Elope

My friends did that. They had a wedding celebration later on when they had the money for it.

We wanted to elope, then it turned into a backyard wedding, then it turned into a real big all out wedding by the hands of our family lol. We would be happy with however it turned out because we just want to be married. Everyone I've known who has eloped says it was their best decision.

When someone tells me their options are either to have a big wedding orto buy a house I always say to buy a house. Our next goal is buying a house and we have figured out to accomplish both goals. Wedding is in October and new home will be before we are 25 so within a year and a half to two years after the wedding. I think it all depends on the household income and situation you are in. If I had children, I think I'd go for buying a house first because I wouldn't want to be in a condo anymore but for now, our plan works for us. You can always get legally married / elope, buy a home, then have a big wedding for your 5 year anniversary. My best friend did this and was so happy her husband alone could get them into a new home then by the 5 year mark she was a teacher and together they threw her dream wedding.

I also wanted to add that I've had the same experience as the PP speaking to friends and family who only eloped as well! They do not regret it and say it was the best decsion they ever made. Most of them accomplished other big goals; moving across the country, out of the country, buying their first home, focusing on then graduating college.

Ppl on here saying they know people that don’t regret eloping and I know some people who did regret it. My mom in particular, got married to my dad in Reno, NV. One of those quickie ceremonies. I think the only people that were there were their respective parents. Now later in life, she wish she could’ve done things different so that’s why now me getting she’s so involved and according to her living her life vicariously through me. I’m getting married this weekend and through the whole process because this wedding planning has been stressful for me, I’ve told my FH that I want to elope. He’s said if we did we would regret it. Weddings definitely can be expensive and time consuming. Eloping has its pros and cons I guess.

We were originally planning a wedding which was supposed to have been June 9th of this year. Quickly into planning (and already having several vendors booked with deposits) we realized how expensive it was getting and it just didn't make sense to us to spend that kind of money that could be used for a down payment on a house.


We started planning again several months later, but this time a small backyard wedding. Again, it ended up turning into something more expensive than we originally planned.

Finally, just recently, after not planning for over 6months, I said screw it, i just want to be married to you! This time, we are eloping in the White Mountains next month and we are so excited! All we need is a permit, our officiant, marriage license, airbnb and our photographer (who is also my best friend of 18years!).

We're "eloping", but like millennial eloping where it's not at the courthouse and you get photos done.
We had a $20k budget and decided to use $5k on eloping and a short but sweet honeymoon, then put the rest in savings because we're both still finishing school.
We'll be having a tiny ceremony up in the mountains of a nearby beach town with immediate family, doing a photo session with a photographer, taking the family out to brunch at our favorite restaurant in that town, then heading off on our honeymoon. My dress is coming out of my personal money and his suit is coming out of his personal money to not affect the overall budget we had saved.
We plan on having a big vow renewal with all the bells and whistles once we finish school, have jobs and a house (and FH does another deployment or two).
But for now, I'm happy with the small, stress free day that'll be entirely about us and not a bunch of guests.

View Quoted Comment The same thing happened to me! My parents eloped in Vegas, mom “never wanted a wedding” but now she’s super involved in mine. I think she cares about it more than we do! But I know she means well and she’s just excited, and it’s cute seeing her fuss over her MoB outfit.

We wanted to elope, I even have an elopement dress haunting my closet. We got enormous pushback from loved ones, like full on heartbreak. FH later confessed he kinda wanted a wedding, so we’re having a wedding! A small one.

I have a lot of friends that had weddings and wished that they had eloped, but also had some friends try to tell me they loved their weddings and that I would regret it. It really just depends on what you want. We wanted to elope, but I wanted my parents there, then I felt like I needed to invite my siblings, so we're having a micro-wedding instead. under 20 people which includes us and our officiant, then BBQ in the backyard.