Eloping and then reception

I had a longer response typed, but let's just go with this.

"Borderline tacky"

You only get ONE wedding. If you elope, that's your wedding. You can come home and have a reception or a vow renewal at some point, but I wouldn't call it a wedding.

@Paris - See, I agree with that! FH was talking to me about this stuff last night, and it just kinda rubs me the wrong way. You can dress it up any way you want, but I don't consider it okay to call it a wedding!

Or have stuff like bridesmaids, bridal shower, bachelorette party, etc etc.

I think if you elope then you can have a grand reception but no wedding but your guest need to be told that this is your wedding reception.

You can wear a white dress but I think wearing a wedding dress and him in a tux maybe a little strange.

I've been to a few receptions after they eloped I don't see anything wrong with it just as long as I'm not "fooled"

I think there's nothing wrong with eloping and then coming back and having a reception for your friends and family, but I wouldn't do another *wedding*.

A friend of mine had a very small (like 2 or 3 people) chapel wedding in vegas. When they came back, they held a party, reception, whatever you wanna call it at their house. I thought it was totally cute and appropriate. And I think most people would understand something like that.

But to get married and then do another wedding is strange and not appropriate. And vow renewals to me are reserved for later in marriage.

Just my opinion, fwiw.

Lots of my couples do this. It's not tacky at all. It's you doing what works for you. Wear whatever you want, call it whatever you want, but do tell your parents.

Couples get married for love, of course, but they also get married for all kinds of other reasons; health insurance, military housing, visas, and just the personal wish to be married privately.

On the subject of vow renewals - I'm with Misty. Doing one before your 5th Anniversary is a total gift grab or a display of regret from not having planned a big wedding in the first place. Not a fan.

Go ahead, run me off the board LOL

I see nothing wrong with eloping either.

FH has mentioned it a few times, and I just don't know if I'd want to do it or not. IF we did it, I'd make sure all our friends and family knew about it. And of course I'd want to come back and celebrate with everyone. I'd have a reception and I'd feed everyone, serve them alcohol, etc etc. And I'd dress up! Get my hair and makeup done, wear a pretty dress... But it wouldn't be a wedding dress. I'd be wearing that when we eloped. ^_^

We did something similar. Husband is in the military and based across the country, so we just had a JOP marry us at a park without family or friends. Then on our 2 year anniversary, after we move back to our homestate, we are having a vow renewal and reception...full out. White dress, veil, church, full reception, cake...everything.

We are calling it a vow renewal or affirmation of vows, as technically it's not a wedding....the invitation wording is different, and we decided not to have a bridal party, but instead have siblings and parents be apart of the processional. But that's about all we changed to make it a renewal.

I don't think it's tacky or a gift grab at all. Our wedding was the way it was due to my husbands career and financial circumstances. But we made it about us and about our love and focused solely on that. And our renewal will be having our vows blessed by a minister and celebrating our marriage with family and friends.

How I see it is...It was my wedding and it is my renewal and if i want to have that 'bride' experience at my renewal, then i'lll be damned if someone told me I can't lol...We are paying for it, it's our day, so if guests have a problem with it, they can can keep their butts at home.

It's your wedding and if u elope and want to celebrate with friends and family and live out your "wedding" dreams...do it.

That's what we did .... we got married 10-11-12 and our doing the whole wedding and reception next may we didn't know what exact date we were getting married because we didn't have a jop so no one came to it

Love the feedback! Thank you ladies!

If it feel right to you, then you should do it. People may not be 100% as excited about your wedding, but that may happen anyways! And if you WANT to wear a wedding dress (or the dress you got married in) at your wedding, who can judge you! Do it!

We couldn't get married in our home state, so we ended up having a small (a dozen guests) wedding 8 hours away. We tried to include the rest of our friends however we could. We posted on Facebook when we got the marriage license. We updated our Facebook status to married between ceremony and reception. We had a big reception back home three days after the ceremony. At the reception, we wore our wedding dresses, showed a video of the ceremony, had copies of our programs, and incorporated our chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy) into the decor. However, we did not have a whole new ceremony. As far as we were concerned, the wedding was when we went from being single to being married. A play ceremony three days later was not going to have any meaning.

This isn't TK, please don't use their phrases such as "you only get 1 wedding". I agree with Samantha Renee. I always saw a wedding as an event. You can get married without a wedding. Some people have weddings without actually getting married. If you invite people to your wedding, and they're really that offended than they can just not come to it. Simple as that.

We were going to have a "wedding" a year after we got married cuz Hubby got deployed and our original plans kept not working out because of his schedule, but we still got married. I was gonna call it a wedding. We weren't gonna do a registry. I kinda get the feeling that the people most riled up about who can use the word wedding really don't care about your situation or what's right for you, their opinion's about them. The way people say stuff like you only get one wedding makes it sound like they think theirs is better or more genuine. Like a name brand and everyone with a diff situation just has an off brand.

Nope--not tacky at all. Lots of couples do it. Exchanging vows is a highly personal thing; not every couple wants to do this before 200 of their nearest and dearest.

Granted, two years in between "weddings" is a long time. Maybe you could have a professional video of the elopement wedding done, then play it at the second wedding after renewing your vows.

Mrs2B, Eloping doesn't have to feel un-special. It depends how you plan it. Do wear a special dress (long, short doesn't matter as long as there is something special about it, nice fabric, special details, etc.). Do carry a bouquet. Do hire a photographer to capture your special day (even if it's just for a couple of hours). Do go out and celebrate afterwards (a special dinner, a night at the Casino, drinks on the town, etc.). This option allows you to savor the day with your new spouse. What a gift. Instead of the stress of a big wedding day, you get to focus on the love of your life. Win Win! You can always have the big party later.

They have great elopement packages in sf, nyc, miami, and dc!