Elopement or wedding?

Hey, we're from AZ too! I wanted to elope so badly, but my husband wanted his family there. We ended up having more of a micro-wedding with just immediate family and closest friends. We had a turn out of 26 people, including the two of us, and it was great! I still wished we would've just eloped, though, but that's for a few other complicated reasons.

We were originally going to have a full-on traditional wedding with all the bells & whistles, but it was going to run us about $16k for 70 guests, and while we had planned on getting married in December 2021 (engaged in July 2018), it was an overwhelming task to figure out how we were planning on forking up that much money & also manage the stress of planning it all, even that far out, so we scrapped that idea and tried to weigh the pros and cons of eloping vs doing a smaller, more relaxed wedding. We ended up spending about 4k total to do a micro-wedding & even moved the date up, so that was a plus in terms of cost for sure, but I still have my personal feelings about wanting an elopement over what we ended up going with. Although I certainly don't regret not having a big wedding like we originally planned.

At the end of the day, it's up to you and your fiance! People have their own personal preferences, and I'm sure whatever you decide will be the best choice for you! After all, it's more about the marriage and your lives together.

I can only express my experience. I can't guarantee that it will be helpful, but here you are:

We got married in what is now called a "micro-wedding" - a headcount of 25 with us and our bridal party included. I had considered eloping.

While I don't regret our wedding, it was beautiful, I do sometimes wish we had gone ahead and eloped. Our guests all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and that's great - but I can't really say I did. I didn't have a bad time, I just also can't say I had a good time. I'm just kind of neutral about it. I also sometimes think about how romantic it would have been to share that moment privately with just us (such as in an elopement).

But something I can also say as "pro-wedding": my parents were our marriage license witnesses. My dad died last year, and this year when I needed our marriage certificate for my driver's license, I pulled it out and saw his signature on there and cried (bittersweet tears.) I'd forgotten entirely that he had signed it, and suddenly there was something very special and sentimental about it. I wouldn't have had that if we'd skipped off to elope like I had considered. (Of course, some elopements include witnesses, so this could be moot, but the elopement I'd considered was literally "just the two of us.")

I agree about making sure your current budget is on target. (Daughter married in So Cal in January 2019 and their 100 guest wedding cost about $32,000 -- not including honeymoon, rings, etc. It was EXACTLY what daughter and SIL wanted; it was very nice, but not over the top, and that's what it cost.) I'd encourage you and your fiance to talk about what really matters to the two of you, and then try to find the best balance of your wants with your realistic budget. Good luck to you!

It's totally up to you! When you elope it's usually just the two of you or at least a few (maybe like your parents or even the best man and maid of honor to witness). You can consider a microwedding which consists a total of 50 people. You can look in your area to see what elopement or microwedding vendors are available. They would usually have packages that you can choose from with them on how you want your ceremony to go. The ones in Vegas charge between $2,000-$6,000 (again depending on the packages and any add ons). Their packages include a minister/officiant, mini reception with champagne and cake, flowers, decor, location and permit fee, photography, videography, etc. So, I highly recommend looking into that!

When my FH and I started talking about wedding planning I did not know that certain things started to add up FAST. Let alone how much they even cost in the first place. For example, I did not know that wedding photographers charge like $1,800 and up. We went from keeping it at 10k, but when we started planning it was at 18k. So, we opted into a microwedding. It's not that we could not afford to go over our budget, but we wanted to spend more on remodeling our house and for our honeymoon.

So, do your research. Write what you do and don't want. Discuss with your FH. My biggest financial suggestion is to NOT go into debt.