Elopement Reception?

Sorry, I don’t have a ton of advice. Maybe look into halls? Parks and outdoor settings are cheaper but they usually also have tons of other regulations (no decorations or loud music at certain times for example).



I’m eloping because we prefer that not necessarily due to costs. But our reception is going to be an anniversary party (one year later) which does give us both time to plan and time to save as it’ll be a destination celebration for us and a lot of our family members.

We are currently doing the same although you could do a small wedding because the wedding ceremony is not what is expensive rather it is the reception. I would suggest looking at a park or maybe a small venue like a banquet hall that will allow you to bring an outside catering. Pizza and Pasta and barbecue and Mexican are much cheaper to serve plenty of people. Although you may want to look for a venue that would allow you to bring outside alcohol such as beer and wine. You could just do a dry reception and not even worry about the liquor part.

I have friends who did sort of did a second reception in Pennsylvania since the wedding was in California and they rented out a fire hall. They used a projection screen to rotate photos from the wedding so if you have any elopement photos, you could do that.

Hmmm, to keep the costs down I'd keep the guest list small, look for catering from a restaurant or food truck, and skip extras like guest book, favors, major rentals like lighting and photo booths etc. Are you going to take on any DIYs?

Or, if this party isn't something you want to do, you can totally skip it and just enjoy your elopement! Some people might be bummed they can't celebrate with you but you can have your wedding your way, and maybe you can have a toast with the others next time you see them.

View Quoted Comment I love this! Thinking of doing the same..how did you word the invitations? How did you tell your family that you were getting eloping? I think it's a great idea... I'm just trying to figure out how I should let them know. Thanks!!

Food trucks are probably the most cost efficient as far as food catering goes!

We haven’t done invitations yet but I plan to be honest. Like ‘come celebrate the marriage of’...or something to that effect.



I just kind of tell people, all of our close family and friends know because, you know people love to ask so when is the wedding?! We just tell them we’re eloping but will have a party later for everyone to enjoy. We’re getting married 4.5 months after getting engaged so it also would be unrealistic to plan a wedding and expect guests when we live across the country from 99% of any potential guests.

Eloping really fits our personalities so there isn’t much shock or awe. If you sound sure and confident in your decision people respond more favorably, in my experience.

View Quoted Comment Sorry, thought I was replying to you before. See above for my response.

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much for all the great information!! We will definitely put on the invites Celebration of Marriage. Thanks so much! All the best!!

View Quoted Comment Wow, you really know what you're doing! We have a short engagement too, good for you guys!

Update: both of our families have offered to throw us a party, so we'll have one in the north and one in the south. Also, surprisingly, a lot of people have offered gifts. We're just going to to do gift cards for work people, and have a registry for our anniversary, when we have the parties. I'm surprised that people are so generous.