Meaning of Elope??

I’d say elope means you are getting married just the two of you and maybe 1 or 2 more people. More than that, I’d consider a micro-wedding.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! Exactly my thinking

Many people consider intimate weddings with just the parties getting married an elopement now, but your parents are correct that the original definition is to run away and get married secretly. Either way, they know, so I don't think the terminology really matters.

View Quoted Comment Absolutely, thank you!

People were sure we meant a small wedding when my first husband and I said we were going to elope in the centuries old meaning of running away to get married .
And kept asking who we were inviting, and when we said nobody, they would say, just your parents and brothers and sisters? And we would say nobody. So then they would say, oh, you're not telling g people? We are telling people that we an to elope, run away and get married. At the time I thought it funny that the other 2 longstanding meanings of elope are to run away from a mental institution, or escape from a prison. We were escaping from MOG, who was attempting a hostile takeover of our wedding. I don't know why people have suddenly started using a word that has meant the same things since Medieval times, and started using it for a prearranged small wedding with family and some friends invited.