Making an Elopement/micro-wedding Still Feel Special

I'm doing things very different. For example, I don't plan on wearing any makeup for my elopement.

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Very cool - I can somewhat relate. Although I enjoy makeup, I don't wear heavy makeup and plan on doing my own to make sure it stays natural and comfortable.

So for our minimony, I was also very concerned about making it special, since that was the day we would be getting married, even if our reception was postponed to next year.

We still had a rehearsal/rehearsal dinner the day before, we had dinner catered at my in-laws' house, and my husband and I still got gifts for the BMs and GM. My FIL also gave a lovely speech and toast.

The day of, my girls and I got our hair professionally done but my bridesmaids did everyone's makeup, including mine, to save a little money plus they're pretty good at it. I wore my dress for the ceremony, because it was important for me that my husband see me walk down the aisle in my dress. We had basically the full ceremony, and will most likely have the same one for our wedding next year. Afterwards we took pictures by the beach, which came out beautifully.

Then we went to a restaurant for dinner, where we got the private room for our small party of 14. My girls and I changed out of our dresses to make sure they didn't get dirty for next year. We had pre-selected appetizers and everyone ordered the entree they wanted, and the Best Man and Maid of Honor made speeches. My husband and I also had our first dance, and we also had a cake cutting.

It was a lovely day and overall, I am not disappointed in doing certain things that we would be doing next year anyway, it was the day we got married and I wanted to have fond memories of that day despite the pandemic, and I do

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Sounds like a perfect day! You definitely fit a lot into your day! We thought about also going out to eat, depending on what the state of Florida is like in February - maybe meeting up with some local family members for dinner and announcing our wedding, etc. Thank you for sharing and congrats on your wedding day!

I’ve seen this a lot on previous forums. Do you have a dress? You have the perfect opportunity to wear your dress twice if you’re doing a bigger reception next year! Not every bride gets to do that!

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We're not planning on a second party or ceremony but I am wearing a dress that isn't really a wedding dress so I'm hoping I can re-wear it for a fancy dinner on our anniversary in future years. I guess you may be right that this is somewhat of a duplicate post... I was thinking/hoping there might be some good ideas out there now that so many people are trading their original wedding plans for smaller events. Thanks for the input

View Quoted Comment I’m sorry- that’s not what I meant at all about a duplicate post! What I meant is lots of brides are wearing their dresses again at their future reception! That’s a great idea for you to use your dress on your anniversary!
What are you doing about your photographer? Bouquet? I seen on a previous post wear a bride dried her flowers & put some in a shadow box with a pic of her & her husband.

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No worries - I get what you were saying now

We will have a photographer for an hour total so we can share the details of the day with friends and family. I like the idea of doing something special with the bouquet - it will be a mini or bridesmaid size bouquet but maybe I can find something on pinterest or etsy to preserve it! Great suggestion - thank you!