Elopement

When eloping you always have to figure in travel costs as well unless you’re staying where you live. But if you want a built in honeymoon, it’s a good choice lol.


We considered it a few times but it turned out costing more than a small wedding where we lived. And, really, having our family there is important to us.

It depends on what you mean by "elope." You can elope at your city's courthouse for not much more than the cost of the marriage license or you can elope in an exotic foreign destination and spend tens of thousands of dollars. But, it's definitely an option to elope for very little money, compared with the cost of a more traditional wedding. Either option can be meaningful, beautiful, and at the end of the day you're married! Good luck.

Elopements can cost a lot of money too if you go to a resort with elopement packages. We almost went that route but it was the same cost to have an actual wedding back home.

If you really elope and not mean a destination wedding, yes it will be much cheaper.
The first time i got married we went to Vegas. The whole thing was under 1000.

Like others have stated, it all depends on the kind of elopement you want, whether you want others there or not.

If you plan to have a destination elopement, travel costs as well as venue or permit costs and where you will be staying can add up quickly, depending on where you choose.

If you have one locally, you'd still be facing some kind of fee but not nearly as much as what a venue would cost. Or if you have a "backyard" elopement, essentially that would probably be the cheapest route.

We are actually eloping next mont in White Mountains (for our particular spot, a permit for $100 was needed). Travel for us is about 4-5 hours away from our CT home so we set aside a good chunk of change for gas (as well as food) alone. We also found that an Airbnb was a better option for us price and location wise vs a hotel room. This allows us more room and privacy to get ready.

Those aren't the only two choices. Some "elopements" are actually bigger than some "intimate weddings." The real question is how many guests you want there. Every guest costs money, obviously. But your choices aren't just you and two witnesses versus 300 people. You can instead think through exactly how many people you really want, balancing cost versus the importance of having them there. Maybe that's just two witnesses, maybe that's immediate families only, maybe it's a broader group of family and friends, and maybe it's everyone you've ever known.

It honestly just depends on where youd wanna go. I was actually going to the 2/29/20 but we ended up changing it because we dont like being cold! If you are wanting to get married on that day you would have to use a officiant not the courthouse because its a saturday. If you are wanting something outside I would recommend the mountains but only if youd like to spend a good amount of money (less than a traditional wedding but more than a normal elopement) The mountains would be a little more expensive since everything there is pretty nicke. Photographers are more expensive, hair and makeup too. I actually ended up "eloping" near where I use to live (2.5 hours away) because I was able to find better rates at a park and I found a photographer that could work just an hour for $300.00. There are ways to reduce the cost and I found that by sticking close to home and then leaving that night or early that morning for your honeymoon. We are also wanting to stick to a 5,000 dollar budget with honeymoon , rings and all included. Hopefully we will stick to the budget!!