anyone!

We originally thought about it but it was important to me that my friends and family see me get married. And at the end of the day I'm really excited for our wedding. Elopements can be beautiful but they're just not for me. I'm also going to chime in as someone else who doesn't understand private ceremony and large reception later as a way to save money/stress. The ceremony itself is costing me barely any money and zero stress.